HUNT Wheels Releases Sustain Phase One Range

West Sussex, UK | Boulder, US - HUNT Wheels, leading aftermarket upgrade wheel company, announced today the Sustain Phase One range, an initiative centered around reducing the company’s environmental impact while continuing to serve riders with high specification upgrade wheels that improve the riding experience. HUNT took three of the company’s most popular wheelsets, and re-imagined the design and development process to reduce environmental impact through specification choices and the use of recycled content.

Sustain Phase One Wheel Range Overview

All three new wheels are made using recycled material in the rims and Zero Coat spokes and spoke nipples to reduce environment impact while offering critical performance attributes such as low rotational weight for quick acceleration and wide, tubeless-ready rim profiles for low rolling resistance and increased cornering traction. The wheelsets are hand-built in Europe with high-spec spokes for reduced weight and improved ride feel, and fast engaging, reliable hub systems for quick power transfer and durability. Long service life and reliability have been top priorities for HUNT since the start. Each of the three Sustain Phase One wheels, along with every HUNT wheel design, has undergone extensive testing and validation by HUNT’s in-house engineering and development team, including a comprehensive impact test, burst pressure testing to 150% of max PSI, real-world rider testing using our network of test athletes, and a rigorous cobbled-rolling road test.

Sustain Phase One – 42 Carbon Disc Ti Details

The 42 Carbon Disc Ti is an all-around, mid-depth road wheel capable of tackling all-road, mixed-surface terrain. With a hooked rim profile measuring 22mm wide internally, the wheel is optimized for tyres ranging from 25mm to 35mm tyres. The rim is constructed using 10% recycled carbon fiber, sourced from specialist European recycled composites suppliers which recycle larger aerospace and automotive components, as well as off cuts from carbon fibre rim production. As far as the HUNT team is aware, this is the only manufacturer in the world currently creating rims with recycled carbon fiber content.

Weight: 1497g per pair
Rim Material: Carbon Fiber, using 10% recycled carbon fleece in outer rim surface to increase impact resistance
Internal Rim Width: 22mm 
External Rim Width: 29mm
Spokes: Sapim CX-Ray triple butted aero blade with Zero Coat stainless steel finish
Spoke Count: 24 front / 24 Rear
Hubs: HUNT Europa H_Ratchet Ti, 10-degree engagement with one-piece, machined grade 5 titanium freehub body
Hubset CNC machined and assembled in Belgium
Bearings: Sealed Precision Cartridge 
Pricing:  £1,149 | €1,349 | $1,449

The recycled carbon fiber is processed into a dense fleece material that reinforces the outer rim and rim hook structure during the molding process, improving impact resistance due to its multi-directional structure. The rims are molded with a wax core mandrel, using a unique Resin Transfer Molding method, rather than traditional resin-infused carbon fiber pre-preg, so the carbon offcuts can be easily recycled and do not require refrigerated storage, further reducing energy use. The wax core material can be melted and re-used in this process more than 20 times, offering significant reduction in waste compared to production methods using single-use silicone or EPS mandrels.

The wheel is hand-built with Sapim CX-Ray triple butted aero blade spokes, around the new HUNT Europa H_Ratchet Ti hub, offering a 10-degree engagement angle with a 36-tooth stainless steel ratchet ring and grade 5 titanium one-piece freehub body. The hubset is CNC machined and built in Belgium.

HUNT Sustain Phase One - 4 Season All-Road Disc Details

Based on the original upgrade wheel from HUNT, but re-developed applying the knowledge and capabilities gained over several years to reduce environmental impact throughout the production process. The Sustain Phase One 4 Season All-Road and Trail Wide 29 rims are both constructed using 75% recycled aluminium alloy, 30% of which is sourced from recycled post-consumer alloy such as drink cans, while the other 45% is comprised of recycled content from the industrial sector, such as off-cuts and shavings from CNC processing.

Hand-built with a HUNT Europa 4 Season Hub set, CNC-machined and assembled in France, and laced with Zero Coat Sapim D-Light double butted spokes, the 4 Season All-Road Disc is built for all weather, year-round performance, whether on the road, gravel, or broken roads in between.

Weight: 1718g per pair
Rim Material: Lightweight 6000 series heat-treated alloy, made with 75% recycled alloy content
Internal Rim Width: 23mm 
External Rim Width: 27mm
Spokes: Sapim D-Light double butted with Zero Coat stainless steel finish
Spoke Count: 24 Front / 28 Rear
Hubs: HUNT Europa 4 Season Hub set, 7.5-degree engagement, CNC’d 6000 series heat treated aluminum alloy body with 7075-T6 alloy axle and freehub
Hubset CNC machined and assembled in France
Bearings: Sealed Precision Cartridge 
Pricing:   £449 | €489 | $549

HUNT Sustain Phase One – Trail Wide 29 Details

The award-winning, all-around trail MTB wheel from HUNT, made using 75% recycled aluminium alloy, Zero Coat silver spokes and nipples. 30mm internal rim width is optimized for 2.2”-2.6” trail tyres, and designed to offer comfortable, compliant ride feel without sacrificing durability. The HUNT EUROPA Boost hubset is CNC machined and assembled in France, offering a 7.5-degree engagement angle to get the power to the trail without delay on technical climbs.

Weight: 1878g per pair
Rim Material: Lightweight 6000 series heat-treated alloy, made with 75% recycled alloy content
Internal Rim Width: 30mm
External Rim Width: 34mm
Spokes: Sapim D-Light double butted with Zero Coat stainless steel finish
Spoke Count: 28 Front / 32 Rear
Hubs: HUNT EUROPA Boost 48T hub set, 7.5-degree engagement, CNC’d 6000 series heat treated aluminum alloy body with 7075-T6 alloy axle and freehub
Hubset CNC machined and assembled in France
Bearings: Sealed Precision Cartridge 
Pricing:  £489 | €549 | $589

Zero Coated Spokes

While anodizing alloy rims and hubs is necessary to protect the surface from wear and improve the longevity of the component, the electrical chemical coating process used to colour-coat black spokes and brass spoke nipples offers no practical or performance benefit beyond aesthetics. The HUNT development team has opted to save the energy and chemical usage required in the spoke and spoke nipple colour coating process for these wheelsets. Each of the three wheelsets has also been hand-built with raw silver J-bend spokes for greater durability and easy replacement. The two alloy offerings feature durable, naturally corrosion-resistant brass spoke nipples with self-lubricating properties.

HUNT’s Company-Wide Carbon Emission Reduction Plan

The HUNT Wheels company is seeking accreditation from the Science Based Targets Initiative, a global partnership of leading organizations that helps companies measure emissions and set ambitious and credible greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in line with the latest climate science. SBTi was recently chosen as the measurement partner by a leading global direct-to-consumer bike brand.

HUNT will begin to publicly disclose company-wide emissions and track progress annually starting at the end of 2024. HUNT has committed to reducing Scope 1 (direct emissions from sources that the company owns or controls’ such as our buildings, vehicles, and equipment) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions from the generation of electricity, heat, or steam purchased and used in operations) emissions by at least 50% by 2030. HUNT Wheels is working with suppliers, manufacturers, and supply chain partners to measure and reduce Scope 3 (all other indirect emissions that occur in the value chain, upstream and downstream, such as raw materials, transportation, waste disposal, and product use) with a goal of achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, in-line with the 2015 UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Increasing Product Lifespan through Serviceability and Durability

Since HUNT was founded in 2015, the product development and engineering teams have strived to create wheels that will not only improve the riding experience with performance benefits, but also provide those benefits reliably and dependably for many riding seasons.

Serviceability, spare component availability, and compatibility (future-proofing for new standards) have long been key considerations when designing wheel systems. The team equips wheelsets with high-specification bearings and interchangeable spokes and maintains stock levels of spare parts for all HUNT wheelsets dating back to 2015, so that riders are able and encouraged to repair rather than replace their HUNT wheels for longer service life and reduced consumption.

RE:NEW Program

Launched in 2022, the HUNT RE:NEW program allows riders to benefit from significant savings on lightly used HUNT Wheels, helping us keep perfectly functional wheels on bikes where they belong. The process also allows HUNT to reuse materials and components, helping reduce the company’s carbon footprint while offering an option for riders seeking more sustainable post-consumer products with lower environmental impact.