Spotted at Sea Otter: Proven, the New Premium Carbon Lineup from Hunt Wheels

Our first experience on Hunt Wheels was on the Privateer 141 all-mountain bike that we had at our last round of The Beta Tests. We kinda liked it. There’s something refreshingly practical about the way the Privateer was designed, as well as how it was specced. And that included a set of Hunt wheels. Sort of a sister brand to Privateer, Hunt offers a pretty comprehensive catalog. Mountain offerings from gravity to XC, and drop-bar offerings from tri to gravel. And there are high-quality aluminum options in all categories. In fact, Hunt’s mountain lineup is overwhelmingly aluminum. Like the aluminum-only Privateer, Hunt just thinks there are more important things to focus on than material. There is a carbon all-mountain wheel from Hunt, but its 28mm inner width implies that there may be something new coming from Hunt. So, while we were at Sea Otter, they took us out into the parking lot and showed us a thing or too.

Details are sparse, but the new XC wheels look to be a bit more wild than anything that Hunt has come up with in the mountain space. These still unreleased wheels are aimed at the modern aggressive cross-country market, but are more than light enough to race with. The unidirectional carbon spokes are significantly lighter than stainless steel, and can be run at higher tensions which offer more lateral stiffness. But they’re just as easy to true or replace as a traditional spoke, unlike the over-the-top Syncros Silverton wheels.

But beyond the ready-for-primetime XC wheels, Hunt showed us some samples of the trail and all-mountain rims they have in the works. Wider, flatter and lighter than the one all-mountain carbon offering in Hunt’s lineup, the shape of the new hoops is more in line with what you’ll see Reserve, Stan’s, and We Are One.

Again there aren’t may details we can share yet, but we’re excited to see what a carbon trail and enduro wheel with Hunt’s smart approach to design will offer.