Hunt 25 Carbon Gravel Race Wheelset

The Hunt 25 Carbon Gravel Race wheelset is designed for performance, focusing on low weight without sacrificing durability and versatility. During the last few months the wheels have definitely delivered on those promises, showing themselves to be massively reliable and responsive through consistently wet and muddy conditions.

For more options, check out the guide to the best gravel wheelsets on our sister site, off.road.cc.

> Buy now: Hunt 25 Carbon Gravel Race wheelset for £711.75 from Hunt

The 25 Carbon Gravel Race (25CGR from here on in) weighed in at 1,388g on our scales, which is impressive, especially when you consider that includes the tubeless rim tapes already installed.

Even with wide gravel tyres fitted that still means you can achieve a lightweight setup, which is very noticeable on the bike. Acceleration feels brisk, with no lag at all from a standing start. They spin up quickly, and, as you'd expect, it's the same when you hit the climbs, though it's not only from their lack of weight, but also the stiffness on offer. When you're out of the saddle sprinting or climbing, the 25CGRs feel as tight as a drum laterally. The build creates a firm wheelset without being harsh.

All of this adds up to achieve what Hunt has said in its brief about creating a race-focused wheelset. They bring a certain level of nimbleness and responsive to your bike compared with wheels a few hundred grams heavier – not a huge amount, but when riding them side by side you do feel how much more 'eager' the Hunts make your bike feel.

A low weight can sometimes make you wary about a wheelset's reliability, and I'll admit I was a little tentative when hitting the pothole-strewn surface of my favourite gravel trails, especially those deep ones hidden under the surface water that have become commonplace over the last couple of wet months.

I hit the edges of some of them, and while there were some horrible impact noises a couple of times, the 25CGRs remained perfectly true and tight throughout the review period. Should the worst happen, you do get some extra spokes included in the box when your wheels are delivered.

Most gravel tracks in the UK are more like mud trails this time of year, so the Hunts have seen very little dry and dusty conditions, more like mountain bike routes. They have stood up well, considering all of the wet mud, grit and flood water they have been ridden through. A few months is hard to gauge any long-term effects of winter riding, but a removal of the freehub showed that things were looking pretty dry and uncontaminated considering what they'd seen out on the trails.

Build

In terms of the build, the 25CGRs are based around a 25mm-deep carbon fibre rim with a 33mm external width, 26mm internally.

The rim is asymmetrical, as in the spoke bed is offset to one side. On the rear the holes are positioned closer to the rotor side of the hub, which means you can increase the dishing so the spokes travel at more of an angle to the freehub side, increasing strength.

Hunt has focused on tubeless designs since it was a relatively new concept for road bikes, and the rims are set up for this. Tubeless rim tape is included, as are tubeless valves, and the rim is hookless, which means the rim doesn't have the small lip running around the circumference of the outer edge for the bead of a clincher tyre to pop underneath. Only tubeless tyres are designed to be run on hookless rims, though you can still run them with a tube inside if you so desire. You can read more on this in our feature, What’s the difference between hooked and hookless bike wheels?.

Hunt recommends a 40mm tyre for best performance on these wheels, while 35mm to 64mm are also safe to use. I tried them with 40mm and 45mm wide tyres from various brands and found fitting each of them easy and straightforward. Check out our guide to the best gravel tyres if you're looking for some new rubber.

The Sprint SL hubs have a black anodised aluminium alloy body and are compatible with a range of axle options – you just need to say which adaptors you need when ordering the wheels. Hunt has specced EZO sealed cartridge bearings to keep the wheels rolling smoothly.

Freehub-wise, Hunt caters for every offering including SRAM/Shimano HG Spline, SRAM XD/XDR, Shimano Microspline and Campagnolo N3W which Ekar uses.

The HG version we had fitted includes a steel strip to stop the cassette from digging in under pedalling load. Drive is applied swiftly thanks to the pawls engaging in just 7.5 degrees, and if you like a bit of noise from your freehub then you are well catered for here – a pleasant 'tick-tick-tick' without things being too loud or buzzy.

The freehub body is easy to change should the need arise, and while the wheels come set up for Center Lock disc rotors, Hunt offers six-bolt adaptors if you need them.

Value

Priced at £949, and currently discounted to £711.75, these offer a lot of bang for your buck, especially when you consider that Hunt is also giving you the option to select a set of tyres from Schwalbe's G-One range for free.

The 21mm-deep Enve AG25s that were rated very highly over on off.road.cc are £1,800, for example. Their width dimensions are very similar, but came in a bit weightier at 1,498g including rim tapes and tubeless valves.

At full price they're not quite as good value as the Just Riding Along (JRA) Monitor Carbon wheels that impressed me when I reviewed them last year, which start at £845 for a set. At 1,360g on our scales they were just as sprightly as the 25CGRs on the bike, and their dimensions are fairly similar too.

Conclusion

For everything other than an aero boost, the Hunts have you covered. Their low weight means they could transform your bike in terms of acceleration and climbing, and you'll be impressed by their overall stiffness too.

On top of that, their sub-grand price point is also very impressive too considering what you are getting for the money.

Verdict

Impressively light for performance gains, while tough enough for plenty of gravel abuse