Cheapish Wheelset Battle… Hunt vs DT Swiss… Round 1, FIGHT!!

Hi y’all,

Long time reader, first time poster.
Thought I’d see what the STW hive mind thought about these two wheelsets for all round general trail riding.
Both 29″ rims with boost hubs.

Hunt Trailwide 29″

HUNT Trail Wide MTB Wheelset

Vs.

Dt Swiss XM481 with 350 Straight pull hubs from Fitwheel.eu via Ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wheelset-DT-Swiss-ENDURO-All-Mountain-XM481-350s-Straight-Pull-29-30mm/324012800815?hash=item4b70aafb2f:m:m28gtp47VTrTvmjtMJHJxpA&shqty=1&isGTR=1#shpCntId

Finish Him!

DT. No question.

The Hunts are great, but I’d go for that DT build.

Having said that, I wouldn’t go for a random ebay wheelbuilder without a lot of recommends from actual people.

Those hunt wheelsets don’t make sense to me, you can buy a proven Stans wheelset for the same price or a hope wheelset for less than £100 more. A hope wheelset will last longer, good part availability and also better resale value when the time comes.

The DT ones for sure, but I’d see if they could upgrade to 36t freehub

I’d go with the DT build – those are great quality rims and 350 hubs are decent. My only hesitation is they’re straight pull not j bend.

Hunt are ok – I’ve got a road wheelset and the hubs are still running smoothly almost 2 years after buying them and doing lots of commuting. I’m not convinced on the spokes / nipples they use though – I had some issues with snapping spokes (probably due to a crash I had and subsequent re-rim) so I rebuild the wheel myself with ACI double butted spokes which seem more substantial. So far so good since then.

Thanks for the responses, the DT Swiss are via Ebay but it’s a company called Fitwheels.eu based out of Poland.
They’ve been trading since 2005 and do get the odd good mention on this forum.

36t ratchet would probably be at a later date to keep the cost down.

Do I need to know anything about straight pull spokes? never had them before.

Downtime10 was getting 10% off hunt wheels the other week.

A hope wheelset will last longer, good part availability and also better resale value when the time comes.

Old hope rims were garbage and the new ones weigh a tonne! Nice hubs though.

Personally, I’d give the hunts a go. I’ve got a mate who really rates them and I’ve never seen any bad reviews.

Old hope rims were garbage and the new ones weigh a tonne! Nice hubs though

I should have clarified, Hope hubs built onto your rim of choice.

I bought wheels last year, I like DTs and the noise they make and would have gone 240 or 350 on probably XM481 and built them myself.

Then I realised that I could order the Hunts, have them delivered the next day, finish the build and be out riding it after breakfast. That swung it, really. Loads of good reviews, hubs are well made, rims are the right compromise of weight, width and strength, UK based support, decent price.

Only negatives are that the freehub is a bit shouty (personal) and I’d rather have a slightly heavier wheel with brass nips rather than the alloy ones they come with.

Thanks for the responses, the DT Swiss are via Ebay but it’s a company called Fitwheels.eu based out of Poland.

Yes, I’ve heard of them, couldn’t place the name for a minute. Supposedly very efficient.

Have a search generally through German bike suppliers Rose, r2, Bike24 etc as DT Swiss wheelsets seem to be on offer. EX511 rims on 350 hubs seem a popular offer.
Don’t forget actionsports as well.
They all have English versions and ship to UK free over certain order prices.

DT Swiss for sure.

The Hunt rims are some of the softest I’ve ever seen.

At that price the DT’s are just a shoe in, and getting them on XM481 rims is a bonus as they’re pretty much my favourites at that width. Straight pull as well is no issue, slightly more annoying to build with, but you’re not doing that, but they do hypothetically have better mechanical strength (not that it matters on a bike wheel that much).

Personally i love the 350 hubs, i have a set and they are the workhorse, also have 240s and i barely notice any difference, spares are easy to come by as well.

Hob Nob , thats garbage ! I’ve got hunts and I’ve hit rocks plenty of times without a single ding.

They did change their rims, the STW review mentions the original alloy being soft, they use a different alloy now.

Dt swiss ex511 on 350 hubs from fitwheels
Zero regrets

Hob Nob , thats garbage ! I’ve got hunts and I’ve hit rocks plenty of times without a single ding.

Uh huh. There is a 6 month old set of test wheels which were on my other halfs long termer test bike in the shed, I stopped counting at 15 dings on it. She’s not exactly riding at Rachel Athertons pace either.

2 friends have them also, both are peppered with dents.

By comparison, I’ve got a set of 28h XM481’s on a wheelset that have done 3 race seasons, a month in Whistler, a month in the Alps and 3 weeks in Finale. They have 2 shallow dings in the rear wheel, on hits which flatted a DH casing tyre terminally.

I stopped counting at 15 dings on it.

I’ve got a set of Hunt trail wides on the way to me tomorrow 🙈

Dt swiss.

Purely as if you need spares anywhere in the world your sorted. It’s no propriety mail order crap

I believe Hunt have a good reputation for back up but dt spares are always readily available.

I would be asking the Polish crew if they can send a selection of spare spokes. Straight pull are not difficult to get, but maybe a little thinner on the ground than j bend. Also ask them to tell you what size spokes they used to help if you need spares in the future.

I run dt hubs and love them. I also know that spares will be available for many moons to come. I may be wrong but I think Hunt use novatech hubs. I’ve no idea what they are like to source spares for…

Firstly, building wheels is not a dark art or even particularly difficult.

It’s a process which when carried out correctly using the appropriate materials results in a wheel that suits its application.

I like the Hunts in theory, they customise the hub to give good engagement.

But there is a suggestion that the rims are not that durable… appropriate materials blah blah.

The DTs are decent value, I like a straight pull when it comes to replacing a broken spoke.

The engagement with the 18 ratchet is appalling, all you are doing is spending £350 to upgrade to shite wheels…. makes no sense. Get the 36 ratchet.

You can thank me later.

Hunts are ok wheels but they are not in the same league as DT Swiss, despite what their clever targeted marketing campaigns would have you believe.

The logic behind DT’s slower engagement is that chunkier mechanisms with fewer, larger teeth are harder to jam up and more tolerant of neglect, the 18 tooth is slow but it is bomb proof.

Same logic applies to all forms of hub, pawl or ratchet, faster engagement means a finer mechanism that is going to be more sensitive.

At least with DT ratchets you can choose what suits you and swap them accordingly.

I destroyed a hope wheel in 3 months on my last bike so not sure where this idea the rims are stronger is coming from! Ended up building the hope hubs onto dt ex511 and they were bullet proof.
Riding hunt enduro wide right now, been on them about 10 months and they haven’t flinched or dented from being thrown through rough stuff and cased hard a few times
I get everyone’s point about dt spares though. At the time I bought my wheels any dt equivalent couldn’t come near price wise so the hunts were a no brainer

Do I need to know anything about straight pull spokes? never had them before

Only an issue if you need to replace one. Our DT Swiss wheels came with spare spokes, as well as tubeless valves, rim tape and stickers…

Eldest_oab managed to properly dent his EN1900 DT wheels rather alarmingly. This was partly due to not running beefy enough tyres though it did seem the rim (not sure what model rim on an EN1900) is quite soft. Easy to bend back though 🙂

Overall I like the DT Swiss and would have again over the Superstar wheels we had before.

Against the grain, I’ve also got two pairs of Mavic Crossmax XL wheels in the house. They are light, tight and have done 5+ years service with nothing other than new bearings.

Opted for a set of Trail Wides on my enduro race bike, my idea being that I’m physically a light rider and also try to keep the bike fairly light over the chunky stuff so felt I could probably get away with it. They are the newer ones with the tougher alloy rims and had them for 6 months or so, including several races.

I did still manage to put a small ding in the rear somehow early on so opted to put an insert in as back up but apart from that, no problems at all. The hub pickup is really quick which I like and yes, consequently, it is loud! But that’s handy for making my presence known to walkers up the way sometimes! No issues with loose spokes or nipples and no more dings thanks to the insert.

Should I have gone with the Enduro Wide wheelset? Maybe. Do I regret my choice? No.

Great value wheelset IMHO.

Crossmax XLs are in a different price league to DT’s entry E1900s. Not apples with apples. EX1501 would be closer price wise and a simpler and more durable option.

Devash sums it up for me.

DT, end of.

Just had a similar decision to make myself but for a narrower rim due to clearance issues.

I decided on neither and went for a set of Hope – heavier but I know spares and repairs will be easy. Didn’t want alloy nipples or straight pull < 32 spokes either for my “subtle” riding style 😉

I have a pair of DT XM1501 which I absolutely love, super fast engagement.  30mm rims are tough and only now (year in) do I need to get the wheel tried up.  I’m pretty heavy and unforgiving on wheels and kit in general.  I also have a pair of trail wide hunts on my winter hardtail.  Initially the bearings in the freehub failed very quickly, but I suspect this was a duff batch.  Hunt were fantastic at sending out a replacement freehub.  So far so good now, not noticed any flat spots or dents just yet.  But reserve judgement until I actually get around to cleaning the bike (it’s a winter basher after all) engagement on the Hunt hubs seems good, the overall package seems great value to me.  It’s worth noting I could by nearly 3 sets of the Hunts for the RRP of my DT Swiss xm1501’s

Ok, I’m kinda leaning towards the DT’s. The people at Fitwheels have been pretty good with comms and speccing to my (limited) budget. So as it stands this is the spec I’m considering…

– DT Swiss XM 481 29″ Rims, 30mm internal. These are Cube branded ones, apparently. Not been able to totally confirm that from internet research.

– DT 350 straight pull hubs.

– Sapim D-Light spokes

– Sapim alu secure lock nipples.

– And if I don’t feed the kids for a few days I can upgrade to the 36t ratchet.

So all in I am just squeaking under budget.

Waddya think? Have I missed something or compromised too much somewhere?

BTW Hunt wouldn’t honor the 10% off code, admittedly 6 days after the promo ended. But Hunt with 10% off would probably have swayed me. Oh well.

Absolute no-brainer, get the DTs.

– Sapim alu secure lock nipples.

Swap for brass?

I’ve never liked any alu nipple

yup, go brass nips.

Bit harsh to say hunt wouldn’t “honour” a promotional discount that had expired – nothing there to honour, just a request for money off they didn’t fancy saying yes to!

And you can upgrade the ratchet any time. It’s ridiculously simple. Just pull the freehub body off with the cassette still attached and swap ’em over.

Shame the ratchets are so expensive. I love my 36, but it was a painful purchase!

You’ve dodged a bullet re Hunt and their expired promo – the DT’s are head and shoulders above them.

The engagement with the 18 ratchet is appalling, all you are doing is spending £350 to upgrade to shite wheels…. makes no sense. Get the 36 ratchet.

I’m not sure on this engagement thing. I have 3 wheel sets – Mason X Hunt road wheels (quote 10 degrees engagement), Hope Pro 4’s on xm481s (44 tooth engagement / 8.2 degrees) and a basic DT e1900 wheelset. I think the e1900 is a basic 3 pawl 370 hub and should be much slower than the other 2 wheels.

Maybe I don’t do the right kind of riding to notice but I can’t say any of them feel like they pick up quicker than the others.