Insider Knowledge with Tom Couzens.

The word "Privateer" didn’t really exist 5 years ago, but fast forward to now, it is something I have been lucky enough to be for the past 3 years. Being a Privateer is a little different to being on a traditional cycling team, with the two most obvious differences being your flexibility of race calendar and how brand partnerships look.

Rather than a fixed list of products that everyone in the team must use, I have complete freedom in the products I use. That means I am able to choose products I genuinely believe in, because at the end of the day it is my choice. A number of years ago I was using HUNT wheels before I was lucky enough to become a HUNT athlete.

It was during those years of racing around muddy cyclocross fields on a set of HUNT 30 Carbon CX Disc that made me fall in love with the brand. I've raced them through some of the worst conditions you could think of, washing them with jet hoses multiple times over each race and 6 years later, I’m still running the same set and it is like they have just come out the box!

Recently I had the opportunity to visit their HQ down in West Sussex to have a look behind the scenes and learn more about the development of each wheelset!

Meeting Tom Marchment

HUNT wheels wouldn’t be a thing if it wasn’t for Tom and Peter Marchment, the people to ultimately thank for such an incredible range of wheels. I was extremely fortunate to actually interview Tom, learning more about the inspiration behind the brand, the R&D that takes place to what is coming in the future. I don’t want to give too much away, but if you would like to watch the full interview then you can do below.

The development

If you’ve been paying close attention, you'll know that the HUNT 5AM Limitless Disc was found to be the most aerodynamic wheel on the market from Cycling New’s latest wind tunnel testing. After spending some time with the people responsible for designing and developing them it was no surprise, but what I did find surprising was just the amount of detail that goes into the whole development of each wheelset.

Keeping the focus on the 5AM Limitless Disc, one of the most interesting things I found was to do with the mullet setup. The front wheel is deeper at 58mm, whilst the rear is slightly shallower at 55mm. I always assumed that a deeper rear wheel would be faster but as Rob explained to me“If you’re going to add weight of carbon to the wheel system then you are better off putting it in the front wheel because the front wheel is in clean air. So by going deeper and wider in the front wheel, you end up with a more efficient wheel system. Then on the rear you can go slightly shallower and narrower you can save weight without affecting the aerodynamics.”

This is very much the final product of several years' worth of research and development. It all starts with software modelling to test different wheel depths, rim widths, materials and more. Once it is clear which combinations are the fastest, the next stage of development moves to 3D printing rim models to better understand how they perform in a real-world tunnel. From here, further tweaks may be made before real examples are produced and put through serious testing. From real-life aero testing and wind tunnel testing to general test riding, each stage helps to ensure the final product performs as it should when it eventually makes its way onto a bike.