Hunt 30 Carbon Aero Disc Road Wheelset

The 30 Carbon Aero Disc wheelset from UK brand Hunt is unbelievably light, which really benefits climbing and acceleration, especially because achieving that weight hasn't meant any loss in lateral stiffness. These are seriously good wheels at a very good price.

• Pros: Super-lightweight; excellent stiffness levels
• Cons: 100kg weight limit might be a barrier for some

With a 30mm-deep rim, these wheels are versatile for all kinds of road riding – racing, sportives, audax or just getting out with mates on a group ride.

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At just 1,347g they feel light and responsive whatever the terrain, but it's most notable when you are in the hills. Attack a climb out of the saddle and they'll make the whole bike surge forward as if it weighs nothing, also helped by the instant engagement of the multi-point pawls in as little as 7.5 degrees.

It's the same when it comes to sprinting or hard acceleration: the response is like a switch has been flicked bunging another 100 watts into your legs for free.

All of this is a waste of time if you can't get that power out because of flex, but there are no such issues here. Even full-on sprinting efforts don't see the rims budge a millimetre from side to side.

Thirty millimetres isn't that deep a rim, but Hunt has gone wider than most with it. You get an external width of 27mm with an internal width of 21mm, which, Hunt claims, gives an aerodynamic benefit when paired with a fitted tyre, and the U-shaped rim profile reduces drag across multiple wind yaw angles.

They don't feel noticeably quicker over a thinner, deeper section wheel, but they are certainly no slouch when it comes to cruising along on the flats at a decent pace.

I rode the wheels over a lot of miles, not just the set I had in for testing but also the pair that came fitted to the Mason Aspect I was reviewing at the time.

The Mason was running 30mm wide Schwalbe G-One Speed tyres and the profile between rim and tyre was absolutely spot on, running pretty much seamlessly from one to the other, and even with the tyre pressures near their upper limits the wheels were still very comfortable.

Hunt uses V:Absorbe resin in the rims, which it says reduces vibration and improves impact resistance. Hunt says that as disc wheels don't need to withstand the high braking temperatures of a rim brake setup, the T24/T30 grade carbon layup and resin can be cured at lower temperatures, which means they are less brittle and damp vibration more effectively.

Fitting tyres isn't too much of a battle, although the wider the rubber, the easier they go on. Some 25mm tyres took a little more thumb pressure to pop them onto the rim, but not enough that I would be worried about fixing a puncture at the side of the road.

Hunt supplies the wheels with tubeless rim tape already fitted and the rim bed uses an H-Lock design where the profile has small ramps to give the bead of the tubeless tyres a bit of a guide up to the rim hook for easy initial fitment. The H-Lock also keeps the bead in position when running very low tyre pressures.

With such a low overall weight, durability was always going to be my biggest concern, but with about 800 miles spread over the sets of wheels there were no issues whatsoever.

The 20 spokes in the front wheel and 24 at the rear were perfectly tensioned straight out of the box and stayed true and tight throughout testing, even after whacking a rain-filled pothole at 35mph – both wheels shrugged it off, albeit with one hell of a bang at the time!

Another place of weakness can be the freehub body, which can suffer indents and gouging from the cassette body rotating under huge loads like sprinting or standing starts in large gears. Hunt uses a steel spline insert on the freehub which pretty much eliminates this.

The 30 CADs are available to suit any configuration of gearing – Shimano, Campagnolo or SRAM including its XD and XDR Driver models.

You can choose from a range of axle sizes as well, covering both quick release and thru-axle options – anything except for 15mm diameter at the front, which isn't a major issue as that seems to have disappeared from the latest road and gravel bikes.

Inside the hub, the bearings have continued to run smoothly and Hunt says that three of the rear hub bearings have been upgraded to low-friction LU/LB seals on the internal bearing face to reduce rolling resistance while maintaining excellent sealing. I have done a fair few wet rides on the 30 CADs and had no issues with water ingress.

Value

When it comes to value, this is where Hunt really delivers an excellent package. They cost just £799!

For that you are getting the wheels, tubeless tape, tubeless valves, spare spokes, spoke key, axle adaptors and 6-bolt adaptors should your rotors not fit the Centerlock standard the wheels come with; quite a package.

You also get a three-year warranty too.

The brilliant Pacenti Forza C wheelset offers very similar levels of performance and weight and probably comes closest to the Hunts in terms of price at £899.99.

> Buyer's Guide: 37 of the best road bike wheelsets

One of the best of the rest is something like the Scribe Aero Wide wheelset. We've tested the 50mm-deep models but Scribe also does a 32mm which has a similar weight to both the Pacenti and Hunt at 1,408g. It'll set you back £870.

A lot of the bigger brands don't fare so well on price, though. Bontrager's Aeolus Pro 3V TLR Disc Road wheelset is £1,199.98 and weighs 1,540g.

Conclusion

Hunt has created a quality set of wheels here, choosing solid components that do the job without hassle. The weight is exceptional and the fact that they are so tough and durable is testament to their quality – impressive when considering the cost.

Verdict

A lightweight, stiff and durable wheelset that'll work brilliantly across a range of road riding disciplines