Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

review

Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc Wheelset

10
£999.00

VERDICT:

10
10
Wide, light and strong – pick three. Superb wheels for your adventure bike and highly recommended
Weight: 
1,489g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

I've been thrashing the Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheels around the roads and bridleways of the south west, as well as using them for a touring trip to Cuba where they endured all kinds of surfaces, pot-holes and being lashed to roof-racks with string. And I like them, a lot.

Hunt wheels have made quite the splash since they were launched only two years ago. Offering a range of keenly priced, well-built wheels, Hunt has sold them by the bucketload and made it onto many riders' upgrade shortlist. Starting with wheels built with aluminium rims, in the second half of last year Hunt made the move into carbon wheels with a series of new models.

> Buy these online here

As the name suggests, the 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheels are aimed at the fast-growing new gravel/all-road/adventure bike category. Gravel bikes are aimed at riders who want to go quickly on the road, with the freedom to take a turn off the tarmac and explore further into the wild than you could on a traditional road bike. They're typically built tougher than a road bike, and consequently heavier. If you're looking for an upgrade to your gravel bike, wheels may be on your list, and with a weight of less than 1,500g, these are likely to be quite a bit lighter than most stock wheels.

The 30Carbon Gravel wheels use a new disc brake-only rim design, developed over the last year with Hunt's rim partner, and currently exclusive to Hunt. They're built from unidirectional T24/30 carbon and are 30mm deep and 26.6mm wide, and notably lighter than most wide aluminium rims at a claimed 370g (compared to 460g for the shallower, narrower Stans ZTR Grail disc rim, for example). Using carbon helps, obviously, but Hunt has also saved weight thanks to the absence of a brake track and bead hooks. Check our Facebook Live video for details on some of the factors behind the choice of carbon and resin grades used.

Hunt 30 Carbon Gravel Disc Wheelset - rim detail 2.jpg

The inexpensive stock wheels on my gravel bike were proof positive that heavy wheels aren't automatically tough wheels, with a rather shonky build meaning that they went out of true disappointingly quickly. Fitting the Hunt 30Carbon wheels slashed more than half a kilo of weight from the bike, making an immediate and noticeable improvement to the bike's acceleration, with the bike feeling more lively on the road. The tapering 30mm rim shape has – one assumes – a very slight aero advantage over a standard box-section, but it's likely to be less noticeable.

At over 26mm externally, and 21.3mm internally, these are wide rims, as befits their intended use, and Hunt says they're suitable for use with tyres from 25mm to 50mm, making them an option for a really broad range of riding. Fit some racy 25mm tyres, and you're really giving nothing away against many high-end road setups in terms of weight.

Hunt 30 Carbon Gravel Disc Wheelset - rim bed.jpg

That's impressive, as is the fact that Hunt hasn't cut corners to hit that low weight. A healthy 28 spokes per wheel laced 2-cross front and rear makes for a really strong, stiff build. Hunt gives a rider weight limit of 115kg for these wheels, and they've shrugged off everything I've thrown at them, including bridleways, towpath commuting, and touring with panniers on some pretty appalling roads. Even a nine-hour car journey with the bike lashed to a roof-rack across Cuba didn't result in so much as a bent spoke.

Most of the testing was done with Schwalbe S-One (30mm) and G-One (40mm) tyres fitted, which are a great match for the wheels as they offer really decent rolling performance while allowing for some off-road forays.

Hunt Wheels is a big advocate for tubeless, and the 30Carbon Gravel wheels are supplied taped and with valves included. Unlike the majority of road tubeless rims, there are no pronounced bead hooks, the small ridges intended to keep the tyre beads locked in position. Getting the tyre over the bead hooks is normally the fiddly part of inflating a tubeless tyre, and sure enough, fitting tyres to these wheels was – by a country mile – the easiest tubeless inflation I've ever experienced. Using just a track pump, they were sealed within three pump strokes, and needed only a few more strokes to get them fully seated.

Hunt 30 Carbon Gravel Disc Wheelset - rim detail.jpg

Hunt maintains that with quality rims and tyres, there's no need for a bead hook, and cites the fact that cars, motorbikes and most mountain bike tubeless rims don't have them. Certainly I've had no issue with tyre seating or sealing – they hold pressure admirably. I mostly ran the 30mm S-Ones at around 50-60psi (Hunt gives a maximum of 70psi for 30mm tyres), and had zero punctures while testing the wheels. Hunt will supply the wheels with a choice of tyres already fitted if you want to save yourself the (minimal) faff.

What of the hubs then? They're based on those used in the 4season disc wheelset with uprated shielding and sealing on the EZO bearings to cope with off-road grot and the occasional jetwash. They're supplied with standard QR endcaps as well as 12mm thru-axle adaptors for the front wheel, and Hunt can supply 9mm, 12mm or 15mm thru-axle adaptors as needed. There are also Campagnolo and SRAM XD freehub adaptors available.

Hunt 30 Carbon Gravel Disc Wheelset - front hub.jpg

The 4-pawl freehub runs sweetly, and reasonably quietly. It's pretty straightforward to open up the hubs when needed (although no attention was required during testing) and getting hold of spares shouldn't be a problem, either direct from Hunt or from a local shop thanks to standard sizes being used for bearings, spokes and nipples. Hunt's business model was initially one of direct sales, but it tells us that it's more than happy to deal via local bike shops (for wheels and spares) for customers who prefer to buy like that.

A welcome touch is the inclusion of a steel strip in the splines of the freehub body, designed to prevent the cassette sprockets biting in. After more than 1000km of testing, I took the cassette off to check out whether it worked and found that it had been doing its job. The cassette slid off with zero jiggling required, and there's only minor evidence of any biting in the splines.

Hunt 30 Carbon Gravel Disc Wheelset - rear hub.jpg

The hubs are designed for Shimano Centerlock rotors but Hunt includes 6-bolt adaptors as well. I mostly ran with Centerlock rotors, but did try fitting some 6-bolt rotors, to discover that my fork couldn't quite accommodate them; when I clamped up the thru-axle, the lock-ring was pressed against the inside edge of the fork and prevented the wheel rotating freely. This is a function of the fork design rather than the hub (with rotor positioning being standardised to suit where the calliper sits), but Hunt told me that Shimano has a slimline lockring which it can supply for customers with this issue.

Hunt 30 Carbon Gravel Disc Wheelset - front hub 2.jpg

Hunt has taken a grown up approach to styling with its whole range of wheels, with plain black rims and a small, classy logo. It must be said that this makes these wheels quite hard to differentiate visually from others in the range, and a number of people asked me if it was the (rather cheaper) 4Season wheelset. This actually suited me quite well, as I sometimes need to lock my bike up and leave it, and a bling wheelset makes me uncomfortable doing this.

Having used a number of carbon wheelsets on my race bike, these are the first I've tried on my gravel bike, and it's really hard to find fault with them. Light, wide, rugged and dependable, with genuinely easy tubeless setup, they're exactly what I'd want from a gravel wheelset. Carbon rims and disc brakes is a great combination, too. Priced at £999, they're a big step up in price from Hunt's aluminium range, with the popular 4Season Disc wheelset priced at £369.

> Buyer's Guide: Tubeless wheels

If it were my money, the question I'd be asking myself is: how do these justify the extra cost? So that's the question I put to Tom from Hunt, and his lengthy answer can be summarised thus: the rims are wider, bringing a raft of benefits in terms of tyre shape, increased air volume and hence comfort; they are deeper and yet comfortably lighter than the 4season wheelset; there are upgrades to spokes and bearings, and they're built tougher, with four extra spokes per wheel. Hunt is also bringing out an aluminium 4Season Gravel Disc wheelset with rims that are a bit narrower and shallower, but with the higher spoke count, also priced at £369.

It should be no shock to anyone that the law of diminishing returns is at work here – Hunt's cheaper wheels are really good, and quite a lot less expensive. These 30Carbon Gravel wheels are even better, and quite a lot pricier. Measured up against competition from other brands, they certainly look very competitive. We liked Fulcrum's Racing Quattro Carbon DB wheelset a lot, and they're a bit heavier and a bit spendier. Although lighter, the Hunt wheels are also a better proposition when you get further from the tarmac, as they're built with more spokes and the rims are quite a bit wider, offering a broader base for the tyres.

If you're in the market for a posh set of wheels for your gravel bike, I really can't think of a better option. Hunt has set a benchmark with these superb wheels.

Verdict

Wide, light and strong – pick three. Superb wheels for your adventure bike and highly recommended

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc Wheelset

Size tested: 30mm Deep, 27mm Wide, 28 Spokes

Tell us what the wheel is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Hunt says: "Your Gravel/CX weapons. Super-wide,4Season/CX sealed hubs &high 28 spoke durability for up to 115kg riders, plus they are only 1449g!

Thanks to disc brakes the line between road bikes and cross bikes has been well and truly blurred. Many of us now rightly see bikes as our keys to freedom; the freedom to roam and find undiscovered routes and just have a blast. We want to go fast on road, but often the routes we want to ride also lead off-road.The 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheelset couples our 30Carbon rim with our proven 4 Season Disc hub and a higher 28 spoke count for up to 115kg riders, creating a light-weight strong gravel, CX, bike-packing and heavy-duty road wheelset at well below 1500g! The extra-wide rim is ideal for gravel and cross tyres so you can explore, go bike-packing, rip any trails you fancy and thrash that CX course.

The 27mm rim width opens out your tyre profile providing exceptional grip and low rolling-resistance as well as providing great support for larger CX and gravel tyres especially at low pressures for killer off-road grip. Our H-lock tubeless steps grab the tyre beads when you're leaning hard into corners. The bladed spokes reduce weight, add strength and respond instantly to your accelerations. The latest breed of tubeless tyres give-up nothing in weight to their clincher counterparts, as well as removing the tube for weight saving and reducing rolling resistance, so tubeless-ready was essential."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the wheel?

Rims Unidirectional T24/30 with 3K weave re-enforced spoke holes. Disc specific. Tubeless-ready for lower weight & rolling resistance, featuring H-lock bead-seat for easy and secure tubeless installation. 30mm deep, Super-wide 27mm aero U-profile.

Tyres Wide 21mm rim bed creates a broad tyre profile, suitable for tyres from 25mm up to 50c. Not included.

Hubs HUNT 4Season Disc J-bend spoke hubs with extra bearing shielding.QR w/adaptable axles; front and rear thru 9, 10, 12, 15. Large double-sealed main bearings, 7075-T6 axle and freehub. Steel spline insert. SRAM XD Driver available.Centre-lock disc mount, 6 bolt disc adaptors included.

Spokes 28F/28R Pillar PSRXTRA Aero J-bend

Nipples 16mm alloy double square with washers.

QR Hunt 4Season Internal Cam for high torque tightening, secure fitting with low dirt ingress. Stainless steel springs.

Included QRs, Tubeless tape & valves, spare spokes, spoke key, 12mm front adaptor (other adaptors sold separately), pair of 6 bolt disc adaptors.

Weight 1449g (rims, hubs spokes and nipples)

Rate the wheel for quality of construction:
 
10/10

Hookless rim makes tubeless inflation so easy, but with no apparent compromise on bead security or sealing – impressive. High spoke count makes for tough wheels if they're built well, and these are.

Rate the wheel for performance:
 
10/10

Excellent stiffness and good acceleration thanks to the lightweight rim. Probably a minor aerodynamic benefit too with the appropriate tyres, but not something I could really detect.

Rate the wheel for durability:
 
10/10

Hunt has thought this one through. Using a higher spoke-count, together with top-end spokes and enhanced bearing protection, it's built a really solid set of wheels. The higher rider weight limit will make them attractive to heavier or more aggressive riders.

Rate the wheel for weight
 
10/10

Very light for a disc wheelset, especially one with wide rims and a high spoke count.

Rate the wheel for value:
 
8/10

This is a premium-priced wheelset and it's worth pointing out that Hunt offers some much lower-priced options. You'll struggle to find much competition that can combine such a low weight, toughness and stiffness for this price, though, so it has to be a good mark.

Did the wheels stay true? Any issues with spoke tension?

They've been subjected to some pretty poor road surfaces, frozen towpaths and being lashed to a roof-rack for hours without any issues.

How easy did you find it to fit tyres?

Jaw-droppingly easy. Fitting 30mm Schwalbe S-One tyres was by far the easiest tubeless setup I've yet tried. No compressor, just a track pump, and they were sealed within three strokes.

How did the wheel extras (eg skewers and rim tape) perform?

They were supplied taped and that worked fine. The supplied QRs are quality items with internal cams – a real step up from what is included with most wheels.

Tell us how the wheel performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Flawlessly. I've used them on road, off road and loaded for touring and they've not put a foot wrong.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the wheel

Making a light wheelset that is tough enough for real-world use on and off road. The superlative ease of tubeless fitting. Discreet, grown-up styling – a carbon wheelset I felt comfortable leaving locked up in town.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the wheel

Nothing.

Did you enjoy using the wheel? Yes

Would you consider buying the wheel? Yes

Would you recommend the wheel to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your score

A faultless performance really – if this is your price range, these are as good as it gets right now for gravel/adventure wheels.

Overall rating: 10/10

About the tester

Age: 37  Height: 188cm  Weight: 78kg

I usually ride: On-one Bish Bash Bosh  My best bike is: Rose X-Lite CRS

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, cyclo-cross, commuting, touring, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mountain biking

Jez spends his days making robots that drive cars but is happiest when on two wheels.  His roots are in mountain biking but he spends more time nowadays on the road, occasionally racing but more often just riding. 

Add new comment

30 comments

Avatar
cassard | 6 years ago
0 likes

Can you really consider 1500g light for 30mm carbon wheels ? 

Avatar
JumboJuice | 7 years ago
0 likes

Is it still covered by the 60-day no question asked return policy? Even if it's used?

Avatar
CXR94Di2 | 7 years ago
0 likes

Seen as they are classed as gravel and tubeless ready, then I can only assume they would be ok. I suppose rolling a tyre off the rim is always possible at low pressures. There are so many factors whether a tyre comes off, cornering angle, speed and surface grip and the tyre itself. One tyre manufacturer might be better than another and nothing to do with rim design causing burping

Avatar
BikeBud | 7 years ago
0 likes

How would these handle using tubeless tyres (35-38mm) at low pressures for CX racing?  

Avatar
CXR94Di2 replied to BikeBud | 7 years ago
0 likes
BikeBud wrote:

How would these handle using tubeless tyres (35-38mm) at low pressures for CX racing?  

like any other wheel, using a tyre that size/ pressure.  Wheel weight being important.

 

Talking of hubs,  I have one of the first sets of hunt wheels, their hubs look and run just as smooth as they did from new.  So there is nothing wrong with Novatec hubs.  I have used Hope hubs, only for bling because I could match colours(orange).  I cant complain at their performance either.  Both Hunt and Hope have replacement bearings.

Avatar
BikeBud replied to CXR94Di2 | 7 years ago
0 likes
CXR94Di2 wrote:
BikeBud wrote:

How would these handle using tubeless tyres (35-38mm) at low pressures for CX racing?  

like any other wheel, using a tyre that size/ pressure.  Wheel weight being important.

 

Apologies, to make my question more specific...

With regards to the absence of bead hooks, how would these wheels cope with tubeless tyres run at the low pressures (e.g. 25-28psi) used in cyclocross races?  Is there a greater risk of burping or tyres coming off?  Is there a greater requirement to use tubeless specific tyres than wheels with bead hooks.  

I'm currently considering having Iron Cross rims built onto Novatec hubs, but these Hunt wheels do look attractive.  

 

 

Avatar
Ogi | 7 years ago
2 likes

Discussion about budget hubs used on the set of wheels...sure, I mean you can approach every wheelset following the same criticism.

Hunt in this instance, like everyone tries to hit a sweetspot (price/quality) and let's be realistic they have to make choices. Now, amazing carbon wheels for about a grand, assuming best possible hubs, spokes and rims...let's stop kidding ourselves. That's more like 2500+ territory. For example, one of the best rims in the market themselves are a grand each (ENVE). Instead, solid hubs, solid spokes and "good rims" is the strategy here...and I think they did a great job - for what it's worth.

I'm having similar dilemmas and questions for 400-600 GBP custom built alloy wheelsets. If I go full on (then I get my preffered choice, Hope RS4 hubs, Sapim CX ray, brass nipples, Pacenti SL25 rim). If I want to skimp a bit (Novatec hubs, DT Swiss Comp., alloy nipples, Alex Rims...)...you approach to 400 GBP mark.

Avatar
paulrattew replied to Ogi | 7 years ago
0 likes
Ogi wrote:

Discussion about budget hubs used on the set of wheels...sure, I mean you can approach every wheelset following the same criticism.

Hunt in this instance, like everyone tries to hit a sweetspot (price/quality) and let's be realistic they have to make choices. Now, amazing carbon wheels for about a grand, assuming best possible hubs, spokes and rims...let's stop kidding ourselves. That's more like 2500+ territory. For example, one of the best rims in the market themselves are a grand each (ENVE). Instead, solid hubs, solid spokes and "good rims" is the strategy here...and I think they did a great job - for what it's worth.

I'm having similar dilemmas and questions for 400-600 GBP custom built alloy wheelsets. If I go full on (then I get my preffered choice, Hope RS4 hubs, Sapim CX ray, brass nipples, Pacenti SL25 rim). If I want to skimp a bit (Novatec hubs, DT Swiss Comp., alloy nipples, Alex Rims...)...you approach to 400 GBP mark.

 

Exactly! With a £1k price there are limits on what you will get if you are having a genuinely high quality carbon rim. Companies have to choose where to comprimise. The reality is that most riders won't be able to tell the difference between good hubs and really  given average uses, so it is a good area to make a slight saving. Similar with spokes - most people will be able to recognize a bad spoke after a bit of riding (through the inevitable headache and hassle it will cause), but beyond a certain point most won't really be able to see the benefit.

The £1k price point is important psychologically - it is a huge amount of money but doesn't feel anywhere near as much as, say, £1,200 (in that the difference going up is magnified, if that makes sense). To be able to produce a wheelset that hits this price point, while still importantly givinga good profit margin to the company, requres some spec comprimises. I would love to see better hubs, but given what they are aiming for the hubs are probably good enough.

 

Avatar
Anthony.C | 7 years ago
0 likes

Oh, stop it. If I was spending a grand on wheels I would expect something a lot better than these budget Novatec hubs. 

Avatar
bendertherobot replied to Anthony.C | 7 years ago
0 likes
Anthony.C wrote:

Oh, stop it. If I was spending a grand on wheels I would expect something a lot better than these budget Novatec hubs. 

Something like Zipp ones perhaps?

Avatar
paulrattew replied to Anthony.C | 7 years ago
0 likes
Anthony.C wrote:

Oh, stop it. If I was spending a grand on wheels I would expect something a lot better than these budget Novatec hubs.

 

So what level of hubs would you expect out of interest?

The novatech hubs, if bought directly from novatech, are €67 for the front hub and €98 for the rear, so €165 for the pair. That's with the standard bearings - my understanding is that Hunt opts for upgraded bearings - so lets say an extra €10 per hub, which would take us to €185, which is about £158 at todays rates. So roughly 16% of the retail cost of the wheels.

I have a set of DT Swiss RC 38 Spline disc brake wheels with hubs (think they're 350s) that I understand retail at around £200 total, on a £~1300ish pair of wheels - so similar %.

I'd love to see nicer hubs on these, but I guess that Hunt have decided that they are good enough

 

Avatar
Jimthebikeguy.com | 7 years ago
2 likes

These look good for the money. Novatec make great hubs. Hunt are doing a good job.

Avatar
CXR94Di2 | 7 years ago
1 like

Ive just ordered my 2nd wheelset from Hunt.  I have gone for the £249 disc brake pair and will have 38mm tubeless fitted, for training and general riding

Avatar
Stef Marazzi | 7 years ago
0 likes

Yes,I've heard the American Classic Race 29 are ideal for Gravel bikes with 32 spokes.

Avatar
grmtylr | 7 years ago
0 likes

I've been running a set of these for a few months now, originally with Compass Barlow Pass tyres and more recently with Schwalbe G-One Speed tubeless tyres.

I'm really impressed with the wheels, they've been ridden through most of the winter on our potholed roads and have been faultless. They were used on one off-road ride with a set of WTB Nano 40c tyres and again were flawless. The bearings are still smooth and the wheels dead true.

 

Avatar
mrml | 7 years ago
0 likes

Looks like another cracking wheelset from Hunt.

 

Last year I was looking for wheels for similar use, although I wasn't fussed on deep section or carbon rims, and didn't have £1K to spend.  I took a punt on some similarly light American Classic 29 MTB Race wheels https://amclassic.com/index.php/wheels/29-mtb-race.html at around the £600 mark.  They are very wide at 24mm internal, and they work brilliantly for me with 40mm Schwalbe G-Ones.   32h front and rear.

 

Perhaps manufacturers of 29er wheels should start sending their products into road.cc for testing with the current spate of gravel bikes?

Avatar
paulrattew | 7 years ago
0 likes

If Hunt were to make a deeper aero carbon DB wheels suitable for semi-clydedales (good for a 95-100kg rider, with 40/50mm rims and 28 spoke) then my wallet would find it self getting much lighter very quickly

Avatar
bendertherobot replied to paulrattew | 7 years ago
0 likes
paulrattew wrote:

If Hunt were to make a deeper aero carbon DB wheels suitable for semi-clydedales (good for a 95-100kg rider, with 40/50mm rims and 28 spoke) then my wallet would find it self getting much lighter very quickly

Bax have a 50mm set coming soon. £599

Avatar
HuntBikeWheels | 7 years ago
0 likes

Hi Tim, good spot. We’re only a relatively small company so our quantities aren’t yet big enough to have many of our own design hubs, but we are working on it for some models where improvements can be made. We did just this to get extra sealing in the caps for our 4Season Aero V2 rim brake wheels. The Novatec hubs have performed very well in our testing and with our customers, offered some excellent specs and are proven and trusted by many big brands and product managers I know personally, so we decided to work with them. The hubs themselves are 661/2s and we hold all spares available direct with very low prices and shipping or we are more than happy to sell them through your local bike shop. If buying spares from other outlets please make sure they fit the centre-lock hubs not the 6 bolt as spacing can be different.

Please do let me know any more views on this as listening to riders is the best way for us to make better products.

I hope this helps and enjoy your riding,

Tom Marchment – HuntBikeWheels | TheRiderFirm.cc

 

Avatar
bauchlebastart replied to HuntBikeWheels | 7 years ago
1 like
HuntBikeWheels wrote:

Hi Tim, good spot. We’re only a relatively small company so our quantities aren’t yet big enough to have many of our own design hubs, but we are working on it for some models where improvements can be made. We did just this to get extra sealing in the caps for our 4Season Aero V2 rim brake wheels. The Novatec hubs have performed very well in our testing and with our customers, offered some excellent specs and are proven and trusted by many big brands and product managers I know personally, so we decided to work with them. The hubs themselves are 661/2s and we hold all spares available direct with very low prices and shipping or we are more than happy to sell them through your local bike shop. If buying spares from other outlets please make sure they fit the centre-lock hubs not the 6 bolt as spacing can be different.

Please do let me know any more views on this as listening to riders is the best way for us to make better products.

I hope this helps and enjoy your riding,

Tom Marchment – HuntBikeWheels | TheRiderFirm.cc

 

 

Any chance in the future for a mid depth ~40mm carbon disc wheel?

Avatar
timbarnes | 7 years ago
0 likes

The hubs look like Novatec 771/772s. In fact they must be as they have the same steel inserts on the freehub. http://novatecusa.net/project/d772sb-2/ An advantage I guess as it means you can go to Superstar/Ebay etc etc for spares.

 

Avatar
HuntBikeWheels | 7 years ago
0 likes

Thank you all ever so much for your comments and feedback it is much appreciated. 

P3t3, that's very cool of you to recognise this, we really do have a deep focus on the purpose of how each wheelset will be used and for us 28 spokes was the right choice for this type of riding.

Hi 700c, You are absolutely right there are several tubular rim brake wheels that weigh less than 1450g and a few clincher rim brake wheels that weigh in below that mark too but of course, disc hubs pretty much always weigh more than non-disc hubs and disc wheels require a few more spokes than rim brake wheels to handle the braking torque. There are very few disc brake wheels with less than 24 spokes, where as often 16 front 20 rear can be found on rim brake wheels. These are also very wide wheels at 26.6mm and extra width adds extra material. Even in the 'road disc segment' our 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheels are some of the lightest wheels available. We also offer our 30Carbon Aero disc wheels at 1338g  which were weighed on digital scales at road.cc and confirmed by Mat Brett in the road.cc facebook video link in the article above. The 30Carbon Aero Disc wheels have a lighter road specific hub, without the extra off road bearing shielding and only 24 spokes. The only wheels that we are aware of that are lighter than even our 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheels are the Lightweight carbon spoked disc wheels which are obviously in the £3000 + region and the Specialized Roval CLX32s £1700 with a claimed weight of 1340g but Cycling Plus Magazine just weighed them at an actual 1450g, they are just 24 spokes front and rear. Thank you again and I hope this helps with your wheel selection.

We really do appreciate reading all the comments as that’s how we learn. Anyone please do feel free to contact us if you have any questions or even just want a chat. All contact details are on our site.

Thanks again all and enjoy your riding,
Tom Marchment – HuntBikeWheels

 

Avatar
700c | 7 years ago
0 likes

5 stars?! Blimey. Perhaps there's not much competition in this segment and so they really are the best 'carbon-disc-specific-gravel-bike' wheelset out there - though you'd use a £1000 carbon wheelset offroad is another question.

I suppose it's hard to judge if a 1450g 30mm wheelset, with a rider weight limit, really is good value at the moment, but it certainly wouldn't cut it in the road bike wheel segment, would it?

Wonder if there is scope for ratings to go down if superseded by newer, better models from the competition.

 

 

Avatar
steviemarco replied to 700c | 7 years ago
0 likes
700c wrote:

5 stars?! Blimey. Perhaps there's not much competition in this segment and so they really are the best 'carbon-disc-specific-gravel-bike' wheelset out there - though you'd use a £1000 carbon wheelset offroad is another question.

I suppose it's hard to judge if a 1450g 30mm wheelset, with a rider weight limit, really is good value at the moment, but it certainly wouldn't cut it in the road bike wheel segment, would it?

Wonder if there is scope for ratings to go down if superseded by newer, better models from the competition.

 

 

I have an expensive set of ENVE M60Forty wheels on my mountain bike and they're just fine, take some really big hits offroad. I'm sure hunt have designed these to take some bigger hits than normal seeing as they're specifically designed for the gravel market

Avatar
700c replied to steviemarco | 7 years ago
0 likes
steviemarco wrote:
700c wrote:

5 stars?! Blimey. Perhaps there's not much competition in this segment and so they really are the best 'carbon-disc-specific-gravel-bike' wheelset out there - though you'd use a £1000 carbon wheelset offroad is another question.

I suppose it's hard to judge if a 1450g 30mm wheelset, with a rider weight limit, really is good value at the moment, but it certainly wouldn't cut it in the road bike wheel segment, would it?

Wonder if there is scope for ratings to go down if superseded by newer, better models from the competition.

 

 

I have an expensive set of ENVE M60Forty wheels on my mountain bike and they're just fine, take some really big hits offroad. I'm sure hunt have designed these to take some bigger hits than normal seeing as they're specifically designed for the gravel market

Except your Enve's don't have a rider weight limit and the Hunt's do.. I guess there's a line to tread between weight and strength. Am sure these would cope fine though

.. I've had carbon rims shrug off pretty big hits from potholes, it's just they're unlikely to look very good after a few 0000 km's of gravel chips!

Avatar
. . replied to 700c | 7 years ago
1 like
700c wrote:

Except your Enve's don't have a rider weight limit and the Hunt's do..

Enve do have a rider weight limit - they just don't disclose it.  Personally (speaking as a "larger rider") I'd have more confidence  in a manufacturer who does.

Avatar
P3t3 | 7 years ago
0 likes

Nice to see a wheel maker seeing sense and putting more spokes in to make a lighter wheel. 

Avatar
kevvjj | 7 years ago
1 like

I could never bring myself to spend £1000 on a set of wheels. But..."Hunt is also bringing out an aluminium 4Season Gravel Disc wheelset with rims that are a bit narrower and shallower, but with the higher spoke count, also priced at £369". These will do.

Avatar
bendertherobot | 7 years ago
0 likes

The RRP of the Fulcrum is more, but they have rarely been that. Mostly around £850.

Which would you opt for on the basis that Hunt are, generally, RRP?

Avatar
Jez Ash replied to bendertherobot | 7 years ago
0 likes

bendertherobot wrote:

The RRP of the Fulcrum is more, but they have rarely been that. Mostly around £850.

Which would you opt for on the basis that Hunt are, generally, RRP?

 

I think it depends on your use pattern.  Despite Justin's testing, the Fulcrums aren't really marketed for anything other than road use, whereas the Hunts are squarely touted at the all-road market, and I think with the wider rims and higher spoke count they're a better bet if you plan to use them on a wider range of surfaces (as I would).

Being honest, if it was my money, I would probably buy the new 4Season Gravel - I would struggle to justify £1k for what is primarily my commuter bike.

Latest Comments