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HUNT 4Season Disc wheels

OK whats wrong with them?

 

They seem a little too good to be true. I know the top range Hunt wheels have a good rep, but there's less written about the lower range stuff.

Anyone have any experience with them?

Looking to pair them with Hutchinson Sector 28s.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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25 comments

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ChancerOnABike | 5 years ago
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I have he mason X 4 season on my commuter. I reckon i have done 3000kms on them with panniers without issue. Was impressed with them with the change they made to my boardman hybrid commuter, bike feels a lot faster and holds speed easier. For the cash i am really impressed 

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StraelGuy | 5 years ago
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I've put almost exactly 5,000 miles on my original Hunt Mason disc wheelset on my summer bike with zero issues at all. I've just replaced them with Hunt CAD 30 wheels which look amazing and are super light.

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kevvjj | 5 years ago
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Have had a set of Gravel disc wheels for over a year now on a 'gravel' bike. have absolutely hammered them and even used them on my MTB for cross country riding. Faultless and true as the day they were purchased. For the price you can't go wrong. Superb service too.

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jackfrost13 | 5 years ago
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Avoid. I have a pair of 4 season disc wheels. First rear wheel developed hair line cracks from spoke eyelets. Second wheel now has exactly the same issue. Also had to pay LBS you service freehub as wrong grease has been put in by Hunt. Before you ask....I weigh 73kg and am very particular about looking after my bikes....

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kookenhaken replied to jackfrost13 | 5 years ago
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jackfrost13 wrote:

Avoid. I have a pair of 4 season disc wheels. First rear wheel developed hair line cracks from spoke eyelets. Second wheel now has exactly the same issue. Also had to pay LBS you service freehub as wrong grease has been put in by Hunt. Before you ask....I weigh 73kg and am very particular about looking after my bikes....

I had the same issue on the rim brake version, I'd put it down to inexperience when I tried to true it myself.  Interesting to hear it's happened a second time for you. 

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Zermattjohn | 6 years ago
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I've had a pair of Gravel 4-Season Disc for about a year now. My experience of them is that they're pretty good value, roll nicely and are great for crappy winter riding/basic gravel-ly type stuff. Their customer service is very good - you ring/email and they'll pretty much offer to get a courier to come out and pick them up, or pay for the LBS work for any fix. This however seems to highlight the problem - it seems a lot of people have to have them looked at within the 1st year of ownership, so while their after-sales service is very good it does raise the question of the quality of the product leaving them in the 1st place....

Incidentally I have them paired with 35mm tubeless tyres (G-Ones on both at first, but the rear wore down stupidly fast so I have Hutchinson Overide 35mm on that now). Check with them that 28mm is a good fit - they're pretty wide rims.

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BrokenBootneck | 6 years ago
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Been using the dura disc nearly everyday for a year. Had a free hub die. They sent a new one and had offered to pick up and sort for me. I have ran pro ones and sector 28s on them. 

 

Nothing but good things to say really. I have been around 90kgs and they have been bomb proof. 

 

Also so have the carbon 50mm lovely wheels but not used as extensively. 

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Cugel | 6 years ago
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I bought some last autumn and they've just done over the first one thousand miles. Hunt shod them with Schwalbe G1 30mm tubeless and they're in a Trek Domane 400 winterbike with mudguards et al.

As working wheels the 4-season disc wheels do seem both resilient and surprisingly "fast". They get ridden over some seriously bad roads, in club rides where one does not always manage to avoid the pothole and other scabby-tarmac hits.  So far no sign of rim-warp, loose spoke or any other degradation. As another poster mentions, a multi-thousand mile test will confirm or deny their hardiness and suitability for the claimed four seasons (and awful British roads).

I do have some comments about their selling and after-sales service:

1  The dropouts on the Domane are 15mm front through axles with 12mm through axles at the back. This required the additional purchase of the required adaptors from Hunt. On the other hand, they included some redundant 6-bolt to spline disc mount adaptors and a pair of QR skewers that are reduntdant to me. I would rather that the wheel price included the axle parts required but not the other parts which are currently included in the single standard package for the wheelset.

2  When trying to mount an Ultegra 11-speed cassette on the Hunt 11-speed freehub, I found that the lockring had insufficient threads to achieve a secure hold (only about 3/4 of a thread). I complained to Hunt who said the problem was highly unusual but sent me a new freehub (free of charge) to try just in case I had a queer one. This had the same problem.

I eventually solved the problem by finding a non-Shimano lockring with a longer body, which is secure as there are more lockring threads to grab the internal threads of the Hunt freehub. I don't know why the Shinamo lockring caused a problem. I measured the Hunt freehub dimensions against the standard 11-speed hub specification and they were correct to the 0.1mm. Other brands of 11-speed freehub I have do seem to have a tiny amount more of internal thread for the lockring, though. (Which makes them out-of-spec ... but in a good way).

So far I would recommend Hunt 4-season wheels as high quality and very good value. I'm hoping this continues as the miles pile up this year.

Incidentally, I bought the Hunts to replace the Bontrager wheels that came with the Domane, on which I broke two spokes in the first year I had the bike; and could never quite get the wheels to run true thereafter.  Compared to the Hunts, the Bontragers were also a bit leaden, even with Schwalbe Ones mounted rather than the dull Bontrager tyres that came with the bike/wheels.

Cugel.

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Alaska | 6 years ago
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I've just had some delivered and fitted to my bike. Not had chance to use them yet due to weather.

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ugunt | 6 years ago
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This comment comes late, I had these weheels for 1.5 years. After less than a year the rim cracked when the bicyce stood in the shed in the cold. The warranty service was excellent though, I had the wheel back after about 10 days incl shipping.

But I keep replacing spokes on the rear wheel. They usually brake at the thread which is an indication that the socket for the nipple is not properly angled.  Also, the wheel sits not exactyl in the middle and the spoke tension on the drive side is massively higher then on the brake side. With a disc wheel this does not make sense as the brake forces are higher than the acceleration forces.

WIth a 28 tyre the tyrre is about tho touch the rim on the left. Therefore to rectfy this the imbalance of spoke tension would get even worse.

I am sorry to say, after 2 years  I would not buy these wheeels any more. They are not well designed, just well advertised. Unfortunatey people here post reviews after two rides and not after a few thousand miles when it shows how good a wheel really is.

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JimD666 | 6 years ago
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Thanks  1

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BrokenBootneck | 6 years ago
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Dura disc owner and 50mm carbon owner ,pro ones on both bloody lovely 90kg rider no issues and lots of miles done. 

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part_robot | 6 years ago
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Another Hunt Aero Light Disc (alloy) owner. Pre and post sales support from Hunt has been excellent; their support team are very knowledgeable and happily put up with all my questions. The wheels themselves perform well. Only used them for about 2000km so far but all signs point to them being a great purchase. Recommended.

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drosco | 6 years ago
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Any better than the highly regarded Novatec CXD bar the more prestige sounding name?

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Butty | 6 years ago
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I've had a pair of 4 seasons disc wheels for the last 12 months and have had absolutley no issue at all.

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Nick0 | 6 years ago
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I'd just like to add my name to those that have had positive experiences with Hunt. I bought their excellent HuntXMason disc wheels and they are a joy to ride - lightweight and stiff.

I noticed recently, after 11 and a half months and about 6 or 7 thousand miles,  that there was a hairline crack in the rim around one of the spoke heads. I emailed them, and they instantly offered to replace the rim, and even pay for the return delivery cost! A week later and my wheel was returned, new rim and new spokes.

Can't recommend them enough, mine have taken serious stick, serious mileage, I love them and struggle to think of anything that comes close to price, performance, and customer service. Buying them was an excellent decision.

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muppetteer | 6 years ago
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I've got a set of the Hunt Aero Light Disc wheels. 

I had an issue with the lockring (needed very slim fit needed) and Hunt couldn't have been more helpful. They were responsive, and happy to send the parts needed to complete the build. For free. I can't recommend them enough. I got them for the Campagnolo freehub, they were the lightest, best reviewed wheels for the price at the time of purchase. Since purchase the wheels have been faultless. 

I think entrants to the market like Hunt wheels are exactly what the industry needs. They need support and consideration for their size, but they're trying their best to do their best. The service recieved is no worse, and often even better than many of the "big name" brands. Try getting a response from a multinational, they just direct you to their UK distributor. We need new blood, organisations who are going to offer something competitive to the mainstream. Every big brand had to start somewhere.

 

 

 

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emjay49 | 6 years ago
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For what its worth my experience has been really positive.
My Hunt MasonX wheelset came with the bike and although I didnt have much of a choice the wheels appeared to be of good quality, light enough and tubeless ready.
Over 2 years later and around 15k kms of rough back lane riding the rear wheel developed a hairline fracture. I sent a snap of the problem to Hunt for a bit of advice more than anything. They responded straight away and offered a range of very generous options to rectify, to which I was very grateful as the wheels had performed perfectly until then. They were true, the bearings were smooth like new and I hadnt changed a spoke.
Yes they are a cottage industry but they do care about their customers and do stand by their products. It was really refreshing to deal with real people who understand what customer service is all about. Speak as I find I would reccomend both their wheels and their service.

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JimD666 | 6 years ago
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Thanks all

@John S I'd seen the Aussie review of the wheels but as it was nearly 2 years old, I wasn't too sure how relevant it would still be. Thanks for the other links though, my google-fu has been weak recently.

@mrml slightly concerening issue to be frank. At least they did do a full refund and offer to pay the LBS costs.

@guyrwood seems very odd that they would of rebuilt the wheel onto a 2nd hand hub. Did you ask them why?

@Kil0ran really not bothered about the cash upfront bit. It at least means you're unlikely to end up with a set of rims that have been sat in the back of a warehouse gathering dust for two years!

Mind you it also reduces the chance of a sale....

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StraelGuy | 6 years ago
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I agree,  wasn't having a pop at them as such. Would be nice to think they could maybe take another look at that side of the business when things bed in a bit and they have a bit of breathing space.

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kil0ran | 6 years ago
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I think the last two comments are a reminder that we're often dealing with very small-scale operations, its easy to appear big through marketing, positive reviews of a good product, and a shiny website. That's not to diss Hunt at all but if you look at their business model its very much cash upfront, delivery in weeks rather than days. Really a Kickstarter model but it enables them to keep quality high and prices/overheads relatively low. Knowing you can definitely sell 100% of a run at £450 a pop is far easier from a cashflow perspective then ending up discounting to shift unsold inventory. I've always found them to be very responsive on forums and responding to pre-sales questions but it can be harder to get good Customer Service operation running.

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StraelGuy | 6 years ago
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I must admit to being a bit of a Hunt fan but I also had a weird warranty experience with them recently. I needed to remove the freehub to check something but the axle nut had completely frozen which result in the hex flats in the end of the axle completely rounding off. I sent the wheel back expecting they just replace the axle and nut and send it back but they actually rebuilt the wheel onto a rather grubby, obviously secondhand, hub and sent it back. It works fine but not what I was really expecting tbh.

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mrml | 6 years ago
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I have some feedback on my experience with Hunt Wheels, albeit not this particular wheelset.  I bought a Hunt  Race Aero wheelset in Feb, and was saving them for the better spring weather and an event at the end of May.  They were £379, and I paid extra for them to be supplied with Schwalbe Pro Ones set up tubeless.  

 

I rode them twice in spring, for a total distance of about 150km, and was pleased with the ride and how they rolled.  I was less pleased when one of the spokes on the rear wheel unwound itself from the nipple while the bike was stored in the garage for a few weeks.  

 

The short(er) version is that the wheel was not tensioned properly (barely at all on non-drive side) the and went back to Hunt Wheels.  They provided a very unconvincing explanation of why this was the case, "repaired" the wheel and sent it back with assurances that all was well.  I took the wheel straight back to the LBS for inspection, and their verdict was "assembled but not tensioned". After another exchange of comms with Hunt Wheels I returned the wheels for a full refund.

 

To be fair to their customer services, they were willing to collect the wheels for inspection and repair at their cost, and offered to reimburse me for the LBS work (which I wasn't charged for anyway) but what bugged me was the general scepticism about the feedback I passed on from the LBS and the BS excuses they gave about their process and the condition of the wheels.  

 

Other minor points to bear in mind (which presumably are at least in part due to the size of their business) are that they only seemed to have one mechanic available to repair wheels (and he was on holiday when the wheels were returned), and they had no stock that they could send me or loan to me.  Also the tubeless set up was pretty unprofessional first time round.  

 

I was attracted to Hunt Wheels by the good specs and positive feedback from reviews and forums, but personally I won't be buying Hunt Wheels again.  Not because I got a duff pair, but because they didn't really admit that something had gone wrong with the assembly of these wheels, the explanations  they gave me didn't ring true, and they weren't able to fix the issue first time round.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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John_S | 6 years ago
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Oh and some more reviews just in case they help.  John

http://www.gravelcyclist.com/bicycle-tech/review-hunt-four-season-gravel-disc-wheelset/

 

Also if you go from their website there's a link to a few reviews of various wheelsets and there might be one for the 4 seasons but obviously being linked of their own website the reviews are only likely to be positive ones but there all on external websites so hopefully impartial.

 

https://www.huntbikewheels.com/pages/hunt-reviews-press

 

 

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John_S | 6 years ago
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Hi JimD666,

 

Apologies as I don't own a set of these wheels and so I can't speak from personal experience but they are definitely very near the top of my shortlist for the next time I need a set of wheels.

Here's a review if it helps you:-

http://www.bicycles.net.au/2015/10/review-hunt-mason-x-4season-disc-wheelset/

 

As mentioned if I buy a set of off the shelf wheels next time I need some I'll very likely buy these if I don't just get a local wheelbuiler to build some up instead.

 

Good luck finding out what you want to know about these wheels.

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

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