I’ll be honest: I’ve never been much of a wheel snob. Good enough has always been good enough. Then I spent a couple of weeks on Hunt’s 44_46 Aerodynamicist Carbon Disc wheelset — and now I’m that guy at the group ride who won’t stop talking about his wheels.
The evidence came in two acts, courtesy of Bend, Oregon’s finest suffering opportunities I mounted the Aerodynamicists with 28 mm Continental GP 5000s — the Aerodynamicists are “aerodynamically optimized for 28-30mm tires” — and an Ultegra cassette, and then proceeded to put them through their paces.
More than anticipated, in fact.
Prologue: When you order a set of Hunt wheels, you get these slick emails, preparing you for delivery and setup. One of them — Quick start guide: Fit your new road wheels — includes an instructional video in case you want to mount your tires — er, tyres (Hunt’s a British company) — on your own. I’m a sucker for an English accent and found the video, as well as the emails, both helpful and relatively enjoyable.
Meanwhile, I spoke with a fellow roadie (a much faster one; he’s a local pro) who had just purchased his own pair of Aerodynamicists. He raved about them, and about the customer service he received. His first pair had a small issue, and Hunt promptly replaced them and communicated clearly throughout the process. My takeaway from that: not that Hunt wheels have issues (see below: I see too many of them on the road to believe that), but that the company has invested in solid customer service.
Act One: Bend’s Rubber Mallet, a spirited group that shifts routes from one week to the next; the Tuesday I joined we would rise from the Deschutes River nearly to the base of Mt. Bachelor — thirteen miles of mostly steady climbing.
I was dragging from a big day of racing just 72 hours earlier, but as the road kicked up, I felt light; the wheels’ weight advantage was real and palpable. While the Aerodynamicists aren’t climbing wheels per se, but they are very light for an aero wheelset, and I could feel it.
Then the wind kicked up, swinging from crosswind to full headwind as the road bent. Here’s where Hunt’s Aerodynamicist engineering earns its name: the front and rear-specific rim profiles, developed through extensive wind tunnel validation, are engineered specifically for crosswind stability, and they delivered it. No squirreling, no white-knuckle moments, just… riding. The result? One of my fastest times ever on the climb even with the fierce wind.
On the descent, an even better story: fastest time, period. The shallower but wider rims (31mm external up front, 30mm rear) did exactly what Hunt says they would do: sliced through the air and kept me feeling stable.
(Another conclusion from the descent: The rear Aerodynamicist’s H_Ratchet 40T DBL hub delivers a pleasant buzz when freewheeling. Maybe this isn’t a factor to predicate your purchase decision on, but I believe that freewheels should neither be silent, nor should they whirr so loudly that you can’t talk to your buddies. This buzz is just right.)
Act Two: The Lower Bridge Group Ride, a sloggy day of shifting winds and constant elevation change. Good baseline for the wheels’ all-day character, and they again performed more than solidly, whether we were grinding up one of the day’s false-flat sprints or hurtling through a canyon, this time with a cross-tailwind that didn’t bother me in the least.
But then, about two-thirds in, we hit a plot twist: seven-plus miles of freshly half-repaved road. As in, gravel. The kind with washboard and deep-gravel sections that have no business appearing on a road ride. The 44_46s? Totally stable. Hunt’s 22mm internal rim width, designed to work with tires from 25mm to 50mm, apparently handles a surprise gravel audition without complaint. I rode at the front through most of this stretch, and I’m no gravel guru.
Epilogue: I mentioned the gravel off-hand to my contact at Hunt, and he noted that — just in case this becomes relevant — all Aerodynamicist wheelsets come with a lifetime crash replacement warranty. Hopefully I’ll never have to invoke it!
Reading the Aerodynamicists’ specs, my more-than-satisfactory experience makes sense: The H_Ratchet 40-tooth hub snaps to attention with crisp 9-degree engagement. The Enduro ABEC 5 bearings are intended to roll smooth in any conditions, and that’s exactly what I felt them do. And the aero wing spokes are designed to slice through the wind without drama, and again, they performed (and that’s under me, who’s managed to produce my share of crosswind drama in my time).
At $1,257, these aren’t pocket change, but in a category where “serious” wheels routinely push two to three times that, Hunt delivers a genuinely competitive wheelset at a price that doesn’t require a second mortgage. For the all-around rider who wants aero performance without sacrificing climbing weight or crosswind composure, the 44_46 Aerodynamicist is a very easy recommendation.
It’s true: I won’t stop talking about my wheels. Thing is, it seems that I’m preaching to the proverbial choir: I’m seeing more and more Hunt wheelsets every time I show up to a group ride or a race.
Maybe these Hunt guys are on to something.
Find Hunt 44_46 Aerodynamicist wheels at us.huntbikewheels.com for $1,257.15 (sale price as of this listing).
The post REVIEW: Hunt 44_46 Aerodynamicist — The All-Rounder’s Dream Wheels appeared first on PezCycling News.
