Hunt and Scribe road wheels

Not a which is ‘better’ question, a what’s the difference question.

I actually have a set of carbon disc Hunts and my son has some aluminium Scribes, both seem pretty good (I prefer the hub noise on the Scribe).

Do people know the differences between these two supplier’s wheels?

I’m thinking of getting some new rim brake carbon wheels and weighing up both Hunt and Scribe.

Much of a muchness – or any real differences?

Thanks.

AFAIK both are using OEM hubs from the likes of Novatec and rims from Kinlin. It really comes down to specification for your budget.

Thanks mate, both seem equally priced with some more expensive models available from Hunt in their lineup.

Sounds daft but I’ll probably buy on hub sound as from my eye everything else is ‘similar’.

Any other thoughts STWers?

I enjoy building wheels so I came to the conclusion I might as well buy the rims from light bicycle and save a few ££

I had suggested similar to Dovebiker (i.e. that both just used Bitex or Novatech hubs) but Scribe themselves posted up to rebut this.

I don’t know OEM hubs well enough to comment either way. When I was browsing similar wheels I think I actually came around to building up some JRA Mahi-Mahi wheels, just because they were more customisable. They get great reviews though, lots of fans on here if I remember right.

Afaik Hunt get the hubs built to their spec, so they are not just off the shelf and the same as anyone else can get from a catalogue.

Same with the rims too. I’m sure there was maybe a pinkbike thread for an article on one of their MTB wheelsets where Hunt replied with a lot of details regarding their designs and design decisions.

Thanks chaps both Hunt and Scribe seem good to me, I was just wondering about the differences etc.

I had a set of Hunt race aero wheels and a set of Scribe race wheels, very similar in every respect (weight/sizing) but the scribe just felt more comfortable. It’s the best way I can describe it and I am not suggesting the Hunt were harsh. Had both wheelsets on two different bikes and similar feeling on both.
As the OP states the scribe freehub means you don’t really need a bell (it’s even louder on the carbon wheels I have) and the engagement is very quick, certainly quicker than the Hunts. All IMHO.

Scribe are using open model Chosen hubs and kinlin rims.

http://chosenhubs.com/index.php

Probably have 4 sets of Hunts and their customer service has been excellent, quick/efficient/sensible(!) would buy from them again purely for that – but also like their wheels and the quality for the price.

Scribe are using open model Chosen hubs and kinlin rims.

Scribe are saying they use an own design leaf spring ratchet freehub. Those chosen hubs don’t mention it that I can see. Can you confirm?

Op I’m in a similar position, scribe, hunt and zipp are on the shortlist with scribe edging it. I like the sound of the DTesque freehub and the not too much bs rim claims. Zipp are Zipps and very attractive but I’m unsure about the hookless design, still a bit of research to do and some claims of a slow freehub pick up ( whether this is real world relevant I’ve not decided. Hunts get a strong thumbs up from most but there are a few dissenters, probably symptomatic of the popularity.

Any reason it couldn’t be a custom spec for Scribe/Silt though?

Was it the fella from Scribe who had two accounts on here not long ago and got pissy when someone posted the old ‘how to start a carbon wheel company’ YouTube video? Stuff like that is enough to put me off.

Waiting for a set of Scribe 365 rim brake wheels….hopefully do the job. Recommended by a mate who rates them.

Will let you know what they’re like.

Think Superstar wheels going on gravel bike tho.

Afaik Hunt get the hubs built to their spec, so they are not just off the shelf and the same as anyone else can get from a catalogue.

Same with the rims too. I’m sure there was maybe a pinkbike thread for an article on one of their MTB wheelsets where Hunt replied with a lot of details regarding their designs and design decisions.

They do…

They didn’t when they first started for sure, but they certainly do now… I guess everyone has to start somewhere, but I know the Hunt Product Development manager (and the guy behind getting their wheels onto team Qhubeka/BMC in the pro Peloton) well and I know how hard he has worked raising the profile (pun intended) of the wheels above the “bought from a catalogue” status that they are or were blighted with for some time.

Only alloy not carbon, but I’ve got some rim brake Hunt 4 season aero wheels on my road bike and they’ve been superb! I wanted something strong, stiff and durable for my 90kg+ weight and riding style, I’ve got something that is lighter than many competitors racier options and yet meets all my requirements and more. I’ve been really impressed, far quicker than any other sub £400 low-ish profile alloy wheels I’ve ridden, and tough as old boots to boot.

Probably have 4 sets of Hunts and their customer service has been excellent, quick/efficient/sensible(!) would buy from them again purely for that – but also like their wheels and the quality for the price.

This is definitely a significant consideration for many. Even those who I know who have had bad experiences with Hunt products have all remarked about the quality of their customer service, and the fact they are super quick and efficient and keep spare parts in stock at all times.

I have no experience of the others to be fair, but would (and will) buy Hunt again… Only problem is that the MTB wheels I could do with right now are out of stock until December! A victim of their own success no doubt.

Scribe use a star ratchet style freehub, like DT Swiss but only sprung on the freehub side.

You need a Scribe ratchet tool to remove the drive side ratchet to replace the bearing.

(If that matters to you)

mikertroid
My other pair of Scribe are the 3650 carbon rim, very happy with them as long as you can get on with the freehub noise, but the upside is it engages very quickly.

Personally I don’t care if they’re rebranding someone else’s parts or custom designs. You look at the price / spec compared with everything else, read the reviews and make a decision.

But why would you pay a company to lie to you, when you could just go direct to light bicycle or whoever at half the price?

When did you last buy something from LB, continuity? You can’t go direct at half the price.

Maybe if you were buying 1000 wheels, which is I guess the model.

Yeah, I see these companies as being bulk importers/wheelbuilders of decent far eastern hubs & rims.

You might pay a little (but probably not a lot) more than you would sourcing the parts yourself, but you get them ready-built and with a decent warranty (in the case of Hunt’s well-regarded CS).

Went for Prime wheels myself though, as there was an attractive discount on CRC just before the bike boom madness.

@garry_lager

Lb r45 discs on the same cheap straightpull hubs as scribe pretend are their own are $478 shipped or £345.

Scribe aero 50’s are £870.

You’re right, they aren’t half the price. They are a smidge more than a third of the price. But I guess if you have a thing for paying for some con artists’ new BMW, then go for it.

Lolwut?

If you actually buy from LB, rather than misread their website, cost of an r45 build would be ca. 800 dollars once you’ve paid for build, shipping, duty, and vat.

So there’s certainly some money to be saved, ca. 200 quid is not to be sneezed at if you don’t mind the wait.

That’s literally the price of the Wheelset built. Do you have your own fake Chinese carbon import company or something?

The business model is just dishonest. If they said ‘we will import, CE test and then provide a warranty for these wheelsets, this is what our premium is for that privilege’ nobody would have an issue.

Continuity, I’ve thought about buying from LB, hidden costs and the UK warranty has always made me swing towards a UK retailer…..
I’ve got a set of wheel that were over £2k, had for 3 months and back with manufacturer. All under warranty, but was so much easier just to pop to the lbs hand the wheels over, be given a replacement set and get riding again.
Also my lbs have done me a huge favour, I bought my wheels in March, a new wheelset was released in May, they’re letting me swap to the new wheels once they are in the UK in September.
I had a set of Hunt Aero Wide alloy wheels, actually was quite impressed with them. No issues and used off-road a fair bit. They weren’t aero just had that in their name for marketing reasons. Nice enough and a decent weight for the price. Think I paid £369.
With regards to hidden costs, I’m more than happy to be out right on this, but is the cost on the website excluding any import costs? For example, the Falcon Pro 55mm disc wheelset with DT Swiss 350 hub is £701 or £650 with a Bitex hub. Do I then need to factor in any import taxes?
I’m really tempted with a getting a new set of wheels for my daughter. Scribe were winning on price, and she can’t have anything deeper than a 35mm rim (British Cycling rules).

45mm rims with bitex hubs $743 on lb website. Obviously not a bad price but £540 plus shopping and tax etc won’t be a great saving on scribe et al.

Woodster, id have a look at JRA. Similar thing to hunt and scribe but bit more customisation and options available. Got some 40mm Road wheels I’m very happy with and some trail wheels on order.

If you email Light Bicycle/Farsports they will give you a quote including delivery and pre-paid tax if you ask for it.

Their communication and customer service is usually pretty impressive.

£800ish for my carbon clinchers from LB on DT240EXP, admittedly with 10% discount but no hidden extras after shipping.

I invested in decent hubs a while ago for my alloy clinchers, had them built on Kinlin 31mm which I just swap out when the brake track looks in bad shape…£55 a rim and a little bit of time to put them together.

I can see the value in Hunt if I’m honest, seem reasonable builds for the money and without the hassle of building or waiting for parts from China.

@haze how’d you get 10% off?

I can see the value in Hunt if I’m honest, seem reasonable builds for the money and without the hassle of building or waiting for parts from China.

Nobody’s bothered to read what I wrote above then still…? 🤷🏻‍♂️

@ogden I asked if there were any deals coming up before I ordered, in fairness it was weeks before Black Friday so knew something would likely be happening.

Obviously BF is a long way off but you could always ask, I just wanted to be open with cost.

@mboy Not sure why that’s directed at me tbh…

@mboy so you’re mates with the blokes from hunt and you had some of their off the shelf wheels and liked them. What does that add?

Yes, some of their super-top-end work isn’t straight from a catalogue, but 90 percent of their stuff, and nearly everything anyone on here will buy is.

@continuity for clarity, how many pairs of wheels have you bought from LB/Farsports and how many from Hunt/Scribe?

Just trying to determine the depth of your expertise beyond just browsing.

Ta.

@boblo

I’ve had a pair of each. One LB on 240’s back when I had a rim brake road bike, and my Mrs bike has hunt aero wide light alu wheels on it (used to be my winter wheels). I only bought the second ones because their popularity means they’re easy to find on eBay and I paid £150 for the set almost new.

They aren’t bad wheels. With all of these sets, the differences are enormously marginal. Wheels aren’t complex, as long as they are well laced. I’ve said before – it’s the business model that offends me.

Are you easily offended about a lot of things?

I know all these little wheel companies say “the hub is our own design” because they’ve made a little tweak from Novatec’s stock hub, but that’s just what they feel they have to do for marketing reasons. We know the score really and it doesn’t bother me that much.

If anything I like to know parts availability might be wider.

Only in so much as I’ll try and dissuade other people on an internet forum when I’m bored at work? Make of that what you choose =].

“Own design” IMO means some juggling with the bearing specs, external hub shape and branding – the notion that they created a ‘superior’ hub is nonsense. Having proprietary hub internals is a PITA – expensive, hard to get

@Haze sorry it wasn’t directed at you specifically, it was directed at all the previous comments, I just happened to copy and paste your type as it was the most recent…

so you’re mates with the blokes from hunt and you had some of their off the shelf wheels and liked them. What does that add?

As little, or as much, as you’d like it to… As a former bike shop owner, I’ve seen the quality of almost all of the popular road wheelsets from most manufacturers out there from the last 10yrs probably, found most of the common issues and fixed them (or binned and replaced them where necessary). I have witnessed some failures on the first gen Hunt wheels too for sure, rims cracking, hub seals not sealing, freehubs dying prematurely etc. Over the last few years, and mostly since said persons introduction, their quality has moved up significantly. I was sceptical, I now have some on my own road bike and have been pleasantly surprised (I’m normally a DT Swiss or Chris King man myself when it comes to hubs, so my expectations weren’t all that high you might say). I know shops that now stock them that were also sceptical of the quality previously… I’d argue that the measure of a manufacturing company is how they learn from their mistakes, look after their customers who have experienced poor or faulty products, and improve their products going forwards… Do we all still call Cannondale “Crack’n’fail” now because of a well publicised problem they had with their early alloy frames snapping spectacularly some 30 years ago? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Yes, some of their super-top-end work isn’t straight from a catalogue, but 90 percent of their stuff, and nearly everything anyone on here will buy is.

To the untrained eye, maybe… There’s a lot less catalogue wheels out there in the market than there is catalogue frames though, that much is for sure!

I know all these little wheel companies say “the hub is our own design” because they’ve made a little tweak from Novatec’s stock hub, but that’s just what they feel they have to do for marketing reasons. We know the score really and it doesn’t bother me that much.

If anything, the order of play would happen like this… An established Wheel Brand would go to a hub or rim company like Novatec/Bitex/Chosen/Kinlin etc with a list of wants and needs for any new wheel, the hub/rim companies would show them their current offerings that came closest to these specs. Often, a new design will be created for a hub/rim that doesn’t look drastically different to some of their existing offerings to the casual eye, but there will probably be a handful of design changes/improvements made to it to satisfy the wheel brand product manager. Once signed off, the manufacturer will then make this hub/rim for the wheel brand under license, and will sometimes then be able to produce it under their own brand in the future (usually after an agreed period of time, or after a certain number of wheel branded products have been made for the customer) and sell it as their latest design…

There is some “Chicken and egg” to the discussion of the origin of these parts, that’s for sure…

“Own design” IMO means some juggling with the bearing specs, external hub shape and branding – the notion that they created a ‘superior’ hub is nonsense. Having proprietary hub internals is a PITA – expensive, hard to get

There really are only so many variations on a theme that anyone can create… Are you going to chastise the likes of Industry9 or Hope because on the face of it, their pawl drive hubs work just like any other pawl drive hub out there, they just happened to decide to make their own and to their own tolerances, rather than going down the DT Swiss/Chris King/Onyx route of inventing their own freehub mechanism (actually, Onyx stole that one off Shimano with their late 90’s Silent Clutch hubs!)? There is only so much reinventing of the wheel that anyone can do!