Hunt 60 Limitless Aero Disc Wheelset – Limitless Speed

Wheels continue to be a great bang for your buck when it comes to upgrading your bike. Most bikes come with rather unremarkable wheels, but with the right set of wheels for your taste and riding style, you can add performance and some style to your ride. For me, that would be the Hunt 60 Limitless Aero Disc Wheelset. We previously reviewed Hunt’s lower level 65 Carbon Aero Disc wheelset, and really liked them. So, could the Limitless be that much better for an additional $600 more?

Before we dive into that, let’s go over some of the specs on the 60 Limitless. If you are looking at the 60, you are probably interested in speed and aerodynamics, so let’s hit that first. The 60 measures in at 60mm tall with a 21mm internal width and 34mm (yes, you read that right) external width. It features a hooked bead, so they will work with tubeless and tubed tires, preferably 25-28mm, but can work with up to 50mm. I didn’t try them for gravel with larger tires, but there is a solid chance they will see some gravel this spring. Hunt uses straight pull Pillar Wing 20 spokes with an aero foil profile, with 20 up front and 24 in the back. Hubs are Hunt’s Race Season Disc alloy hubs with center mount disc mount. Inside, Japanese EZO bearings come standard, or you can upgrade to CeramicSpeed for a little more. The rear axle uses three treble-tooth leaf spring pawls and a 48 tooth ratchet to provide 7.5 degree engagement for fast acceleration.

Compared to the 65, the 60 is 5mm shorter, 2mm wider internally, 8mm wider externally, and uses more traditional Pillar straight pull spokes.

The big difference is the rim itself. As part of the Limitless line, the 60 was developed to go fast, but also handle predictably, especially when hit with cross winds. It’s great if you can go fast, but if you have to slow down to maintain control in the wind, it is pointless. The Limitless rim design was created by Luisa Grappone (MSc Aerospace Engineering) and Hunt co-founder and materials scientist Pete Marchment, and uses a co-molded low-density polymer in the outer rim construction to achieve that 34mm wide shape and keep weight low.  The polymer adds about 50g per wheel, which would be over 100g if carbon pre-preg was used instead.

First Impressions

When I first took them out of the box, it hit me just how wide these rims are. My wife, who isn’t a cyclist but has been around me long enough to pick up some things, noticed it too. We immediately grabbed a few other wheelsets I had around to compare, and couldn’t believe how wide they are. The closest I could find was the Flo Cycling G700 gravel wheel, with a 25mm internal width and 33 mm wide external width. They still felt light, especially compared to the G700 which is a full 200 grams heavier. They arrived with rim tape installed, a set of tubeless valves, along with some extra spokes and a 10 speed spacer. Mounting them up was a breeze. I used the Topeak JoeBlow Booster on one wheel and my trusty Ryobi mini air compressor on the other to mount Pirelli P Zero Race TLR tires with Effetto Mariposa sealant without any issues. Hunt sent along a 6-bolt adapter, and they were all set and ready to go.

On The Road

This is the fun part. While I had hoped to have them before my 135 mile ride for the American Cancer Society, I was still able to put a few thousand miles on them before winter hit. On the first ride, I felt like I was riding a gravel wheelset because of how wide they were. They sure didn’t perform like one through. From the first pedal stroke, you can feel the stiffness and performance the Limitless rim profile has when paired with the Pillar Wing 20 spokes. You put the power into the pedals, and the Van Dessel Motivus Maximus jumped. Carving through corners on my test route felt smooth and controlled, and encouraged me to push faster to find the limit of the grip on the Pirelli’s. If I had more courage, I might have, but they definitely were confidence inspiring.

The BWN Wind Tunnel is down for maintenance, but when it comes to speed, the Hunt 60 Limitless are not going to be what slowed me down. In Hunt’s own testing, the 60 was just 0.35 watts slower than the Enve 5.6 SES Disc, which at the time of testing, retailed for about $800 more. Hunt beat out the likes of DT Swiss (ARC 1100 DICUT 62 Disc) and Zipp (404 NSW CL Disc), with Zipp being over double the drag of the Hunt over the baseline Enve’s. Where the 60 Limited won out was in the amount of force it took to move the wheel in a cross wind situation, equaling or beating all of the wheels on test, proving the stability claims. In the real world, I can confirm that they felt very stable in cross winds, even on windier days that I would have been blow around on other wheels.

When it comes to weight, the 1692g (including tape) didn’t slow things down. Compared to some of the other wheels I’ve tested lately, the 65 Aero (1614g), Flo Cycling AS 64 Disc (1770g) and the G700 (1891g), they felt just as nimble as the 65 Aero on the climbs, and faster than the FLO wheels. The aero benefits of the Limitless technology gave the 60 Limitless the edge over all of them.

The last part of me is that they just look good. They skip the big logos and flashy graphics for a smaller Hunt logo on opposite sides of the rim, and some small line graphics in white, contrasting on the matte carbon finish on the rims. Whether you are racing road, crits, or triathlons, or just riding club rides, they look the part of a fast machine. Compared to the stock Mavic Ksyrium wheels the Van Dessel came with, or even some of the 45-50mm rims I’ve used previously, the Hunt 60 Limitless wheels quietly scream speed.

At $1799 for the standard EZO bearings, $2250 for the upgraded CeramicSpeed bearings, the Hunt 60 Limitless Aero Disc wheelset offers a value for a high performance wheelset. Enve, Zipp, DT Swiss, and Roval all might have a bit more brand recognition, but if you are looking for performance over a larger marketing budget, Hunt is the way to go.

You’ll have the option to run Shimano/SRAM HG, Campy, SRAM XD/XDR, and Campy N3W (Ekar) freehubs for a range of compatibility.  You can also pick the specific axle adapters you need for your ride. On the front, you can use 12x100mm or 9x100mm Thru-Axle, or Quick Release 9x100mm. In back, 12x142mm, 12x135mm, or 10x135mm Thru-Axle, or Quick Release 9x135mm. Unfortunately, front 15x100mm Thru-axles are not compatible. If you want to take things to the highest level of performance, Hunt also offers a carbon fiber spoke version that knocks off over 115g of weight and provides some additional stiffness.

When I first road the 65 Aero, I was impressed. They were light, fast, and affordable. After riding the 60 Limitless Aero Disc, I’m even more hooked on what Hunt is doing. As we have other wheels come in for review, we’ll swap wheels out to get our time on them, but when it comes to my own personal riding, it will be hard for me to leave the Hunt 60 Limitless Aero Disc at home.

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