It was easy to spot Hunt’s Limitless 42 Gravel wheels at Unbound Gravel in 2021, even from far away — and even when covered with black tape on pro bikes hiding non-sponsored equipment. The deep, wide wheels just look different, especially on relatively wispy gravel bikes. That appearance all but advertises what these wheels are all about: aerodynamics and stability.
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For a more in-depth explanation on the specs and details on the 42 Limitless Gravel wheels, be sure to check out the Lemme See That! video. I have been riding these wheels for several months now, and they have quickly become my favorite gravel wheels. Here’s why.
What I like: Every detail is a response to more varied and more difficult gravel courses; they’re wide, accept up to a 54mm tire, they’re aerodynamic, and they’re stable in crosswinds.
What I’d change: Heavy compared to a lower profile wheelset
My call: Despite a slight weight penalty, it’s hard to beat the price, versatility, and overall performance of Hunt’s 42 Limitless Gravel Wheels. They offer everything a gravel rider needs for the racecourse and daily fun rides.
Hunt 42 Limitless Gravel Disc Wheels: build
My test wheelset came with the CeramicSpeed bearing upgrade. The hubs feature a 7.5-degree pawl freehub for quick engagement. The pawls themselves feature multiple teeth each and are leaf-spring-loaded to engage with 48 ratchets in the hub shell. What does that mean for you? Hopefully not much; the hubs engage pretty darn quickly, and spin freely. If you’re not thinking about it, that’s a win.
Right out of the box, it’s almost startling how wide these rims are. Hunt uses a special build process to add that width — 25mm inner rim width and a whopping 36mm outer rim width, to be specific. A low-density foam sits within the gap between the inner and outer rim bed. This ultimately adds the stability needed to go this wide without adding a ton of weight.
The 42 Limitless Gravel wheels weigh 1,548 grams. By comparison, Enve’s SES 4.5 AR wheels are close competitors and weigh 1,544 grams with Industry 9 Torch hubs. And DT Swiss’s 1400 Spline DB 42 wheels come in at 1,611 grams. So Hunt bests them both, if only slightly. (It’s worth noting that both the DT Swiss and Enve wheels are hookless.)
While many brands have transitioned to hookless rims, Hunt has stuck to a hooked design with the 42 Limitless Gravel wheels. This means you can use just about any tire, tubeless or clincher, with them. It’s clear Hunt is making a play for ultimate versatility with these wheels.
Hunt also uses Elliptical Wing spokes. These differ from flat and bladed spokes. They’re sourced from Pillar, and the profile is elliptical as the name suggests. Hunt says this is more aerodynamic than flat or bladed spokes, though there isn’t any data on the website to indicate how much more aerodynamic.
Hunt 42 Limitless Gravel Disc Wheels: aerodynamics
Hunt has published the wind tunnel data for its 42 Limitless Gravel wheels on its website. You can read the entire whitepaper here. That’s a nice step toward transparency, though you’re still left to determine whether the data is the most important data for your purposes.
That said, it’s clear the 42 Limitless Gravel Wheels do offer aerodynamic advantages, especially as the yaw angle increases. This is most important for racers of course. But said gains are fairly minimal, according to Hunt’s data, and the comparison wheels are limited to a handful — by necessity. It’s all but impossible to test every competitor’s wheel, after all.
As is the case with any wheel on the market, the 42 Limitless Gravel Wheels only offer true aerodynamic advantage when you’re pedaling above a certain speed. Gravel speeds tend to be lower, which means the aerodynamic advantages need to be more dramatic for gravel wheels.
Hunt’s wind tunnel testing was conducted at 32 km/h (around 20 mph) rather than the road wheel standard of around 45 km/h (around 28 mph). That number came from average speeds at the Unbound Gravel race, which is a marquee event in the United States. So you can lend a bit more credence to this wind tunnel data, though again, it’s important to consider how fast you’ll actually be riding when using these wheels. 20 mph is a race pace for most gravel riders.
For the rest of us, crosswind stability is probably more important than aerodynamic advantage. Fortunately, Hunt has addressed that, as well, and the wind tunnel data shows that the 42 Limitless Gravel Wheels perform well at yaw angles, besting the competition wheels in the test.
It’s worth noting that all of the wheels in the test are probably more aerodynamic than a wheel with a shallower rim profile. But you’ll also take a weight penalty to go to a deeper rim section wheel like the 42 Limitless Gravel wheels. As is often the case when choosing gear, it’s a trade-off you’ll have to measure on your own.
Hunt 42 Limitless Gravel Disc Wheels: the ride
Enter steamroller mode. The 42 Limitless Gravel wheels allow you to power on through some pretty chunky terrain. That wide inner rim width means you take full advantage of your tire’s width and profile. Run a lower pressure and you get tons of grip, lots of compliance, and straight-line ability to goof off and slam into things like a pinballing puppy.
After you get over the visual shock of running such a huge rim, it’s easy to just start giggling about what you can roll through with relative ease. I took these wheels on everything from smooth gravel to chunky, aggressive singletrack I had no business being on. And my goodness, what fun it is to make my bike that much more capable.
I rode the 42 Limitless Gravel wheels right after I took off a much lower-profile set of wheels — Revel’s RW23 gravel wheels (which are also excellent, but a much different beast). The 42 Limitless Gravel Wheels did not feel any different in windy conditions, right up until the wind really gives you a broadside kick. I don’t think about these wheels in the wind at all, to be honest. They feel stable in all conditions except the nastiest, where any wheel would struggle.
It’s hard to beat CeramicSpeed bearings if you’re looking to reduce friction holistically on your bike. And the 42 Limitless Gravel Wheels do spin smoothly because of them.
That said, there’s certainly an economical case for simply going with the EZO bearings. For starters, it will save you a good bit of cash. And while the CeramicSpeed bearings sure are cool, the EZO bearings will offer plenty of smooth rolling and durability for the vast majority of riders, especially those that won’t be treating these wheels as raceday-only hoops. Replacement bearing cost will be lower, too. If you’re serious about podium spots at big races, consider the CeramicSpeed option; everyone else can safely opt for the EZO bearings and save plenty of cash.
The final word
The 42 Limitless Gravel Wheels offer many of the same advantages of its direct competitors, but at a better price. It’s tough to verify the aerodynamic claims without a windtunnel (which is conspicuously absent from my garage), but if they’re true, you also get that added bonus.
To me, the bigger advantage of the 42 Limitless Gravel wheels is the ride quality. They feel so stable and planted. That shouldn’t be a surprise given the width. I like that they can just steamroll through anything. And cornering feels awe-inspiring; it’s likely a product of the width, which allows you to take full advantage of your tire’s width and grip.
I found the 42 Limitless Gravel wheels to be quite stable in windy conditions, right up until they get blasted with a full-force side wind. Any wheel would falter in those conditions.
Ultimately, you can’t beat the combination of performance, versatility and price here. Hunt has a wheelset to be proud of in the 42 Limitless Gravel wheels.