I was just wondering if you think a Hunt Trailwide wheelset would be a good upgrade over a standard set of wheels.

Mint are wtb i29st rims built onto Novatech D791SB/D462SB hubs.

Or am I better off saving a bit more and getting something more expensive?

Well the Hunt are pretty decent for the money…but then the i29 rims are also pretty decent and the Novatech hubs reasonably light (or at least my old ones were). What does your current wheelset weigh in at?

I’m very impressed by the pair I’ve just put on the wife’s bike. Fast engaging freehub, which I now put high up on my wish list, decent weight and great value. They look pretty pimp as well.
I’ve got some i9 hubs with flow rims and the hunts are half the price, similar weight and, so far, every bit as good.
I think you’d have to go really spendy on high end carbon to get significantly better.

I like my hunt wheels (gravel bike, 650b) and they’re good value.

So much so I ordered carbon wheels from them for my road bike. Just beware delivery times: my date just slipped back a second time from two weeks ago, to this week, to now the end of the month.

I don’t mind too much, and their comms + customer service has been good letting me know. I’m sticking with my order and still happy enough. But I don’t have wheels yet!

If you’re in a rush then order something that’s in stock if you can.

So much so I ordered carbon wheels from them for my road bike. Just beware delivery times: my date just slipped back a second time from two weeks ago, to this week, to now the end of the month.

https://www.hambini.com/blog/post/bicycle-wheel-aerodynamics-which-one-is-fastest/

The FLO cycling and Hunt wheels performed badly, they appear to have been designed by individuals with a limited understanding of aerodynamics of rotating objects. As such they generated unnecessary separation and could not deal with the separated airflow

Aren’t Hunt just Novatach hubs with KinLin rims?

I’d just relace with better rims and spokes if I were you.

^ Build quality and spares support are good and that counts. But yes, a good rebuild may be equally effective.
I really rate Novatech and KT’s high end hubs and my Halo hubs (TW made) are excellent.

I have XC Wides, and they came in around 1600g and have been excellent – for the money I couldn’t find any package better, regardless of what they are component wise. I was buying for a new build though, I think your existing ones are not a million miles off – you might have to pay a bit more to get significant difference and even then I’m not convinced it’s a hugely noticeable at the trail end of things .. maybe carbon for stiffness, but check the weight is actually lower (if you care, which at carbon prices I’d want the moon on a stick).

Yeah, Hunt are just novatech hubs, pillar spokes and KinLin rims, they’re alright value and Hunt themselves do good spares support but they don’t actually make anything themselves and the wheels are nowt special, I’d hang onto your Novatechs and WTB’s for now.

The FLO cycling and Hunt wheels performed badly, they appear to have been designed by individuals with a limited understanding of aerodynamics of rotating objects

Far be it from me to defend what I’ve just chosen/bought… 😊

The article looks well written, and seems to test some real world (ish) situations, but then falls down with its conclusions. IMO.

The Hunts they have there are 36mm deep. Only compable wheels are the shimano (35mm) and ksyrium (28mm). The Mavics are draggier. The c35s are heavier (1417 VS 1488, 4.8%), and cost about half as much again. And at 30km/h they are 3 watts better, or 1.55%. All the other wheels are much deeper. So yes, hunt 36 slightly worse than heavier more expensive shimano wheels.

To jump from that data, presented on graphs with massively shrunken scales to amplify the differences – most of the bottom of the range chopped off – to singling out FLO & Hunt rims as performing badly and being designed by idiots seems a bit of a stretch.

Also, immediately before the point you quoted, were these conclusions:

Wheels with a deeper rim section are generally more aerodynamic than shallow sections

The difference between wheels of a similar depth is very small and it would be difficult for a human to be able to detect this during riding

The difference between a low profile wheel and a deep wheel would be picked up by a human riding.

I’m happy with my choice, especially given the VFM and customer service & follow-up I will get from hunt.

Which WTB i29s? The “ST” ones are heavy and a bit dull IME and the Hunts would probably be a worthwhile upgrade.

I’d probably save up a little more and get DT rims on Hope hubs or a DT or Newmen wheelset myself though.

The Hunts they have there are 36mm deep.

Sorry to burst your bubble but the 50s are in there too

Chakaping…. my rims are the st versions.

Would I be better saving for some nice Hope wheels. If the hunt wheels have the same Novatec hubs as mine it seems a pointless exercise spending that much money for what would effectively be a rim change?

I’d have a set of Hunt MTB whees ahead of Hopes. The new Hope Fortus al seems pretty uncompetitive weight wise. Their 30mm Fortus are DH rims which are crazy heavy, much heavier than what most DHers are using, while the 35mm are the old Tech 35 rebranded as Frotus, which are also heavy, soft and unecessarily wide for trail use. I think they really messed up with their new range, to be honest.

30mm wide Hunts are almost a pound lighter, cost less, adn reviews are all excellent.

A custom build of DT rims on Hopes with decent spokes yes, but Hope own-brand wheels no.

Would I be better saving for some nice Hope wheels. If the hunt wheels have the same Novatec hubs as mine it seems a pointless exercise spending that much money for what would effectively be a rim change?

Unless your hubs are worn out or significantly in need of an upgrade this should always be true.

Chose a new rim, read the Sheldon brown wheel building guide, buy the cheap park tool tension gauge, order the spokes and nipples from Rose (works out cheaper even after £10 shipping, especially if you get rims from them too) and get building, it’s not rocket science.

By saving the cost of hubs you could buy some really nice rims (or go on a cheap holiday). You could even get some nice vinyl “built by ……..” graphics made if you wanted the factory wheels look.

That hambini wheel test referenced above has had a lot of doubts posted about it, I won’t put any weight on it

The Hunts they have there are 36mm deep.

Sorry to burst your bubble but the 50s are in there too

Ah yes, quite right, missed that. Still, 50g heavier than c35s and still 2/3 the price and customer service I trust (thought slow at times). And 2 watts different drag.

Weakens my case a bit, but I’ll be ok in my bubble thanks! 😀

Did I mention they look nice and make me happy?

The trail wides are a great wheel at the price point. Like everything you can source all the bits yourself, get the built and probably save a few quid, but actually not a huge amount, and then you don’t have the support & convenience of being able to resolve issues with a UK based company who are pretty good at the CS side of things.

Unless you are spending a decent wedge, you arn’t going to save any more weight on something other than the Hunts.

I’d certainly pick them over a Hope wheelset these days. The Hope offerings are all like boat anchors in comparison.

Between the two I’d still go Hope myself, the relative hub quality between them and the Novatechs are simply not comparable and because Hope manufacture their own hubs you know the long term spares support is there.

Hunt may do their best with spares but Novatech’s spares provision for hubs they no longer make is traditionally terrible. During my shop days we frequently had to junk entire OEM Novatech hubs because spares were no longer for them.

With Hope that won’t be an issue, so their hubs are a much better long term investment.

</but they don’t actually make anything themselves and the wheels are nowt special, I’d hang onto your Novatechs and WTB’s for now.>

This pains me to read. I was of the assumption that Hunt were a british designed and made wheel using Hunt components. Granted I did zero research to come to this fact just saw some on a mates bike and liked them, plus rode a demo with them on a few weeks ago and again liked them. They were going to be my wheel of choice for my new bike, now I am not so sure

*EDIT* how do I do that quote thing?

XC wide here. As with others I could not find anything off the shelf that was comparable on weight and spec.

As it happens they (eventually!) arrived very evenly tensioned (better than DT factory wheels I have had previously), tyres mounted well (both Spesh Storm Control and Maxxis Ikon 2.2), and they make a very nice sound when freewheeling.

So long as they stand up well to my clumsy riding and stay round I’ll be happy.

Tbf Hunt have had some input to the design of the wheels – they just don’t manufacture the components.

They take a Novatech hub design and spec better bearings and seals from what I can make out and presumably they have some input into the spec of the rims before having hem branded Hunt.

The wheels are hand built in Taiwan – you can find google images of them being built in the factory – so not machine built like a lot of factory wheels.

They also used j bend spokes rather than straight pull so they are easier to get spares for.

So as a wheelset for the price they charge I think they’re pretty decent / enough that I bought some of their road wheels which were both cheaper and lighter than Hope / Mavic etc.

For mountain bike wheels though I decided to buy Hope hubs and Dt rims and build them myself with DT spokes. So for not much more money I got myself a really decent wheelset.

@johnjn2000 You stick the text in a blockquote element…

<blockquote>
The text you want to quote…
</blockquote>

Ends up as :

The text you want to quote…

Here you go, grab a set of Kinlin rims and spoke to your novatec hubs and you have the same thing.

Kinlin tl-29 are a 30mm internal width rim despite the name, as used by lots of rebranders.

Kinlin TL-29 MTB wide disc brake rim 29er or 650B

£40 a pop.

On my bike I have a set of enve M630’s with CK hubs. After a bashing for 5 hours at Rogate bike park I noticed some stress marks on the enve rims, seeming as I do like to frequent bike parks (I’m off to bpw in 2 weeks) I did a bit of research and bought a set of endurowides specifically for the bike parks and so I could leave my enves to the trail riding I also do. Last October I spent a day at bpw with the hunts, 15psi on the front and 18 at the back. They didn’t puncture or even go out of true, used loads since then and still like new. Last weekend I slashed my sidewall, within 20mins I’d had the tyre off, repaired the inside and got the tyre seated and sealed again. The enves take maybe a dozen attempts…….
Hunt do tweak the rims and hubs, for instance the rims aren’t shiney like the kinlin oe finish but have a nice almost sandblasted finish. And the branding on the rim is quality. The hubs have upgraded seals and Japanese bearings which are easy to locate and replace yourself… The cassette carrier is easy to replace and surely won’t be obsolete any time soon so I can’t see any issue with the novatec hubs….
Having had two sets of Hope wheels in the past I don’t think Hope really has any extra kudos over the Hunts.
To the OP, you probably aren’t getting much of an upgrade over what you’ve got to be honest, but if you’ve got an old set of worn wheels or want a second spare pair of wheels then at the price they just can’t be matched.

Are those Kinlin rims the same as Halo Vapour 35s too?

Renton, the hubs in your wheels may not be the same model as the hubs in the Hunt wheels. As far as I’m aware, Novatec make hubs for a lot of price points.

I have a pair of their enduro wheels. I bought them as a stopgap while waiting for the adapters to arrive for my fancy wheels and to use for uplift rides. To be honest, I’ve not used them yet but they are evenly tensioned and feel like a decent product. They don’t feel significantly  heavier than the wheels that I have built from wtb i25 team rims with DT 240 hubs and comp spokes

Hope pro 4 hubs are £250/pair on crc. I think dt rims are about £100 each for the top models. Going the custom route would get you a fancier pair of wheels, but they will cost significantly more and probably won’t be any lighter. That said, Hope offer great spares support.

An option at twice the price is the We Are One Agent rim built on i9 hubs. Not cheap, but lifetime rim replacement warranty, should you want a wheel for life.

I specced the Trail Wides on my Rocket Max, the other option being Hope Tech Enduro. Went for the Hunts as they have reviewed well, they’re lighter and the Tech Enduro rims were pretty soft. Hard to say which was the better choice, I’ll never know, but I’m happy with them. They feel snappy but not harsh. In an ideal world I’d probably have gone for Stans rims on Hope hubs (having ran a Mk1 Flow/Pro 2 combo for the best part of 10 years on my old, well abused hardtail), but choice was limited.

An option at twice the price is the We Are One Agent rim built on i9 hubs

By twice the price, do you mean over 4 times as much?

By twice the price, do you mean over 4 times as much?

We Are One recently introduced a new line of rims. At the same time they began offering the Agent and the Insider wheels at a lower price.

I paid $500 Canadian for the Hunt wheels, the Agents built on i9’s cheaper hub are $1200 Canadian. Closer to 2.5 times the price, but a good price considering the warranty.

In the UK We Are One’s lowest priced wheel set is the Agent rims on Hope hubs for £1,350 compared to Hunts Trailwides at £349.  Quite possibly both great wheel sets in their own way but leagues apart on price

Don’t get the appeal of those We Are Ones, £1,350 for a wheel that’s heavier and over £500 more expensive than a decent set of alloy wheels with better hubs (I.E. DT Spline 1’s)

I guess some people just have to have carbon.

Don’t get the appeal of those We Are Ones, £1,350 for a wheel that’s heavier and over £500 more expensive than a decent set of alloy wheels with better hubs (I.E. DT Spline 1’s)

I guess some people just have to have carbon.

I think that’s the case for most carbon wheels, now good allow wheelsets are comparable in weight too.

That’s not even taking into account the better ride quality of an aluminium wheelset 🙂

How realistic are Hunt’s delivery times on the website?  eg Trail Wide 29 Xd boost are currently showing as the end of this month, but posters above suggest they waited a bit longer.   No point in ordering them if I won’t be able to stick them on my new build.

That’s not even taking into account the better ride quality of an aluminium wheelset

You obviously need some £1,900 Zipp 3Zeros in your life, for maximum carbon stiffness and compliance!

thepurist

Subscriber

How realistic are Hunt’s delivery times on the website? eg Trail Wide 29 Xd boost are currently showing as the end of this month, but posters above suggest they waited a bit longer. No point in ordering them if I won’t be able to stick them on my new build.

Generally pretty good. However they wont mess you around like certain other mtb brands that have been discussed at length recently, Hunt actually do Customer Service

Although my experience with the wheels themselves has been good the order through to delivery was a shambles.

Ordered for delivery week commencing 25th February and they arrived on the 21st March.

By 25th had heard nothing so called to check, told they were delayed to around 22nd March, info on website was a mistake of sorts.
21st I emailed asking them if they were definitely coming out this week and they responded on 22nd to say they had already been delivered. Courier had signed for the parcel in my name and appears to have left the parcel outside the door of delivery address, rather than give to a human. Never received tracking info but thankfully did get the wheels, and been happy with them ever since.

To be fair they were very apologetic and not at all dismissive, but the experience wasn’t exactly great. It looks like I need new road wheels ASAP and if wasn’t for the above experience probably would have gone with Hunt, instead considering spending more at a local wheelbuilder (for a similar spec product)

Forgot to say too that it looked like Stevie Wonder applied the rim tape and Jack the Ripper cut the gigantic slash for the valve. They were nothing like tubeless ready in that state and needed retaping before I could stick anything on without a tube in.

My wheels were despatched on time.

My We Are One suggestion was crap.