For years, lightweight climbing wheels and deep aero wheels lived in separate worlds. One set of hoops meant they were made just for when the road goes up. The other were built fast rides and flat races or events.
That’s all changing. Now, brands are increasingly trying to blur that line.
On Thursday, Hunt launched a new range of wheels under its AM Limitless platform. It is headlined by the 4AM Limitless Ti_UD carbon spoke wheelset, which HUNT claims weighs just 1,156 grams per pair.
That puts it well into pretty lightweight territory for a disc-brake aero wheelset. Especially one with rims approaching 50 mm deep front and rear.
Hunt says the wheelset was developed for going up hills fast. But what goes up, must go down. So the British brand is also factoring in those fast, technical descents. Rather than simply trimming grams, the company focused on reducing drag while keeping the wheels stable in crosswinds. Because getting thrown all over when you’re riding in the wind is not fun.
Key features
The 4AM Ti_UD uses a 49.5 mm-deep front rim and a slightly shallower 47 mm rear. The front wheel is wider than the rear, part of Hunt’s ongoing “Limitless” approach that aims to smooth airflow around the tire and rim interface. The setup also uses a low spoke count, 15 spokes up front and 18 in the rear, with carbon spokes supplied by VONOA.
According to Hunt’s own wind tunnel testing at Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub, the wheelset tested 1.4 watts faster than the ENVE 4.5 Pro. But they still come in 139 grams lighter. The company also claimed the wheels performed within fractions of a watt of deeper setups such as the DT Swiss ARC 55 and Reserve 57/64.
The brand also introduced more affordable steel-spoke versions of both its 4AM and deeper 5AM wheelsets.
The 4AM steel spoke version weighs a claimed 1,283 grams and uses Pillar SuperWing spokes instead of carbon. Hunt says it tested slightly faster than the ENVE 4.5 Pro in the same conditions while being marginally lighter overall.
Meanwhile, the deeper 5AM steel spoke wheelset tips the scales at 1,339 grams with 58 mm front and 55 mm rear rims. Hunt says that setup is geared toward flatter and rolling terrain where aero quickness matters more than climbing weight.
- 4AM Limitless Ti_UD Carbon Spoke Wheelset
US$2,560 - 4AM Limitless Ti_UD Carbon Spoke Wheelset (CeramicSpeed)
US$3,160 - 4AM Limitless Steel Spoke Wheelset
US$2,360 - 5AM Limitless Steel Spoke Wheelset
US$2,400For more information, go…
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