[Closed] Hunt trail wide v h_impact carbon?

If its a hardtail go alu IMO

They're going to be built for strength, carbon doesn't ding and bend like alloy so if you're not bending the trail wheels, the hunt carbons will be overkill.

I've both, and whilst trail wide is slightly lighter, the impact carbon are stiffer. I'm a total convert to the way the carbon set has made the bike feel. Oh and the hubs are gorgeous. You wont be disappointed with either and customer service is always excellent.

They'll be going on a circa 150mm FS 29er. So extra strength is an attribute worthy of consideration. Stiffness.... Maybe I'd notice, I certainly can tell the difference in my xc wheels now they are built better and are stiffer just with the same rims!

I also have a pair of Hunt XC wide and they the most flexible of all three. Whilst they will stand some knar, a season has seen them go out of true, I also popped spokes in XC front. Hunt however where brilliant in sorting this though. Ultimately it depends how you like your bike setup. I love torqing rear end so carbon give that extra pop and jive out of corners. Im 73kg.

my new Trail Wide wheels have more dings in them than they've had rides.

disappointed. especially considering my tyres are still pretty firm from fitting them.

ive not been riding anything too fruity either.

incidentally - how does the crash replacement scheme i paid extra for work when they have zero stock of anything?

I use hunt carbons

800 miles on the trailwides.

Disappointing amount of dings - especially as this is all "no gnar, not far" local riding, and I've used volumous rubber. Managed to somehow burp a XR3 off the rim 34 miles from home the other day. Wouldn't re-seal. had a tube. Covered myself in Stans. None of my other wheelsets have any dings over the same terrain.

My Aero Race road wheel is back with them too as the hub developed play after 150 miles. Told there is a two week wait on warranty stuff at the moment. So I am without a road bike.

They are reasonably priced. They are light. They are not as bomb proof as claimed.

Jury is out.....

Perhaps look at a custom build of something like Hope Pro4 with DT Swiss XM481 rims?

They should be spot on for a 150mm FS.

800 miles on the trailwides.

Disappointing amount of dings – especially as this is all “no gnar, not far” local riding, and I’ve used volumous rubber. Managed to somehow burp a XR3 off the rim 34 miles from home the other day. Wouldn’t re-seal. had a tube. Covered myself in Stans. None of my other wheelsets have any dings over the same terrain.

Looks like "light, cheap, strong: pick any two" applies to these too.

From experience, would agree with the soft nature of the Hunt rims. My other half had a set on her long termer test bike. She's a competent rider, but not hard on kit - the rear wheel is literally peppered with dings. From memory we counted over 25 in total.

I'm a firm believer that carbon wheels don't belong on MTB's other than maybe XC bikes. I've wrecked so many over the years, and never been impressed with the ride quality, or feel over a decent set of aluminium wheels.

If you're prepared to spend that much money, i'd be going for a set of Xm1501's. As light as the Trail Wides, really tough & ride exceptionally well.

Looks like “light, cheap, strong: pick any two” applies to these too.

Beginning to think that.

I installed a new tyre on the trail wide today. Took it off the bike and the cassette was moving around. on closer inspection the end caps have undone and about to fall off.

I've done them up again with 17mm cone spanner. But FFS.... it just feels cheap.

Like many people I struggle to see past DT Swiss alloy rims after watching Aaron Gwin race almost the entire Leogang WC DH course with no tyre on an EX471!

If you break a rim how much are they to replace?

Hunts? Crash replacement is £80 fitted and delivered or £55 (I think) for just the rim.

Yeah, that's about right mccraque. My trail wide rear is with them being rebuilt after knackering it on the first ride. The rebuild price is pretty good value really, it's just annoying I'm having to do it immediately after shelling out for new wheels. I accept some clumsiness on my part but I'm normally quite light on parts and it didn't do any damage to the tyre.

@bails that's a pretty impressive ding for a first ride out! I bet you were gutted. Did it still hold air?

Is that £55 for the Ali rim? What's the price for the carbon replacement?

How long does the replacement policy last?

mine did the same (endure wide) as the above on its first trip over a rocky trail, even with a foam insert. I've bent it back but it'll need a rebuild. Will just watch the pressures next time.

Otherwise I think they're fine and for the money they look neat. Still not a fan of carbon wheels though. Stiffness isn't always good. And you can bend and beat alloy with a hammer...

It’s interesting to see real world feedback on Hunt rather than the 100s of gushing comments on the advert that seems to pop up on my Facebook feed. I’d definitely be going for Hope or DT hubs with DT rims for long term reliability and spares availability.

My experience with hunt wheels has been nothing but positive, good guys to speak to and service was great, have a set of 27.5 trail wides, no dings and no issues over the last year, also survived a trip to bike park wales with zero issues.

I'm not the gnarliest of riders but i am heavy at around 95-100 kgs.

I run around 28psi with no inserts and my rims are fine.

I very nearly went for DT Swiss as the german sites seem to have some very good deals.

Dinged my trailwides quite a bit, but they’re holding up better than Easton/RaceFace and Stans rims I used before. The tougher WTB rims are the only ones I’ve used that are less prone to this than the Hunts.

Geez, you guys are making me paranoid now. 2 rides in so about 50 miles and I cased a jump onto a log the other day definately heard a funny sort of twang. After reading this I've been out to check the rim and it seems to be ok. Not taken the tyre off.

Must say I have noticed a big difference in how these roll compared to my old rims. They are about 1.2Kg lighter.

They're certainly light. But I don't think there is a magic formula that makes them strong AND light. They zip along nicely. Once I managed to get through to the customer services they were pretty decent to deal with and I just drove my wheel over to where they are as they're local to me. But there is a 2 week wait for warranty. I managed to bend the trail wide back into action...although with all the dings it is starting to look like a cookie cutter.

The road wheel is with them and I am without my road bike for the duration. I would be two bikes down if I wasn't taking a chance with the pliers.

And as for my end caps self loosening....

Well this doesn’t bode well....
I’ve bent my wtb i30 beyond tubeless sealant capability’s and was looking at these as a replacement.
I think I may wait abit and go with the dt Swiss instead, they were flawless on previous bikes, or maybe the new spank vibrocore wheels

DT genuinely do seem to have mastered strong and light, tbh. Though obviously not cheap, and I don't like their squorx...

Maybe this is just me, but it seems like the general state of mtb rims just now is that in the rush for wide and light, most have gone soft. Soft's better than too hard and too light, because that's when they explode or crack instead of bending, but it's not great. For sure that's where a lot of WTB's rims are at just now

My stans flow ex are holding up well, hand built onto hope pro 4. Not the lightest but certainly seem to be strong.

I did consider the hunts, they look good and up until this thread I've never seen any bad feedback. It's been nothing but praise for them.

“My stans flow ex are holding up well, hand built onto hope pro 4. Not the lightest but certainly seem to be strong.”

My Flow EX are still doing very well after years and thousands of miles. It was interesting to hear they’re stronger than the Flow Mk3, hence the new EX3 which is wide like the Mk3 but strong like the EX!

Flow Ex is pretty strong but because of the low height rim walls it doesn't take a big dent to kill them- damage that would just bend out of some rims will go straight into the rim bed.. But especially considering their age they were ace. And miles better than the cracky Mk3.

I have been smashing the hunt carbons with no issues at all. Love em

Two years on a set of XM481's, over 500,000ft of descening (couple of trips to italy, multiple uplifts, 10 days in Morzine) and there are no dents. Looks like someone has taken an angle grinder to the rim in places, plenty of marring from rock strikes.

£500 buys you XM481 on either DT350's or Hopes, fit and near enough forget.

Trail Wide are sh!te!

First ride yesterday. 10 miles around a trail at Afan in the pouring rain on a 150mm/160mm bike. Brand new Maxxis DHR II tyre with DD carcass too.

I'm not interested in paying Hunt £80 to put another soft cheese rim on. So I've just bought a DT Swiss XM481 to replace the rear rim - based upon advice in this thread.

Pretty gutted because I just bought their Microspline freehub for £50 so I've invested over £400 in them.

I can't believe no bike journalists have dinged theirs like this when you see/read the input above from bikers.

In 25 years of mountain biking this is the most pathetic, supposedly fit for purpose, rim I've used (except maybe Mavic XM819 - they were very "pliable" too).

One ride only, shocking.

My rear Trailwide is with Hunt at the moment for a rebuild too. They’re doing it under warranty, which is nice of them, but I’d rather they didn’t need to.

6 dings in the first 2 rides, then a full on crimp it flat jobbie a couple of rides later (which I barely felt happen), despite me being sub 10stone at the mo, and using a 1.4kg WTB Judge tough carcass tyre.

I got my rear wheel back from Hunt today, after sending it to them in April.

I've got some Rimpact tyre inserts to go in it, hopefully £40 on those will avoid several £80 rebuilds.

Those of you with big dings in your Hunt rims, what sort of weight are you and what tyre pressure are you running?

I'm 70kg and running just under 25psi.

Thanks Bails, that' good to know. I'm 65kgs and run similar psi so perhaps I'll look at different options for my next build.

80kg and 28psi or so.

I have set of the Enduro wide on order, I'm wondering if i should cancel that based on this thread.

For those who have them what are the hubs like? just pondering whether it would be worth buying them and getting the rear rebuilt with a different rim if they do get heavily dinged?

I like the hubs, but for obvious reasons haven't put many miles on them. They're a very fast engaging freehub and they spin really freely.

I can’t believe no bike journalists have dinged theirs like this when you see/read the input above from bikers.

Andi from this parish reviewed them and dinged the shit out of them (he tested them on the Sram track in Malaga FFS) but still gave them a stellar review because despite the dings he didnt puncture and the the wheels still spun nice and true.

Does seem to me that the only people with good things to say are the folk who get to ride their wares for free!! their marketing people must be genius!

they can be nice, polite and courteous as they like but the company is a joke and their products are shite.

On the other hand, their road wheels are very good. I've had no problems with a number of pairs.

My Endurowide have been brilliant - even with my current weight...

Maybe it’s just the trail wide rims that are crap, but I don’t want bigger than 30mm internal width.
I like the hubs, especially the axle fixing which holds the freehub on, unlike my DT Swiss 350 which can eject the engagement plate things if you’re not careful. No idea on the Hunt hub reliability, see what happens in 6 months after I replace the crappy rim.
I did read Andi’s review and laughed at the final positive nature despite the numerous dents/dings. My biggest dent is essentially a fold in the aluminium so far from ideal in this material if I did dare to try and work it back to its normal shape!

For those who have them what are the hubs like?

Umm, noisy. I'm used to Hopes and like that sound, these sound more tinny, I packed the pawls with grease and it made little difference. They engage fast and seem reliable so far.

If you're using Torque caps, be aware the adapters might rattle, I had 2 sets from Hunt and ended up gluing my adapters to the axle because they span freely when the Maxle was done up. Kind of defeats the point of Torque Caps.

They're novatech OEM hubs with Hunt stickers on, nothing special but on par for a sub £400 wheelset.

Cheap hubs with super fast engagement is usually not a good recipe for long term reliability but the Hunt MTB wheels haven't been out long enough to properly gauge whether or not this is the case with the version of Novatechs they spec.

Can't believe people rave about these hunt wheels.

They are cheap as chips novatec hubs, superstar were knocking out wheelsets for £75 with the same hubs.

Rims out of a Taiwan catalogue.

Get DT 240 for real quality and their rims as above.

In fairness to Hunt there's a lot of different Novatech models out there and you may not be comparing apples with apples there.

They're not bad for £350, but they are a £350 wheel, not some unbeatable mega bargain as their marketing would have you believe.

The 240's an awesome hub, but priced accordingly.

369 GBP Now.

I have decided to cancel them and go for some ex511 on 350 hubs.

The Enduro Wides might be okay, but they would be something I constantly worried about.

I cant see past the various DT Swiss rims hand built onto DT 350 hubs that are Ebay at around £400 for a bombproof Ali build

92kg, one year on XC wide.

The rear rim has split as a spike has pulled through the rim.

It’s getting picked up on Tuesday so we will see what they say. It’s been ridden on on sandy smooth trails.

Pacenti dl31 rims for the win, not bullet proof but survive my fat arse

80kg I've been on the trailwides with a huck norris on the rear on my hardtail for over a year, no dings, no dents...no issues.

Also have Hope Enduros on my full suss which are also supposed to be made of cheese, no issue with them either.

The novatec are not bad hubs.

I bought freehub from hunt for my £75 superstar wheels.

Bearings can be variable quality but just press in skf when the cheapie wear out.

Anyway thats not the point, my point is that you can get much higher quality hubs and wheels for the price of hunt.

I had a pair of Hunt XC wheels. The hubs seemed rather nice. No rim dings but the ride quality didn't impress. They may have been updated but at that point the XC rims were quite deep and therefore laterally flexy and vertically harsh. Also owing to the inner rim profile, the way Hunt hadn't applied the tape properly (which split) and the valves (which didn't fit the rim shape or seal) they were a bastard to set up tubeless. The 60 day ride and return policy was made use of and Hunt were decent to deal with about it.

I've done one ride on my repaired rear Trail Wide and have got another dent in it, despite using the tyre inserts. It looks just like the first of Mintyjim's pictures:
singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/hunt-trail-wide-v-h_impact-carbon/#post-11308315

Wonder what rims have the same/similar ERD for when it needs replacing again?

I have a set of wheels with XM481 rims and a set of the Trailwides. The Hunts are really soft. The XM481 have been smashed around the Alps, Molini and bike park wales over the last four years and are still in better condition than the four month old hunts. I'm 100kg and really good at casing jumps. As Hobnob says ^^^, if you're happy to spend carbon money, get the XM1501s.

As above. I originally specced the Trail Wides for my latest hard tail but the rims were trashed pretty quickly, despite foam inserts. Hunt kindly swapped them out for Enduro Wides when I pointed out that they weren't fit for purpose and didn't match their own intended purpose according to their marketing. Enduro Wides have been fine so far but I didn't really want a wheel set that wide or heavy, should have stuck with Stans.

I'm also 'surprised' by the positive journo reviews...

There seems to be lots of dodgy posts on here 🤔. I’ve got Trail wides on my hardtail and they are unmarked. Ridden them pretty hard in South Wales, I’m 83kg 25 psi rear 17 psi front. Love them, better than my Hopes with ARC rims and better engagement.

I've put 1500 miles on my Trail Wides now - on a Solaris Max. For reference I am 89kg + kit on top.

They've been through early winter grime until March.
A few Surrey Hills trips
Some biggish (70 mile) all dayser as well as as a mix of South Downs rides.

As documented above. I dinged the rim on a XC ride. It still works fine tubeless. No other such issues since.

Hub - end cap just fell off one day. Torqued back up and no such issues since.

They spin fine, they're light and they are, IMO a reasonable sweet spot for weight/money. I'd obviously prefer DT240's laced to something flash...but doubt I would get that for £349.

I have also had warranty issues with a road wheel. They sorted it just fine for me, and they are up the road from where I live so I like the local support.

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<div class="bbp-reply-author d-flex align-items-center flex-wrap">jonundercover
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There seems to be lots of dodgy posts on here 🤔.

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What do you mean by that?

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Had my Trail Wides for a couple of weeks now.

First Impressions: They roll really quickly and the freehub engagement is really quick too.

They aren't loud, they are quieter than the Mavic wheels I was using and nowhere near as loud as Hope hubs.

The were an absolute doddle to set up tubeless with Maxxis tyres , pushed the tyres on by hand and inflated first time with a track pump.

I've not really ridden anywhere I'm likely to ding them yet so time will tell on that aspect but I'm impressed with them so far.

Only negative was the amount of time it took to get them. I ordered them in May for deliver in early July and ended up waiting an extra month.

DT rims on Hope hubs.

Pretty much everything you want in a burly wheelset. You don't have to use squorx nips either. Hope hubs aren't bullet proof but easy to re-bearing, once you have a press. All sizes and freehubs accommodated. I think the Hunts are good for road/gravel and carbon fine for XC/weenie but mtb is all about toughness.

So I got my Trailwides back from Hunt after 6 weeks. 3 rides in and I’ve picked up a ding in the back, through a WTB Verdict Tough 2.4 AND a Rimpact (@25psi). It’s not a huge one by any means, but really…

My back wheel now weighs over 3kg, or ~5% of my body weight and I can’t half feel the mass whilst trying to ride.

Not impressed.

I’ve not really ridden anywhere I’m likely to ding them yet

Doesn't matter...

3 rides in and...

a new record? at least they're improving

At the end of my tether with these now. 28psi with Rimpact and I ended up with another ding on yesterday's ride. This one meant that every time the tyre flexed on that area a bit of air leaked out. Eventually had to remove the tyre insert and fit a tube for the rest of the ride. The thing is that when I've dinged the wheel I haven't damaged the tyre and when I've fitted a tube I've not been pinch flatting, and I've never damaged a set of wheels (beyond minor cosmetic dings) before, so it's not like I'm a clumsy buffer with a habit of wrecking wheels and tyres. But with these it's a new, noticeable if not ride-stopping dent on every ride anywhere rocky.

With the original purchase, the repair after the first ride and the Rimpacts I'm down the best part of £500 and don't have a set of wheels I can rely on.

Few weeks ago I saw a Hunt wheel fold in half when a guy cased a drop gap that Ive seen lots of others tag and not have their wheel ruined.

I’d just replace the Hunt rim with a DT Swiss one. XM481 for 30mm wide or XM421 for 25mm wise (inner widths). That’s assuming general trails use - my XM481’s were initially on an enduro bike but now a 130 trail bike with a robust build (Lyriks / Codes etc). They’ve been bashed about at Antur Stiniog, down the Ranger Path at Snowdon, the blacks at CYB, several uplift says at BPW / BMCC etc. No inserts, Maxxis Exo tyres (except Antur / Snowdon where I stuck on a trailboss tough for the stronger casing) and run around 25psi for rocky places and a few psi lower for more mellow stuff. I weigh just over 80kgs at 5’9.

If you need stronger wheels then EX511 / EX471s are the boys.

For the record my road Hunts are generally ok. I damaged a rim beyond repair the first week I had them but that was a freak issue banging the bike into a huge pothole that hadn’t been in the road the day before and I only saw last minute as it jumped out at me from under a van! Bruised my big toes in my shoes such was the viciousness of the pothole impact. Rebuilt it with the same spokes which in hindsight wasn’t a good plan as I was snapping a spoke from time to time. Rebuilt the rim / hub with aci double butted spokes and been perfect since.

I’d buy their road wheels again - but I hear too many bad things about their mtb wheels and DT Swiss rims are just so good.