HuntBike Launches New Tubeless Wheelset

HuntBike has entered the wheel segment, touting "practicality, quality and year-round use". 

Made in collaboration with Mason Progressive Cycles, the first HuntBike wheelset to hit the market, is the Mason X Hunt Four Season Disc.

According to HuntBike, the wheelset will be available in 22 to 24mm width rims, with claimed weights ranging between 1,395 and 1,650g, and they’ll cost $300 to $675. 

Mason X Hunt utilize sealed bearings by EZO Japan, along with triple-butted stainless aero PSR spokes from Pillar. In addition, the rims are made from super-light niobium alloy, which according to Hunt, incorporates an advanced T10 heat treatment process to deliver exceptional weight, stiffness and durability. 

HuntBike’s founder, Tom Marchment, embarked on his wheel project in September 2014 – deriving the name ‘Hunt" for its brand , which is emblematic of their search for improving "every element of the wheel". 

"Having tested tubeless extensively on and off road we know it answers many issues; noticeably improving ride quality, grip and puncture protection. We see tubeless-tires  as offering the greatest benefits for year round and winter-riding when poor road conditions and punctures are a major issue, hence several Hunt wheels are aimed at this type of riding”.

“I’ve been working with my brother Peter at his company ITS Cycling Ltd since August 2014. We both knew the spec of the wheels we wanted to ride ourselves but they weren’t easily available from other wheel brands. We ideally wanted to buy from a wheel company that we could contact directly to get help and spares if needed. Then we thought; there are loads of other riders we know that want the same, here’s an opportunity to use our expertise and customer service skills to help, and of course we kind of love of cycling… a lot.”

The wheels will go on sale in March, with rim-brake models following in April.

Overview

WHY – The bike wheelsets we want to buy aren’t easily available! So we’ve made them. We are avid cyclists and have years of experience in the UK bike industry sourcing and marketing high specification bike components from around the world. We’ve worked with and for several leading wheel brands. This knowledge means HuntBikeWheels bring you the latest practical technology and thinking in all things round. Our hubs, spokes, rims, bearings and quick-releases are manufactured by leaders in each field and are then lovingly hand-built into outstanding wheels by experts with thousands of builds to their names.

 

Wheels being hand-built and finished by Mr. Hao-Cheng at our wheel building partner. He has built and finely tensioned tens of thousands of wheels for leading high-end brands during his many years as a master wheel builder. All our wheels go through a two person build and finishing process. Every wheelset then has a full quality control inspection where all features of the build are checked. Your wheels are then signed off personally by the builder on the individual control card which is supplied in the box. They show huge pride and passion in their work.

 

A hub body on the impressive precision machinery. We never tire of watching these incredible tools create beautiful components. We test, specify and develop all our products in the UK and we also further our wheel designs with British project engineers. All our suppliers, including our hub manufacturers, are based in Taiwan. Taiwan is an incredible country with entrepreneurial drive and excellent engineering knowledge, not to mention they are a very friendly, welcoming and polite culture.

 

As you may well already know, over the past three decades the country has focused on becoming the leader in cycling production technology. Taiwan is now widely recognized in the bicycle industry as the place to manufacture high-end bicycle components competitively. If you own a performance bicycle built with leading brand components, the chances are, the vast majority of the parts were made by passionate craftsmen and women at Taiwanese companies. We aspire to create the best performance wheels for your money, for now Taiwan has the technical capabilities to achieve this aim. 

 

Superlight Niobium aluminium alloy rims ready for anodizing and then brake track machining at one of our rim suppliers. We have used our industry knowledge and links to source components and wheel technologies that really push the performance boundaries. Niobium aluminium alloy is a proprietary material which has been developed by our rim supplier. Niobium aluminium alloy uses an advanced T10 heat-treatment process and delivers outstanding weight, stiffness and durability meaning rims can be wider for 25 and 28mm tyres, deeper for better aero performance and yet remain super-light for excellent climbing and acceleration.

 

Our Hunt name is a play on the thrill and excitement of ‘The Chase’ we all love when riding, however it actually originated from the drive we have to ‘Hunt’ for every improvement in the rims, hubs, spokes, bearings, nipples and QRs we choose. The precision double contact sealed bearings by EZO Japan and Pillar’s high-spec spokes are great examples. The Pillar spokes we specify on all Hunt wheels are the top of the range triple-butted round and aero versions. They are cold-drawn from Swedish Sandvik Stainless Steel T302 wire and feature Pillar’s patented PSR spoke head re-enforcement. PSR spokes are butted again just before the spoke head providing more material in this high stress area. These spokes cost more but the triple butting provides a great ride and the PSR adds extra durability over standard spokes. Pillar Racing Spokes are trusted by many leading brands in the high-performance cycle sector.

http://www.huntbikewheels.com/pages/hand-built-performance-bike-wheels-tubeless-ready