Extra spokes, brass nipples and a new freehub add reliability for bikepackers and ultra-endurance races
(Image credit: Hunt Bike Wheels)
Hunt Bike Wheels has released its latest gravel wheelset, the Limitless Gravel Adventure. It follows the same pattern as the existing Hunt 42 Limitless Gravel Disc wheelset but beefs up the spec to handle the high loads and torque typical of bikepacking and ultra-endurance rides while retaining the wide aero rim profile of the 42 Limitless wheelsets, which we rated 4 out of 5 stars when we reviewed it last year.
Typical of the best gravel wheelsets, there's an aero rim profile. Hunt’s Limitless aero tech allows it to build a very wide wheel rim, in this case, 25mm internal, and 36mm external, while still maintaining a competitively low claimed weight of 1,642g. This is achieved by incorporating a low-density polymer in the rims, which is under half the density of carbon fibre and bonded to the carbon fibre outer layer.
It's a design that it applies to its road bike wheelsets like the Hunt 48 Limitless UD Carbon, which we reviewed recently.
The new wheelset is aero optimised for 38-42mm gravel tyres (Image credit: Hunt Bike Wheels)
The construction method allows Hunt to build a 42mm deep U-shaped rim profile that’s optimised for aerodynamics when fitted with 38-42mm gravel tyres. Hunt claims up to 16.8 watts of aero gains over non-aero gravel wheelsets in its wind tunnel testing. Saying that over a 200-mile race, this could save between seven and nine minutes.
The brand says that the wheels are also very stable in gusty crosswinds, a property that we remarked on when testing the 42 Limitless Gravel Disc wheels, and also an advantage to the long-distance gravel rider.
There’s a hooked bead for maximum tyre compatibility when run both with tubes and tubeless, although Hunt provides tubeless tape and valves, as well as spare spokes with the wheels and there are axle adapters available if your gravel bike has non-standard spacing.
Beefed up spec
The adventure part of the deal starts with an increased spoke count: 24 front, 28 rear, as against the 42 Limitless Aero Gravel Disc’s 20/24 spokes. Both wheelsets use the same J-bend Pillar Wing aero spokes, but with brass nipples in the new wheelset to increase durability.
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The hubs too have had an upgrade to handle the high torque loads typical when riding loaded. There’s a double floating ratchet freehub, as against the three-pawl design in the 42 Limitless Aero Gravel Disc wheels. The 40 tooth ratchet does result in an increase in the engagement angle to 9 degrees from the 42 Limitless’s 7.5 degrees though.
The freehub is coated to reduce the risk of gouging and there's a new ratchet mechanism inside (Image credit: Hunt Bike Wheels)
The freehub body is ceramic coated which is said to guard against gouging and is available in Shimano 11-speed, XDR and N3W formats.
Everything rolls on Revo steel bearings, which are double sealed and lubricated with heat-resistant grease, that Hunt says helps to increase service intervals.
The beefed-up spec results in just under a 100g increase in claimed weight to 1,642g, compared to the claimed 1,548g for the 42 Limitless.
The price for the Hunt Limitless Gravel Adventure wheelset is £1,299 ($1,649, €1,649) with pre-orders open on Hunt’s site and availability slated towards the end of August.
Paul has been on two wheels since he was in his teens and he's spent much of the time since writing about bikes and the associated tech. He's a road cyclist at heart but his adventurous curiosity means Paul has been riding gravel since well before it was cool, adapting his cyclo-cross bike to ride all-day off-road epics and putting road kit to the ultimate test along the way. Paul has contributed to Cyclingnews' tech coverage for a few years, helping to maintain the freshness of our buying guides and deals content, as well as writing a number of our voucher code pages.
