Hunt's New E_Enduro Wheelset - Pond Beaver 2020
With a motor helping and an extra 15 pounds of metal under you, e-bikes are said to be especially hard on their components. And it's your tires and wheels that are on the front line of that abuse, which is why many brands offer beefed-up versions of both. Hunt's new E_Enduro wheelset is exactly that, sporting a burly rim with e-bike-specific hubs in the center that adds up to 2,621-grams for a set of 29ers. The 27.5" version weighs 90-grams less, and both go for $539 USD.
With a 37mm internal width, Hunt says that the e-specific rims will play nice with tires up to 3" wide, although it's best suited to the 2.5" to 2.8" rubber that comes stock on many e-bikes. Compared to their normal Enduro rim, there's apparently 25-percent more material in the sidewalls, and 41-percent more in the rim bed. More aluminum should mean more strength, of course.
The rim's profile was also ''designed in conjunction with engineers at leading MTB tyre brands,'' so it should seal up easily, and it has the same 'H-Lock' bead that's intended to keep burps to a minimum.
There is a set of "Large body E_MTB specific hubs" at the center of each wheel, too, although the e-specific features would make sense on downhill and enduro bikes as well. You'll spot a finned section behind the rotor mounts on both hubs, with the idea being that the larger surface area created by the fins dissipates heat quicker than if that aluminum had just been scooped out as per usual. There's a set of 17mm axles inside, and the rear employs six pawls that shouldn't have any issues dealing with the added torque of an electric motor.
Hunt has used thirty-two Pillar triple-butted (2.3-1.8-2.0mm) spokes to build the front wheel, while the rear gets thirty-six spokes.
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Where was this shit for my santa Cruz super 8/ monster t / 3.0 gazzolodi 52lb beast from 2 decade ago?
I always get a chuckle out of that line because I think my total weight bike + gear + rider on an ebike would still be lighter than a lot of the guys I ride with who are on 25 lb super bikes. They must really be blowing through equipment.
Not complaining though: This R&D is great for regular bikes. Ebike brakes and forks are some of the greatest things to come out of all this.
It’s not like rider weight varying from 120-250lbs has already been a thing for the past 100 years. Ridiculous.
It's great to have your experience feed into what we do, so thank you. We have two full time engineers here www.huntbikewheels.com/blogs/the-rider-firm-people plus my Dad John is a Chartered Materials engineer. I always discuss any comments section feedback so thank you. On the gravity focused wheels we always specced 6069-T6 alloy (same as Stan's top of the range rims) whilst it is approx +80% more expensive per rim than 6061-T6 (Stan's S1 rims) it is also about 70% higher tensile strength (290MPa vs 490 MPa ultimate tensile strength). We have verified material supply documents plus my Dad does carry out material verification on our supplied production rims to make sure and just in February carried out the following Rockwell hardness testing with results during our latest MTB alloy rim development:
Materials Tests Results: The test was a Rockwell A (Hardness Test, not ultimate tensile strength test) specification meaning a 60kgF load was applied to the rim segment (with initial priming force) using a diamond cone, the point at which the cone moves back up to after the force is released is used to give the following calculated values. Two tests are done for each so and some give a small range.
DT SWISS EX1501 Test 1 - 40.5 Test 2 - 40.4
HOPE FORTUS Test 1 - 37.5 Test 2 - 38.4
STANS FLOW EX3 Test 1 - 39 Test 2 - 38.1
HUNT EnduroWide Test 1 - 42.2 Test 2 - 43.3
However, the experience you guys have against some of the leading DT rims, for example, is of course real and one we take on board. We agree and definitely see that the way the high-end 6069 alloy is used in the rim profile design and wall thicknesses is also something we are working on, so thank you for your feedback here. Adding weight in the right areas is where DT have succeeded. The Hope rims use 6061 but obviously have a much greater rim weight more similar to our E_Enduro rims above and so do perform well against high impacts in our testing, but of course all engineering design is a compromise to suit the purpose between weight, strength, or price (which can be mitigated by efficient business models e.g. how we can include 6069-T6 at these prices).
Just in terms of numbers from our customer warranty information; I have checked through our warranty and crash replacement data and we had 0.42% warranty or crash replacements on the Enduro wide rims in the last year but you're right not everyone will tell us and I realise some riders will use them to their fullest extent where other riders probably buy 160mm bikes and fit Enduro wheels but just ride trail so that 's only part of the full picture, you're right.
As I mentioned up top, Matt Stuttard runs the Enduro Wide for all his training and several of his EWS races, he has only written off one Enduro wide rim all season. Will Easey on the UK Cotic Team racing enduro got through only 2 alloy EnduroWide rims last year and mentioned to us that he was previously used to damaging beyond repair over 1/2 a dozen rims per year. We can clearly learn and make better rims to beat the absolute best but where we are currently shows we have some strong results, proving and testing to be even better.
As I say, the experience you guys have are real and we thank you for helping us, your feedback is so valuable. It would be great to here any further suggestions you guys have or key products you like so we can use that information in our engineering development process. We have two yet to be released gravity rim designs we have done a lot of FEA work and comparative impact testing on already and even with some cutting edge strength adding features so any extra feedback you have will help us further these, so please do let us know.
We're always listening and thank you. If you ever want any help with any HUNT Wheels or just have ideas please do contact us as you mention and can see here uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.huntbikewheels.com we just want to make sure we help anyone, hear feedback and get better, and we'd love to help if we can. Please do let us know and we will always do our best. Support@huntbikewheels.com +44 (0) 1273 931 428. Thanks again guys, Tom Marchment HUNT Wheels Co-Founder, with my brother Pete.