Hunt wheels – great service

Recently took myself to Cheddar for the first time, around a 3 hour round trip from home. After climbing / pushing up a massive hill my freehub died. I think I managed 3.8miles of which a mile and a half was coasting back to the car like I was Gwin on that chainless run 😂

Wheels in question are Hunt trail wides bought in May 2021, so this is just within their 3 year warranty, albeit looking at the terms and conditions the freehub is covered for six months. The wheels have been faultless until this point and coped with rides on Dartmoor, south wales and the Quantocks.

Anyway, having dropped Hunt a line they pointed out the freehub isn’t covered but have agreed that they will replace free of charge and are posting me out replacement parts to get me up and running. The warranty online form and request was easy, comms back in a few days and hopefully all sorted in around two weeks (over Easter).

They do get a bad rap at times but the wheels have been great for me and they have been very good in sorting me out here when they didn’t need to, so I can only judge them how I find them, so credit where it is due. They seemed very keen to help me out rather than making me feel like they were doing because they had to (which they don’t).

Not the most exciting thread but may help someone if they were considering a purchase.

I thought their reputation was for great service when it inevitably breaks! Your experience seems consistent!

Also had great service from Hunt , my road wheels had corrosion on the nipples and were still just inside the warranty … sent them a few pics , full set of new nipples in post within a few days and  a note telling me to get the wheels rebuilt at a local shop with new nipples etc, and share the receipt with them and they would forward the money onto me to cover it which they did , all paid for and sorted … superb service and happy wheels and customer

As I’ve just bought my first set of Hunt Trail Wide Wheels this is reassuring 👍

I was told about the potential corrosion issue with the alloy nipples by my LBS . But they did say they had only seen it on road wheels probably due to salt that’s put down in the Winter?

Why they don’t just fit brass nipples and be done with it I don’t know ?

Mechanic said he’d weighed both brass and alloy and the difference was 26gms !

I was told about the potential corrosion issue with the alloy nipples by my LBS . But they did say they had only seen it on road wheels probably due to salt that’s put down in the Winter?

Why they don’t just fit brass nipples and be done with it I don’t know ?

Mechanic said he’d weighed both brass and alloy and the difference was 26gms !

Problem is that a lot of their competitors use alloy too, and the headline ‘numbers’ for wheels are weight vs price…

On the Hunt website it does state in the specs for each wheel whether they’re using alloy or brass.

I’ve had factory wheels fail through nipple corrosion. Specialised MTB. 4 went on one ride and thankfully it was only a short walk.

I’ve had Mavic freehub fail off the start line in a CX race.

Hope hoops that pulled spokes through the Stan’s rims.

Prime wheels that cracked at the spoke holes on the rim.

Posh carbon road wheels broke a spoke last year under braking.

Stuff breaks. Especially if you ride a lot (c15000km /yr)

Got a couple of sets of hunt wheels. The ones I have are brass nipples though. Good to see you can get bits a few years down the line. Be better if they didn’t break but that’s a bit of a lottery.

Three wheel companies I’d use.

Hunt – I know the issues but they are cheap and good enough for most road/gravel/CX where cost is big factor.

JRA – wheels lasted two bikes without ever being touched. 3*3pks, 3 seasons CX and then retired to winter road bike which I sold. Bomb proof. Bit more £££ than hunt.

Fit wheels.eu – hand built DT swiss. Best MTB wheels I’ve had.

I don’t really mind that stuff needs replacing or rebuilding through it’s life. I mind that I find this out at an inconvenient moment mid ride/race!

The Hunt threads always make me smile. In the blue corner, the haters claiming an assemblage of well marketed cheap Chinese components backed by a decent warranty that’s only required cos they’re rubbish. In the red corner, loved up owners that don’t seem to have too many issues or are otherwise happy with the price/performance/support offered.

I have 4 pairs. 2x 4 seasons that get absolutely battered both gravel riding and throughout the winter on the road. A pair of aero 34’s that see summer use on my Ti road bike and a new pair of SL’s that haven’t seen tarmac yet. The latter two pairs have alloy nipples, the former two brass.

To date, I’ve had zero issues apart from late delivery on the SL’s. Hunt offset this by supplying and fitting a pair of tubeless Pro Ones (the expensive ones) FOC. Good Customer service I thought. Other than that, nothing to report. Yes they’re not fancy (I’m buying the cheaper alloy rimmed  ones), they don’t have upmarket labels and if y9u went to China, collected all the bits and built them yourself, they would probably be cheaper. I also don’t have a bauxite mine so can’t produce my own alloy…

For really fancy stuff, I’ll probably stick with Enve/Zipp but for daily thrashing, theyre fine and are supported by decent aftermarket, onshore support.

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Well, I’m at the start of the “Hunt Experience.”

Bought a pair of HUNT 32 Aerodynamicist UD, very light indeed, ride really well, initially very impressed.

However, the back wheel went out of true after 240 miles. 240 smooth road miles I might add and I’m well within the weight limit of the wheels.

Got in touch with Hunt customer services and they advised taking it to a local wheel builder to get it trued and they will pay for the work to be done. Spoke tension on the non drive side varies from 10nm (same as drive side-wrong) to 2nm according to the Park Spoke Tension Meter so its off to be rebuilt by a reputable wheel builder here in Inverness.

Customer service – Good, I think. Easier than boxing the wheel up and sending it back, plus it will be rebuilt by someone with a good reputation for wheel building.

Build quality – questionable. If it goes out of true again the wheels will be going back under their 60 day return guarantee (unaffected by someone other than Hunt fixing the wheel – I checked.)