Thank you very much too every one of you who took the time to apply to our OpenDev team. We have received over 2300 application and we were amazed and humbled to see so much interest and support for Hunt. Narrowing down all the applications to only 6 OpenDev team members has been an incredibly difficult task but eventually we have selected people that represent a broad cross section of riding styles. At Hunt we are all riders which helps us understand what makes a good wheelset and through our OpenDev team members we hope to expand our knowledge further to ensure we create the best possible wheels for you.
So without further ado we are pleased to announce the 2016 Hunt Open Development Programme riders:
Ivy Pederson
Ivy is the newest member of the Hunt Open Development team. She lives in Montana in the USA with the Rocky Mountains on her door step. Living on the edge of the mountains makes flexibility when it comes to riding key. This means riding on the paved roads when they aren't covered in snow, riding on gravel farm roads when the pavement ends, and dodging bears on the trail for a few glorious summer months. Ivy is a well rounded rider who enjoys all disciplines, especially racing Cyclo Cross. Welcome to the team Ivy!
Rob Harwood
Rob was one of our very first Hunt customers in early 2015 and has put in plenty of miles on our wheels over the past 12months. Rob lives for long distance adventures and has been helping us with the testing and development of our 4 Season Dura wheelset. Rob is the co-founder of the ColVelo cycling club based in Colchester. ColVelo is a cycling club aimed at those who have a passion for riding and adventure, not necessarily focusing on racing. You are more likely to find ColVelo members enjoying a coffee and a sausage roll half way round an epic ride than sprinting for the line in a race. We know Rob will do a great job of pushing the limits of Hunt wheels and pushing us to do better.
Hannah Rickets
We feel that women are majorly underrepresented in the bike world and so we are very pleased to welcome Hannah into the OpenDev Team. Hannah is based in Bristol and in her own words likes “to have a go at everything and fill my time riding whatever I can!” If you can’t find Hannah down at the local pump track on her BMX or cruising around town on her fixie then she can be found out training on the roads and racing local time trials. Hannah is also working on a custom Cyclocross bike and is looking to have a go at Cross next season. We were impressed with Hannah’s have a go at everything attitude and feel she will be invaluable at expanding the way our wheels are used.
Jonathan Calow
Jonathan Calow is the next member of the team. Jonathan is an avid cyclist and commutes to work daily. He also has a passion for sportives and triathlons and has to fit in his training around daily life. Jonathan also runs his own Commuter Triathlete blog, which gives plenty of great insight into his riding, bike and equipment. Again we feel that Jonathan is a great representative for the type of rider we are designing wheels for so look forward to working with him throughout the coming year.
Aaron Hoppe
Aaron is the American representative for the Hunt Open Development team. What really stood out on Aaron’s application was his passion for cycling and love for his young family. Aaron fits in his cycling when he can and mixes road, cyclocross and gravel riding. He has even tig welded his very own dream bike; a big tyred, disc brake, all-road bike, the vision for the build being ‘one bike to rule them all’. We love Aaron’s commitment to both his cycling and family and his one bike to do everything philosophy. We are looking forward to Aaron riding on Hunt wheels in some epic American gravel adventures and Cyclocross races.
Will Johnson
The final (and by no means least) member of the 2016 Hunt Open Development Team is Ex professional rugby player Will Johnson. Will is in his own words ‘mildly obsessed with cycling’. Based in southern France Will is located in a prime location to test and ride wheels in the heartland of cycling. As a former rugby player Will weighs in at 100+kg so is the perfect candidate to test our wheels to the limits. We are often asked by customers if our wheels will withstand use by heavier riders so we look forward to working closely with Will to develop our products to be even stronger and more durable. Will is taking part in a number of European Sportives this year including the Etape du Tour and the Paris Roubaix sportive.
So there you have the 2016 Hunt OpenDev Team. It’s been great see so many amazing applications and stories from such a huge range of candidates. The riders were chosen for their abilities to serve you our customers and for how rigorously they will test the wheels during the types of riding you do every day. We really do want to thank everyone who applied as there were so many riders we had to turn down who we know would have done a great job. Every Hunt customer or follower is part of our wider Hunt OpenDev programme to make ever better wheels by providing feedback so we would be delighted to hear your views. Keep up to date at www.huntbikewheels.com/OpenDev we’ve already started work with our OpenDev Dynamo wheels survey click here (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hg7v-LD144fd9eRvj8_qaU1_FzbvnVI3j7lOyBX_SoU/viewform) to let us know your thoughts.