Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheelset review

Hunt Bike Wheels are UK designed to cope with UK conditions and the 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheelset provides a great option for anyone planning to head off road as well as take in back road use.

For starters, they’re built with 28 aero J-bend spokes laced two-cross front and rear, so they’re super-rugged. Hunt says that they will cope with riders up to 115kg. This is not bought at the expense of excess weight though, as we’ve weighed the wheelset at 1500g on the mark.

Hunt was an early adopter of wider, tubeless ready rims and the 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheelset follows this trend, with a 27mm external width, 21mm internal rim, which comes pre-taped for tubeless set-up. Hunt supplies tubeless valves too.

The rims are 30mm deep, with a smoothly rounded aero profile. Although aero might not be so important off road, it’s still an advantage on faster trails. And most mixed surface rides will include a bit of tarmac, where you’ll be able to ride faster. The smooth profile also helps with cleaning post-ride.

Hunt says that you can pump 25mm or 28mm tyres up to 110psi – should you want to. But with a tubeless set-up, you’d be more comfortable and faster on much lower pressures. Increase tyre width to a more gravel-friendly, 35mm plus, and Hunt recommends no more than 40psi, although we’ve run a 35mm tyre at 50psi without problems.

The Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheels feel lively, with good pick-up and no tendency to flex under hard acceleration. They have coped well with the odd rock bash too, without showing any ill effects and the J-bend spokes offer a more forgiving ride than straight-pull.

Hubs are Hunt 4Season Disc aluminium, which Hunt says have extra bearing protection. They use a centerlock rotor attachment, although Hunt supplies 6-bolt adapters too. The hub rolls on replaceable sealed bearings and the freehub comes with an anti-gouge plate.

Axles for disc brake road, cross and gravel bikes come in a variety of sizes. They are rapidly standardising on 12x100mm front and 12x142mm rear thru-axles. The 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheelset supports this, as well as 15mm or 9mm front thru-axles, 12x135mm and 10x135mm rear thru-axles. The wheels will fit quick releases too and come supplied with skewers, if you order this set-up.

The wide tyre stance works really well for wider cyclocross and gravel tyres, giving extra stability and air volume. We had no problem seating a few different tubeless tyres either.

Hunt uses alloy nipples on the 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheelset. In the past, alloy nipples were prone to corrosion in damp (ie UK) conditions. But when we questioned Hunt over their robustness, it said that the anodising of these now improves corrosion resistance substantially.

The Hunt 30Carbon Gravel Disc wheelset looks like a great option if you want to up your game for gravel tracks. They would also work well for cyclocross if you don’t fancy the faff of tubulars. They’re light enough that they would work well with a road tyre too, if you’re wanting to equip your road bike with wider rims and tyres and have the clearance in your frame.