Hunt Bicycle Wheel Hub Teardown - Bearing Service. Overpriced Junk
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2022
- Hunt wheel hubs bearing service. These hubs and wheels in general are really crap. Bearing fits are poor, the quality of bearings is poor. Holes are not round, the list is endless. Avoid them at all costs
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If you have a set of wheels designed and engineered by K.HUNT engineering, please do comment below.
I do not.
Greetings, your hairdresser
I used an nlgi 2 for the pawls of my hub. Though i used just a tiny bit.
Its hard to buy a small amount of nlgi lower than 2 here in my country. Most shops sell nlgi 2 or nlgi 3 for automotive use.
Its not K its M, M for Mike Hunt.
@@jasontonge8627 An intended pun for sure 😁
I do and I am afraid to watch this video.
Seems like the majority of people are actually pretty happy with their Hunts.
From my experience with Hunt, no individual component for most of their wheels (hub, rim, spokes or bearings) is remarkable on their own. But that's kind of the point, Hunt are kind of the min-max of wheelsets (spend the money where it matters) and build relatively sensible wheels (e.g. they actually spec brass nipples on their 4Season wheels, they lace 28H spokes on the gravel wheels and 36H spokes on their eBike wheels and use proper wide widths, tubeless well with the 10 different manufacturers I've tried). They also offer a lifetime warranty crash replacement for a small cost (which puts in in the same realm as Reserve and Zipp's policies). Their customer service is actually fantastic and considering they cost the same as a pair of Farsport wheels, which don't have the same warranty of aftercare. Know about half a dozen people with Hunt v2 hubs and they've lasted well (no unusually early bearing changes).
I was very skeptical about Hunt (wanted to dislike them as another pop-up dressed up catalogue wheel company) in the early days but having seen a few in the wild and after having given their v2 wheelsets a go (too many stories regarding their V1 hubs being middle-road or their Enduro V1 rims being a bit soft), they appear to have grown their capital to a point where they have significantly more control over their components (e.g. don't have to resort to using rebadged Novatec hubs, are choosing their own suppliers for each component now).
Are they my favorite wheels ever? No. But they offered specs I needed (gravel wheels that hold up to proper hard riding, most other gravel wheels are too geared towards featherweight roadies) at a reasonable price at good all-round specs with decent durability with great customer service and a lifetime crash replacement warranty.
Great comment. I agree. They are far better than a 'entry level' upgrade, but not far off a carbon upgrade, for substantially less. Great value:performance ratio in my experience
I agree too, had no issues with mine so far
Yeah, they're definitely still using Novatec hubs. They're just custom spec Novatec hubs rather than a rebadged off the shelf hub, which they never used in the first place. They've downgraded their hubsto 5* on the MTB side for no other reason than their 3* engagement hubs were blowing up all the time. That's not engineering or designing a better 3* hub, that's just choosing less engagement for bigger teeth.
Also agree. No idea why I hear a few moans here and there - I've had mine for about 6 years now and absolutely ZERO issues. My mechanic even said they're fantastic.
Two sets of hunt carbon rimmed wheels here. Set on my gravel bike has seen zero issues in 4 years. Set on my full susser has had 2 broken spokes in 3 years, both recently riding very rough ground. My all mountain carbons have lifetime free crash replacement and the hub engages really quickly. Excellent CS and good instruction videos. Can easily recommend.
I have a 50/65 set, no problems yet, they ride nice 👍🏼. Love the video will help me service them myself. Thanks a million 🙏
Never had a problem with any of my Hunts. I have got them on my gravel, road and MTB. The oldest set is from 2018. Have not even had to think about changing the bearings on any of them yet. I do go in there to have a look and regrease. Given what they cost I would be happy with them anyway. Even if I did have to change the bearings every 2 or 3 years. Maybe the older stuff was better than the current batches? Shrinkflation and all that, companies trying to keep the margins good. Thanks for the video. Will use if things do go pear shaped and surgery is required.
Thank you.
Watching your videos has been a learning experience and a relearning experience.
Thanks again. Keep up the good work.
I have exactly the same wheels and my mechanic replaced all the bearings including free hub earlier this year. I reckon I had done about 7000 miles on the original ones, he swapped them out for Enduro bearings and the result was much smoother and a quieter free hub compared to the old bearings.
Perfectly satisfied Hunt owner, with 3 sets of wheels, 0 problems since 2016.
I've been buying Hunt MTB wheels for custom builds and for our demo bikes for two years. So far nothing but a positive experience, especially for the price.
I've been running the Hunt Aero wheelset on the road for about 4000 miles. I did have an odd clicking sound from the rear hub which they warrantied and haven't had any other issues since. I also put a set of their 4 Season wheels on a gravel build which are super loud but have been real solid and trouble-free for 1000+ miles. Can't say these are the greatest wheels ever, but I do think you get more (tubeless ready, light weight, customer service) than you would from other brands for the same price.
Thanks for the clear, concise and detailed instruction guide👍. Bearings on order, I'll give it a go (replacing the bearings and pawls) next week. Obvs is it goes wrong it's Hambinis fault 🤣
Hi, Hambini I have the Aero disk ones in your vid got them in 2017 and have never missed a beat I have changed all 4 hub bearings after 2 years same with free hub ones for better ones nothing wrong with them just swapped them out for new ones not had any issues with the wheelset overall that time spokes are still nice and tight and true. just maybe I'm a lucky one keep up the good work. oh and set up tubeless no leaking using a track pump.
I got the c50 rim brake and used them 32 000 km. The freehub body got an reinforced spline so it is not much dented.
I have changed the bearings in the freehub body to SKF, but it was nothing wrong with the old Ezo bearing. Got a set of SKF bearings for the wheels, just in case.
I’m 80 kg and averaging around 40 km/h solo on a 50 km long loop. My experience with the C50 is much better than with my Specialized and Dtswiss wheels.
I’m not a mechanical engineer. But I’ve had two Hunt wheel sets for a while and they’ve been fine. And their customer service is excellent.
Their customer service needs to be excellent since so many of them go wrong
I have one set and they are crap... Bearing is worn after 3k off light endurance summer riding.
I have the Hunt 4 season rim brake version from 2019, to be honest they've served me well. The rear hub isn't great, but otherwise they've seen me over 15000 miles with little complaint. Their marketing bollox does set alarm bells ringing though!
I purchased a pair of Hunt wheels about 5 months ago, they were horrible from the start. The freehub (XDR) has so much preload applied when the wheel was built, that the bearings would hardly turn. The shaft between the bearings was so tightly pressed between the bearings that I couldn't even move it out of the way to push out the bearings. Hunt supplied me with a new freehub so I thought things would be fine. The odd thing is that the bearings never felt smooth, not even in the new one. I eventually removed the bearings from the original freehub, which they allowed me to keep, and installed new bearings. To my surprise, they felt horrible when they were installed. They were new bearings and rolled smoothly until I put them in freehub then they were horrible.
The worst part was that the freehub would skip like the pawls would not engage properly. I would go to put force on the pedals and...pop...it would skip. It wouldn't do it every time, perhaps 1 in 50 times but It was very disconcerting. I had two freehubs and the problem existed on both and I couldn't see any problems with the teeth in the freehub. I tried it with no lube on the pawls and with a light freehub-specific grease with the same results.
All this happened within the 90-day return window so I eventually returned them, lesson learned.
curious if in this whole debacle you ever replaced the spacer between the freehub and the pawls, or the spacer inside the freehub body. I think most hubs use Novatech as their supplier and I've had this issue in the past. They were especially prone to damage from an overtightened skewer. A well designed hub should be able to deal with any skewer in my opinion and these weren't that.
Got two sets, one for my MTB and one for my road. I rate them primarily for the price, weight and robustness. But mainly coz they're not covered in garish graphics
I own the Hunt 50 Aerodynamicist wheels and they're pretty good. Yes you can buy similar/better wheels for around the same money or less but you won't get crash replacement. If you race crits or just generally are careless with your stuff it's not a bad purchase for what you get. They look good and perform well up to a point.
Have you had any water ingress issues? Thanks
Using a set of Trail Wide 29's with the V2 hub on my Stumpjumper FSR. They've maintained their trueness, survived some sharp hits with pressures in the high teens psi with tubeless set-up. There is some scoring from the cassette on the HG freehub despite the advertised "Ceramik" freehub being harder to prevent such a damage. The ratcheting mechanism is louder and buzzier than I prefer, but the resulting prompt engagement is nice. I'm a fan of the simple, rounded design of the rim as well as the minimalist logo on the rim--saves me time and elbow grease not to have to remove first thing ridiculously large stickers whose colorway doesn't match the bike or my taste. Bearings are still smooth but only 1/2 a season on them so far. We'll see how winter treats them. I miss the satisfaction of getting a QR, loose ball hub set up perfect: pendulums to a stop when secured in the dropouts, yet no hint of a wiggle when checked for play. Good times.
Anyway, the Trail Wide V2's have passed muster so far, and if they maintain the durability they'll represent a great value compared to Stan's or the like.
out of curiosity why the crazy low pressures? i run that kind of pressures on my hardtail because hardtail.
@@0xsergy Better grip on the single track. Wide variety of conditions from dirt, sand, bedrock, loose rock over hardpack, grass...you name it, it's likely to be encountered on a single ride. North Central Midwest, USA. Around 20 psi for tubeless MTB tires is reasonable. My rear I'll inflate to 23-25psi and let it dwindle down over a few weeks to 17-18psi. That starts to feel a little too low on hardpack and the streets, so I go back to nearing 25. More than that, it feels like a brick and there is noticable loss of traction in both climbs and corners. The higher psi tire just breaks loose much easier. The front is most comfortable for me at 18-20. 25psi in front seems to make the handling a little squirrelly. The traction simply isn't there. My ride weight is 190-195# and I run my suspension with 20-22% sag in front, and 25% sag in the rear shock. Both air sprung, open mode compression with some additional low speed compression dialed in. Rebound setting midway to midway plus a couple clicks in (more rebound damping).
@@jeffhargis8017 i read that running a too large frame can also have the front being light and squirrely. i'm with you on the psi, just felt super low for an average adults weight.
@@0xsergy Could be. Lots of issues with a too large of a bike most related to diminished control, even if that means it's just "less playful." Regarding the pressures, i, too, didn't believe some of the stuff I was reading when I went tubeless. Pressures in the teens people were saying gave them the best handling. I scoffed and started out at 30psi with my first tubeless set up. Then tried 25. My hard head would've kept it there despite the anecdotal evidence I was reading about lower pressures. However, after a particularly good ride, and thinking my technique was really coming around, I noted the front tire was perhaps a little squishy on the street ride home. When I checked the pressure, it was down to 17 or 18. That opened my mind a bit to the idea of lower pressures. Next ride I experimented and there was such a world of difference in a 25 psi tire compared to 18. So I started doing what others were advocating in my readings: ridiculously low pressures.
@@jeffhargis8017 ye, i run 10 psi on my tubed front tire for that reason. Its just so grippy. But im skinny af. Just arent allowed any hard front impacts for tubed reasons.
I have 2 set now of the Hunt Trail Wide. The first set has over 700 miles and that includes Bike parks and rocky trails. The rear had some loose spokes just now and the jumps with whip landings don't do well on them. They are true again and have no issues so I bought a set for the 2nd bike. We shall see how they go but its been good so far.
Ive run a set of SuperDura's for 7 months now. Put close to 3000 miles on them since they were fitted and they have been absolutely fine. Im not sure if its because they were new or just more aero but compared to my old set of wheels which were a hand built DT Swiss RR440 rims with some unknown budget Novatec hubs. These Hunt's roll far more smoother and roll for a lot longer.
Im happy with my purchase primarily because i was looking for a wheelset made with Kinlin XR31 rims. Tried for an entire month to find a wheel builder and they were quoting me over over £500 when i found them, so when I saw the Hunt's at what i think was £430 at the time - I jumped on them. They've gone up by £20 now...
In any case, Unless ive been caught out in a random rain shower. They've only really been out on the road when its dry (because I have two bikes and i dont put the good wheels on my shit bike...) That might be why they still run so smooth.
Ive still got warranty in any case, so im covered should anything bad happen.
I understand theres a lot of _'pro-riders'_ that will scoff and turn their nose up pretty hard at the mention of the brand but as someone who is not pro, is looking for something that is half decent, offers decent enough value for money and built close to the spec that I was originally after. I am quite satisfied with what i bought.
The only negative thing i can think of is the ratchet system on the rear hub can be quite noisy as fuck but i get that its probably a signature of the brand - At least people will hear me when im out on the road.
I bought some Hunt road wheels and 2019, 2020 the rear wheel started creaking but no play or roughness in the bearings. Hunt recommended lubing the spokes where they cross, which funnily enough didn't work. I asked for a technical drawing or manual on how to disassemble and replace the bearings, they were unable to supply this. I tried to remove the rear axle but got scared with the amount of force required. Eventually after months of asking they collected the wheels and replaced the bearings in the freehub which fixed the problem. The wheels ran ok and I sold them this year. I have bought some of their MTB wheels which seem fine, their price point Vs competition is about right for the low end models.
I have 2 sets of 4 season wheels, they are some of the best wheels I've had, not a single problem in 5 years / 20,000 miles, using a little (just a little) of Phil's Tenacious Oil sorts the noise.
Perhaps you should give wheels a mark out of 10 (for weight, aero, engineering etc) then plot them on a chart by price.
You could call it the Hambini score, and present it on a colourful Excel spreadsheet.
I’ve had several sets of Hunts over the years on my own bikes & on customers bikes and not had a problem with any of them other than replacing the odd bearing & these are consumable parts.
I am a professional cycle mechanic so see many different wheels from various manufacturers & personally think that Hunt wheels are good value & well made. The customer service is also very good & UK based.
I also use the correct tools!!!!!!
I’ve seen a set of their gravel wheels fail after 800ish miles and less than a year of ownership. The rider was riding average gravel but wasn’t super rough on the wheels. The front bearings were already worn out and developed serious play so much so you could see the front wheel wobble back and forth despite the thru axle being torqued. His rear wheel had cracks and several spokes were about to pull out from the rim. They warrantied him a new wheelset but he could have been seriously hurt if he rode on that rear wheel, that thing was a few good rocks and roots from folding… He had nice tubeless tires too…
My son and i both ride Hunts and have been for a couple of years now. He's on the alloy Gravel Race and mine are the alloy 4 Season/ All Road. Those wheels have seen about 5k miles each, including at least a dozen gravel races. My son's set have carried him to around eight podium finishes. They are as true and spin as well as the day we got them. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another set.
I have a set of Hunt wheels and to be fare they transformed my sonder Camino. But the bearings fucked up very quickly as they did on the standard sonder love mud wheels. Imagine my shock to find the hunt wheels used the same hubs as sonder with the same POS bearings aka Revo cream. Binded the bearings for a set of enduro bearings job done no further issues
i like how you change the type of grease you use based on the fit of the cartridge. i've never seen anyone do that
I have the 50 40 aero wheels on my road bike and they are brilliant. On the other hand, I have binned a set of the enduro wide v2 mtb wheels after less than a year - 2 sets of bearings, clogged tubeless valves, jammed freehub, absolute d0g 5h1te.
Iv got a few sets of Hunt wheels. My aero 50s that use the sprint hubs have failed twice. Both times in less than 6 months the free hub body has cracked around the area where the pawls are held in. Both times I found the spacer in that area had disintergrated. I have pictures if you want to see.
To be fair to hunt they replaced the free hub both times and took the wheels back for inspection second time. Not sure what the solution will be when it happens again.
I had some hunt areo 34 with there newer sprint hubs and I was going through rear bearings at and alarming rate. The actual free hub bearings where so small and wouldn’t last more than one or 2 rides before they went notchy. Front hub ran smooth through its entire time. The scoring on the hub is largely dependent on weather the lock is torqued correctly. So I think it unfair it for you to mention it, having said that, that’s not bad at all.
Rim wise the anodising was thin and just gentle cleaning would wear through it quite easily.
Upside hunt is the apple of wheel world and seem to keep there value on the second market so I got rid and lost very little money
Its very common for many manufacturers to poorly QC interference fit for cartridge bearings. Poor fit will wear out your bearings much faster. I call that pressfit shit.
I'm one of the few shop mechanics who can actually measure fit like Hambini. I own the measuring instruments. You can't use digital calipers for these sort of tolerances. Find a high end shop with a highly experienced mechanic with micrometers or a bore gage. Most newer mechanics won't have a clue. In reality, unless the bike shop owns machining tools it can hardly be improved anyways!
If you don't ride in the rain or dirt often, your bearings should last for at least a few years, unless you're putting serious big miles on a road bike.
My old Campy Record hubs are 45 years old. Still commuted on daily and almost perfectly smooth. But they don't use cartridge bearings. Rather simple loose balls, cups, cones and no seals. Amazing hubs and quite renowned once upon a time. From 1977. They don't make em like they used to, that's for sure.
When I saw that wear I immediately assumed the seized bearing had spun. I’ll bet the bearing turned(poorly) under rider weight but not in hand. Any intermittent lockup would spin the inner race on the soft axle. It might appear to be just aesthetic but when it comes to bearing surface it can’t be allowed to move like that. It would eventually, maybe quite soon, become unusable particularly with a failed bearing.
Had some hunt 4 season gravel wheels for 5 years now, been great wheels, and customer support has be superb. One thing that's great is the adaptability of the hubs, managed to swap these wheels throughout my bikes with ease, QR, thru axle, doesn't matter just fit the hunt adapters and away you go.
I have to say though I've had 4 seasons for the last 4 winters and they are the most bullet proof wheels I've ever owned.still on the same set of crap bearings. They've had plenty of crappy British winter road abuse
Same experience here. I have some early Mason x Michael Hunts 4 seasons (I think perhaps when they used rebranded Novatec hubs!?) and they have been solid for years now, they have taken a battering and I've never needed to do a thing to them.
Same
Been great in Cambodia where I live. Conditions are bad but they are doing fine
Hi there! I m as well A/C engineer and i DO APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS cause i love them and understand as well....funny is cycling world arround. Don't stop and keep funny but pertinent analysis and comments!
I’ve been running the Enduro wide. MTBs for 4 years Zero issues with standard maintenance the engagement points are decent better than DTSwiss . Do a tear down on the Bottom bracket of one of their Privateer Bikes . I kind of like the Company but I do listen to the Great Habini
I ride Hunt UD 50 carbon spokes and while it’s only been a few months, they’ve been surprisingly good (and loud). I ride in some terrible urban streets and they’ve held up so far, under load of 500-1,000 watts. Curious if I should expect the hubs to eat crap at some point soon and why?
And once more, age 5 Hambini destroying marketing departments 😄
Without having the experience of riding different wheels, it is difficult for me to know how one is better than another (and 'better' will mean different things to different people). I have two sets of the MasonXHunt wheels (700C and 650B) and have found HUNT's customer service to be excellent. When a large screw went right through my rear tyre and rim, I was able to complete the ride and then HUNT repaired the wheel at very reasonable cost. When I bought the 650Bs I opted for the lifetime guarantee. A friend has the carbon wheels with carbon spokes. He went head-over-heels and the wheels were fine. I don't have the expertise to comment on the quality compared with other suppliers, but I do have experience of their customer service and it is excellent.
No problems with my 5 sets of Hunt wheels (2x MTB, 2x gravel/CX and 1 road) - are we saying that a bad bearing or hub got into the wild and hence all the product line is awful? On a sample size of 1 that's not a valid conclusion.
Great insight as always.
My winter bike/ commuter has survived 2 years with hunts cheapest alloy wheels. My new set of aerodynamicist wheels are an improvement on the 50mm aero wide wheel I had from them but of course there is better out there but they also cost more than £800
I’ve Hunt carbon gravel 30s on a synapse. I’m a 100k ex back row rugby player and OE wheels - including the Cannondale’s - are way inadequate. The Hunts? 12k miles in and I’ve replaced both sets of bearings and the freehub. Other than that nothing to report other than they’ve been excellent and have survived countless gravel runs and winter rides.
Thanks for the video. Seems to me, the designers that cannot get the Bottom Bracket hole to the correct tolerance were transferred to the hub division 😉
I love that . Big thanks Hambaini
Already watched four Hambini videos earlier today, guess we're adding a fifth.
Finally, a *review*. When I was choosing my new mtb wheels I hovered the Hunt set but after being bombarded with targeted ads and seeing almost zero comments on their posts on social media or even detailed feedback on reddit I gave up and just went the DT Swiss way. It's weird, a brand with such marketing and online presence but with almost no "real" feedback.
The difference is Dt Swiss is a manufacturer where as Hunt are a Brand
Quality in almost the entire larger bike industry is going down. Its not improving, it's only getting worse. QC is an inconvenient, overpriced, uncomfortable joke! ANYONE can be trained to put stickers where they don't belong. Its almost ALL job security for me! OR it's soon to become landfill, garbage. Haha!
I'm a retired mechanical/source inspector. I also worked as a machinist for many years.
There's a 'good reason' why most manufacturing has moved to Asia. Is DT even Swiss made anymore? Ive rejected all sorts of Asian junk. Now I'll reject DT. I used to recommend DT in my wheel building business. NOT any longer. Nobody's fooling me.
Now here's my proof. I wrench in a shop part time in my retirement. Lately the newest versions of 'high end' DT hubs OFTEN have stiff or rough spinning bearings. This has been common, not the rare exception on DT 350, 240 and 180 hubs.
I NEED to explain this to my customers so I can explain WHY I can't do a lasting repair on their hubs!
This is NOT simply a random issue. I remove the bearings and they spin nice and smooth OUTSIDE the freakin hub. I get out my micrometers and measure interference fits. I put new upgraded bearings in and they're rough and tight once again! Do this to ceramic bearings and they'll have an even shorter life!
Guess what?? The larger bike industry seems to have a real problem with pressfit shit!
Ironically, my decades OLD DT Hugi hubs have only needed new bearings once in 30 years of dirty service. My 25 year old Chris King hubs have ALL original bearings. My 43 year old loose ball Campy Record and Dura Ace hubs are still silky smooth. I've abused the hell out of numerous old XT hubs and only replaced one freehub body. The newest XT 12speed hubs are using cartridge bearings. Simply more job security.....
One can never go wrong with DT Swiss in my experience.
@@Sooperhans3636 That used to be the case, once upon a time. How old are your hubs?
Unfortunately, very few make it like they once did. This is what happens during bike booms. Ive seen it before, during the mtb boom in the '80s and early 90's, when most production began moving to Asia. DT Hugi was one of the very best hubs on the market back then. Shimano XT/XTR was still Japanese made and probably the best value that ever existed, IF you know what cone wrenches are for and are willing to get your hands grimy...
Ive got a 30 some year old DT Hugi rear hub. The bearings were replaced once, a couple years ago. Super strong and quite a light hub. The axle is silky smooth. I use it on my loaded touring bike these days.
I used to recommend DT for my custom wheel customers, up until the last couple years. No more recommendations until this junk improves. Ive got plenty of opportunities to inspect quality on lots of bike stuff.
This particular QC issue has become common, rather than a random anomaly. It effects DTs newest version of hubs. Ive precision measured every single cartridge bearing hub Ive overhauled. Its an old machinist's habit. I keep micrometers and very expensive Intramikes in my work bench. They measure in tenths of thousandths of an inch. Ive even got ring gage standards. I'm also a retired inspector and aerospace machinist. Nobody's fooling me.
But it's always your own money. At least DT's are pretty simple to replace bearings that should never need to be replaced so soon. There's simply zero excuse for high rolling resistance in brand new hubs. That's the telltale and it's become all too common. AKA job security
I work on lots of high end junk. This particular issue can't really be practically remedied on the effected newest even highest end hubs. Not by most common shop mechanics. They'll never search for the problem and it just is what it is. I often tell my customers why I can't effect a lasting repair on their new 'high end' junk. I've gotta be honest! But they're still gonna pay if they want their wheels back. I can prove it to them as well.
In my shop we have a former Euro pro race mechanic, a mechanical engineer/mechanic and myself, a career quality manufacturing expert, among others. We're all aware of this particular issue. Its not just DT or Hunt. It effects lots of blingy wheel manufacturers that folks believe are the best simply because they're overpriced. I call such issues rejects. As in compromised QC.
But, Its all job security for us mechanics after all!! I mean I could just agree
and say it's all just great for the benefit of my own bottom line! Selling overpriced bike junk to marketing BS impressed consumers is often like taking candy from babies. In the posh town my shop is located in, this is no exaggeration.
@rollinrat I was so intrigued by your passion and your experience. if I wanted to buy a pair of MTB wheels, what would you recommend?
Have set Hunts 40/50 after 3 years still going strong, the hub is a bit noisy but over all good.
I have a pair of alloy rim brake wheels. Not had any issues with them. Would there be any sense to change bearings if I'm not having problems?
Hambini´s got the gift. Everything he touches turns to gold... Sorry, that should read "crap".. Rgr
Great video as usual. Just watched video on Graham Obree ....brilliant engineer, athlete and untrained aerodynamasist.
Wasn't the whole thing about Hunt being generic open-mold Chinese rims being sold by a western company that can offer warranty? Not sure how or why anyone thinks they'd be getting anything more.
Skip the middle man shit, buy direct from china dumbass
Because they market them as if they're something bespoke. Like a lot of wheel and bike companies they're just a marketing front.
Yes, their rims and hubs are outsourced. I'm not too sure who manufactures their rims, but I do know one of the hub brands they use: Hubsmith from Taiwan.
Because gullible people buy into loads of marketing BS in the cycling industry, Hunt Wheels,, CeramicSpeed, etc… Just a few of many such examples. 😀😀
@@ivanboesky1520 gullible is almost every herd cyclist middle name... 🙄
I have a pair of disc 50s, work fine so far (4th year), but i ride only around 2k a year. Would consider upgrading, but i wont pay 2k for a wheelset and something like winspace doesnt come 30mm wide (to compliment my 30cc tires which I just wont swap due to poor conditions of roads here and ocasional gravel) so i guess I am stuck. But if you would have a suggestion for such a wheel, it would be greatly appreciated
I have a set of hunt wheels on a gravel bike and a set of 29” trail wides on a mountain bike both have been perfect.
Any recomendations for a sub 1400g wheelset with some nice, not so deep carbon rims that won´t break the bank? I was eying the Hunt 35 Carbon Aero Disc wheelset but if they are such crap, I´ll definitely reconsider. What I like about Hunt is that they offer almost all of their wheels still with hooked rims. Since I stand by my trusty latex innertubes and handmade open tubular tyres with 300plus TPI for a really smooth ride, hookless isn´t for me which narrows the field quite a bit.
I have a 29 xc wheelset and my gf has the hunt x mason on her Ribble, we have had no issues whatsoever. Especially for the price point which is between a decent upgrade wheel and going full carbon
Mine have been fine…3 sets one rim 2 disc. Hunt are easy to get in touch with ref spares and questions. You can’t say they are premium - for me they sit in between Chinese-Prime/Hunt-Premium (Roval, DT etc).
what you think about Giant SLR 1 or SLR 0 hooked version?
I feel so privileged to own a Dolan bike with hunt wheels (different models, but leopards and spots). The remaining componentry is deda, fizik and 105 if you're looking for inspiration for your next reaming 😄
th-cam.com/video/edtJFvO5JME/w-d-xo.html
Is it worth using a smidge of 641 instead of grease when installing the bearings?
The hubs look like they're made by Novatec in Taiwan. It's even possible the complete wheel is made by Novatec. So, if you're a lazy wheel "engineer" or product manager, it's just a matter of placing your company order on their website, and then wait about four months for the container to arrive. You can opt to have Novatec's name on the product or have your own; it's just a matter of placing your PO with sufficient $$$ up front and MOQ. No magic here when somebody else has done the thinking for you. And Novatec, I suspect, not only make hubs and wheels for bottom-feeders like Hunt, but the big names at the top of the ladder as well.
That's what I understand, with Novatec branded ones being the best...
@@joehart3826 Like any other bike industry vendor, Novatec has a range of hubs and wheels to suit various budgets and needs, from cheap to relatively pricey. Thing is, at least to me, there's not much difference in appearance and features between some of their lower-priced products than what's offered by, say Zip or others like them. The only major difference is the pricing for what appears to be the same thing, such as freehubs.
I bought Chinese plus bike wheels when the WTB ones died a premature death. I actually was happy that I could find ones with Novatec hubs. They have been 100% more reliable than my Hunt wheels so far.
Wait, what? You've just described 70 % (or more?) of the bike biz. But that won't stop endless arguments over which decal on the same crap is superior, right?
@@larryt.atcycleitalia5786 You're correct. It's like having snobs taste test mineral water and in the end they not only can't tell the difference between the cheapest and most expensive brands, but they pick water out of the tap as the best.
I have a Hunt wheelset. I don’t remember the exact model, but they are carbon, 650b, hookless wheels that I am running tubeless on a gravel bike. These wheels are very nice, and have not given me a single minute of trouble in 2+ years.
Is it possible to salvage a less than optimal hub by increasing the bearing clearance(eg C3 grade)?
I am running factory Formula DC20 front and DC22 rear hubs on my XC bike. Interested to see how they do, they are about 50 miles in so far.
I’ve got the Hunt Trail wide Race for my MTB and they are some pretty competitive wheels at that price point. I’ve blown a few spokes and the rear axle has cracked twice, but Hunt’s customer service is second to none. Everything has been replaced with brand new parts, immediately, no problem. Probably the best customer service, certainly of any bike company, that I’ve come across. Hard to knock for the price point of those particular wheels.
Same experience here on my Trail Wides. I've had them on my bike for 2 years, ridden them through some tough stuff, ridden them through some terrible weather, and aside from blowing spokes due to a branch getting caught in the wheel, they have carried me through two years of riding all for under $500. And when I have needed help with stuff their customer service has been excellent. I mean they aren't top-of-the-line, but when comparing them to what else is on the market for that price they are great.
Hello, looking for advice on how to remove the bearings on my enduro wide 29er front hub? I've remove the end caps but seems to be another cap that won't come off to see the bearings?
What is the likely cause of the tightness? Has the billet been allowed to get too warm and expand during machining?
Poor QC is the larger bike industry's main problem. They seem to make their own 'standards'. Haha! Quality is only getting worse, industry wide. There's certainly plenty of marketing BULLSHIT. Let's not forget, many more 'suckers born every freakin minute'!
ALL job security for me! Haha!
WHY should or would manufacturers, you'll never, EVER meet, improve? Considering the current high demand that is?
Folks never consider WHY most manufacturing moved to Asia?? I know exactly how the majority of production assemblers are compensated in Asia. It's by the UNIT not the hour. What might that tell us?
Plating or annodization thickness must be accounted for, regarding interference fits. Been there, done that. These sort of issues are nothing new to me. Its an engineering/process/ QC consideration. In the manufacturing industries, this often cuts into profit.
Yet overpriced manufacturers have no leg to stand on regarding poor quality products. Its just that mass consumption, high demand and ignorant consumers justify them.
Needless to say, "the consumer ALWAYS PAYS for what they get, one way or another" That's my own quote. You'll rarely get what you actually paid for unless you actually open your eyes!
I'm a retired machinist and inspector. Regarding proper bearing fit, we're talking about tolerances of 1/10 the thickness of human hair. FAR Less than a 'MikeHunt' hair!! The machinery handbook is a 'bible' of sorts for mechanical engineers, designers and skilled machinists. Bearing manufacturers provide recommended tolerances for their products. YET bike manufacturers make up their own 'standards'.
Ive witnessed most of the worlds manufacturing devolve for several decades now. Nobody's fooling me!
Now I'm a shop mechanic for fun. Ive built custom wheels for over 30 years. Again, Nobody's fooling me. Precision just doesn't simply happen when you push a freakin button or rely on a freakin computer. Inspection and proven truth are involved with QC, not to even mention QA!
I've got some Hunt 4seasons disc and I also needed to replace the front bearings after one winter as they felt very rough. I replaced them with NTN bearings from Hambini. Since then I haven't had any issues.
My freehub looks even worse than the one in the video, it seems the cocks just damage these ceramic freehubs very easily. Some weeks ago my backwheel started to creak in a very strange way and I can't figure out what causes this noise. What is even stranger is that sometimes it's running super smooth and then the creaking just starts out of nowhere. I'm happy for any advise.
Apart from that there are great 😉 Thanks for all the interesting and entertaining videos!
Oh boy! Noise issues are really frustrating. One of our most difficult problems to diagnose! They seem so common to me
(a pro mechanic) on supposed 'modern high end' bikes and parts! High end bikes certainly didn't always have all these annoying issues.
If your particular ceramic bearings are composite, with steel races (most likely) they'll wear out incredibly fast. If they're really expensive full ceramic,
($70-100 per bearing) perfect interference fit is very important. Due to their brittleness and hardness, ceramic bearings require perfect fit and excellent QC, they would be damaged otherwise. Without being able to disassemble and precision inspect how your bearings fit, I'd never be able to diagnose the problem.
If these bearings wear out in a couple years, assuming good maintenance, replace them with stainless bearings. These will be more affordable and practical to replace on less than perfectly manufactured hubs. That's the rule rather than the exception on modern bike parts. Very few hub manufacturers can offer consistently good QC because they haven't proven so.
I'm an old bike mechanic, also a machinist with precision tools and a wheel builder. Hunt is a pretty new company. Ironically I service their wheels LOTS. But I'm jaded. Haha, I see it all on a regular basis!
Unless you race, you're rich or you're possibly a sponsored racer, ceramic bearings just aren't worth it.
Hambini did a video about ceramic bearings and it wasn't so positive .
As far as I understand, ceramics are great for high heat, high rpm applications such as turbochargers and turbines. Hardly anything like simple freakin bicycles, where ceramic bearings are absolute marketing BS.
It will always be the rider, not the freakin bike.
@@rollinrat4850 Thanks for your answer. The bearing aren't ceramic, they should be stainless steal bearings made by EZO just as the ones Hambini removed from the hunt wheels in the video. I meant the freehub being ceramic at least that is written on it. I'm not sure from what material it is actually made. I have the feeling that the marks in the freehub body could be the problem or the casette, but who knows. I guess I have to replace parts one by one and see how it changes.
@@Julian-zv5hf Ceramic bearings in a freehub in particular make no sense at all unless you coast downhill lots!
Good for gravity riders I suppose. Me, I'm a pedaler. I ride fixed gear most often. No coasting allowed, skidding is really bad for my old knees! I pedal lots even when I can coast on my coastable bikes. Its just an old habit. Ceramic freehubs sound like marketing bs to me! Quite obviously it's not ceramic coated! That's pretty hard stuff!
If your hubs feel rough after new bearings were installed by a professional, it's a precision fit issue and it probably can't be solved short of getting a different hub. Hub bearings should feel very smooth, little friction and silky. There's no other reason besides fit with new bearings. Get used to it, change the bearings often or just sell off the wheels and minimize your losses.
As far as the cassettes go, maybe use a torque wrench on your cassette lock ring. 40nm is what is recommended, I think. That's a lot. I just get em good and tight with a foot long tool! Use some grease all over the cassette body to minimize creaks. Get a cassette with as many cogs riveted on an aluminum shell as possible like Shimano's Ultegra or XT. SCAM often has lots of single cogs to bite in . The biting problem is only a big deal on aluminum bodies when it comes to removing the cogs. Cheap soft alloys will make it much worse. Even my Chris King hubs use 7075 aluminum and have minor marking. The only way you can totally avoid this totally is to get a steel freehub body. Older Shimano and Campagnolo hubs are great! Should the gouging and removal become an issue, use 2 chain whips and maybe a large screwdriver to wiggle and pry them off. Do it carefully, then file off the gouges. In extreme examples we've used short pieces of paper clips to jam into the gap created by all the wear and gouging! It actually works really well. This is usually when parts can't be sourced to be replaced or to keep a rider rolling along.
@@rollinrat4850 Thanks a lot for this long explanation. I hope I can figure it out
@@Julian-zv5hf As far as noise
goes, check all the simple stuff first. Consider that for carbon bikes and carbon wheels, noise can travel. Ive seen this on metal bikes as well. But plastic bikes are like a freakin speaker boxes. They're almost all noisier. Listen to a pro peloton going by!
Little noises can be a really frustrating thing to trouble shoot. We charge labor by the minute to anal roadies, I'm sorry to say. Time is money. Sometimes headphones or ignorance is the best remedy!
The first thing I'd check, since it comes from your rear end (haha) is the derailleur hanger. Use carbon paste where it touches the frame and loctite on the bolt. Doesn't matter if it's a carbon frame or not. Carbon paste is a neat little trick to solve noises and some fit issues. Its like vasoline with sand in it. Check if the insides of your dropouts are worn or not clamping the hub's endcaps squarely. Look very closely and use a thin feeler gage. Check alignment of the dropouts with the proper gages or learn how to make some. These can be bad, yet quite common issues on a poor quality carbon bike. Not much you can do about rear end alignment on a plastic bike besides contacting the framebuilder.
I can fix alignment on any steel bike, but these are the things many new school mechanics never bothered learning.
Check that the cassette is tight and greased, the hub is adjusted proper and the bearings aren't worn. Check that the spokes aren't rubbing together making little noises. Basically you
need to check every single component's interface on the bike until you isolate the problem. It might test your patience, not to mention your character!
It tedious and a major pain in the ass. I once went through my entire bike once to find out it was my damned seat rails clamped in the seatpost when I thought it sounded like the cranks. Anotger time worn pedals and cleats. Another time it was the crank/spider interfaces. Ive seen chainring bolts make noise and all sorts of other stuff.
The real and true problem on modern production bikes is poor manufacturing quality. Bike assemblers are paid by the unit, not the hour. Its a little known fact. This is one of the biggest problems that cause teeny little noises. They cut corners and skip steps everywhere. All in the name of profit. Incompetent shops employing flunkies often miss this stuff. At my company we use a four step quality process to assure quality. I helped improve that.
Really the best thing you can do is just go through a complete overhaul/rebuild of every single part to make sure everything is proper and safe. This is what I'll tell my customers. Its a $450 service to perhaps solve the problem, but maybe not, it's not a guarantee. Bike mechanics are very often not also engineers.
The front end, safety related parts, steerers, fork, stem, h'bars, headset, headtube, front wheel ALL should be very closely inspected. Often and regularly on a plastic bike. Very often road bikes in particular are made as light as possible. They should have weight limits, yet rich overweight people buy them believing they can purchase fitness and skill. Over the years these things have caused many warranties, safety recalls and far worse.
I assemble all my bikes from a bare frame. I build all my wheels from scratch. It might take me a month or more, little by little to build my own bike. Often I have little patience to wrench on my own junk, work often uses up my allotment. At work I don't have that luxury. We've gotta earn to keep the lights on!
Ive done all but the wheelbuilding since I was a kid and first started wrenching on bikes. My dad and grandfather were true DIYers. I took it to an extreme.
DIY may perhaps have the highest potential for the highest quality. Nobody can possibly give a shit
more than the end user. Now I'm learning to braze, weld and build my own frames. Quality Assurance was a big part of my career in manufacturing. This is how it's done in high reliability manufacturing. As in MIL SPEC. Every thing is documented and accounted for. Human life depends on it. If I failed in my duty bad enough, I could have been held criminally responsible. SOMEBODY needs to take responsibility. Its the only way.
My noise/wear problems have often come
from simply riding too much. But I do enjoy doing the best I can to see how long my junk will last. I try to get maximum value of said junk.
Lots of those quality issues is why you couldn't pay me to ride plastic production bikes.
I have some trailwides on a Whyte full suss I bought. The rear is a little draggy on the freehub and I popped a couple of spokes on a hit.
After emailing them about sizes they sent me out spokes free of charge for wheels I never bought from them.
I keep meaning to see if I can do anything about the rear drag but meh. Seems a company that offers good service for ok kit for a reasonable price?
Great video, helping me understand bearing replacement steps. I noticed you didn't put any grease on the axle's or on top of the seated bearings before the endcaps were added. Is it not necessary to put grease on the axle where it contacts the bearings?
It can be used as an assembly aid but it serves no other purpose in this scenario
@@Hambini I always thought/assumed that grease was recommended for any metal to metal contact...
@@dscoduc For a sliding surface then I can understand the application of grease. The counter argument is grease attracts dirt so once you get past the initial installation, you've created grinding paste. So my personal preference is to go for clean surfaces if the lubricant for installation is not required.
@Hambini thanks for another interesting analysis. - two questions after watching this. 1. Why not check the freehub bearing? 2. Personally I like Phil Woods Tenacious Oil for the pawls etc as it seems a sweet spot between grease and oil. Also always hoping you do a tear down / analysis of Chris King hubs as they seem to check all your boxes and have a little bling too.
@@Hambini Surely it can help stop water ingress… there’s chuff all else to do that on those hubs.
At the 6:40 mark I you were talking about the abrasion (dark color) on the axle and how it was related to the bearings. During a recent cleaning of my hubs I noticed there are similar marks on my axle's but the bearings seem to be fine. Is this something I should be worried about?
It's as he says under rotation so the axle stays still, the bearing doesn't spin freely with the hub so effectively cuts into the hub. Through time the axle won't measure 15mm or whatever it is meant to so even with a new bearing the axle will be a loose fit inside the bearing. I've had two bikes in the shop this week with BB30 spindles that measure less than they should creating play at the BB. One Cannondale and one Sram.
Jonny above has made the key points. You will get to a certain point where the under rotation causes a click. At that point, the axle is toast and you would need a new one
Hunts carbon spoke wheels are from the same Chinese factory as the Winspace Hypers. Same spokes, same filament wound rims and the hubs are also similar if not the same.
Was going to buy Hunt but went for a independant wheel builder in VeloElite they seem nice enough and were only slightly more expensive than hunts.
I've a pair,vast improvement over the gash that was on my old wilier. Not serviced them yet but I'm happy with them 👍
I run my Hunt wheels for 15000km with stock bearings...still no problems yet. 👍
I didnt even had to true them.
btw I serviced them last week.
Vision team 35 wheelset: had to replace the freehub bearings twice after 10.000km 🖕
Zipp303s: are fine after 9500km 👍
Yoeleo C50/50 pro: hold up for 50km and then the front rim simply exploded 🤮
I have a set of 4 seasons and a set of race xc. Both sets bearings seized in less than 6 months or use. And the freehubs are well marked up from the cassette.
Hello @Hambini, how do you rate DT Swiss 180/240 hubs/bearings? Have you reviewed those hubs already and I missed the video perhaps?
shite
my hunt 4 season wheels running perfect for thousands of kilometers now. and i ride a lot of rough stuff and in the mud
4 sets now. All good, fast as hell and upgrade/adaptable.
do you refer to the tool you use to knock out the bearings s a punch or a drift? asking for a friend.
Let’s assume C=H. This guy I used to ride with is now sponsored by hunt, he’s a hunt on social media and in real life so it’s a match made in heaven
Why not change the bearing in the freehub body while you have it out?
Also, this bearing change seems like a pretty straight forward operation that any bike shop could do, replacing with NTN bearings.
I do think good quality bearings kept clean and lubricated make a difference, even if you don't race and ride a heavy bike. With good bearings, you keep your momentum.
is there any alternative for affordable wheelset then? maybe hambini wheels?
is it possible to just upgrade the bearings in your bottom bracket, headset cups, and wheel hubs instead of upgrading components? What are the best bearings?
SKF if you want top end replacements.
I have the exact same set of wheels on my "Winter" ride for the last 6 years. A slight disclaimer - I live 2 miles away from Hunt HQ and like to support local businesses when i can. They have given me great service and are still going strong on the original bearings. I've seen the marks on the freehub body on mine and i think it's one of the most noisy freehubs i have but compared to some other makes ive had they are not that bad.
My main issue with the Aerolites is that they are a complete nightmare to seal with Tubeless - the worst i've ever owned so im not sure what they are doing with the rims. I'm interested to see what the "reaming" is going to entail if this is just the first video?
Love the channel BTW! - (i do buy bearings from you from time to time 🙂)
I've had great experience with the original rim brake wide aero wheelset from Hunt. Bearings are easily replaced and I never broke a spoke in over 35k km. Support has been great too. However I'm no mechanical engineer, and I couldn't tell if I was just lucky. I'm okay with paying a tad more for rebranded chinese wheelsets if they have the QA and support to back it up. Now after this vid I'm not so sure about the QA part...
@@kevincross9206 I'm an old mechanic. I still ride Campy Record hubs almost every day that are 45 years old. Theyre on a fixed gear
'cross/commuter bike. It even gets ridden in the dirt on the way home. No cartridge bearings, no seals.
Hunt is a relatively new company. Ive needed to service their hubs often. Their bearing fit is often less than perfect, so I'm replacing bearings often. This is the case with lots of overpriced 'high end' hubs so don't feel too bad. The larger bike industry has been devolving for decades.
I can actually measure interference fit just like Hambini. Every time I replace or install bearings, I measure all the parts. Its simply an old 'machinist's habit', the way I was trained to build aerospace and medical hardware.
I replace broken Hunt spokes, true and repair detensioned wheels quite often.
My personal custom wheels rarely go out of true, nor lose tension. Ive broken 3 spokes in 30 years of wheel building. My customers rarely return with problems on wheels Ive built. It's ironic.
Since I'm a retired mechanical inspector, nobody's fooling me. As long as ALL that's the case, Hunt is compromised and overpriced. I certainly won't recommend them to customers who might ask.
Buy what you like. Who am I not to take my customers money?
Its all simply job security!
@@becyk_du_quebec QC is an inconvenient, overpriced joke in the larger bike industry, much less Asian manufacturing. There's several 'good reasons' it's mostly all moved there. They were never for consumer's benefit or 'better valued products'.
Anybody or even a freakin monkey can be trained to put stickers where they dont belong!
I didn't need to teach my daughter about applying stickers! She moved out 10 years ago and I still find them in odd places!
No probs here running or sealing tubeless on mine
@@kevincross9206 I just call it as I see it. Hunt's wheels certainly aren't cheap or entry level. I can take a $150 replacement wheel with inexpensive Shimano hubs, retention them and add a few simple quick refinements and they will lasts years of rolling around, even in the dirt. Old, proven and simpler wheels never showed as many problems as much as the current crop. Premature and recurring issues show badly on any sort of products. I don't believe such issues are acceptable on even entry level priced products.
Practically no prebuilt wheelsets are 'premium products' from a quality or high value point of view. Anyone who believes so is simply misled by marketing bs. I repair all this junk, deal with it and warranty it on a regular basis. I see bearing press fit issues and detensioned wheels on practically new junk. Practically no QC. Not only Hunt's.
I know exactly why manufacturing moved mostly to Asia. I was once a source inspector in high reliability industries as well as at Rockshox when everyone began to make that move. It didn't have anything to do with value nor consumer's interests.
Nobody can fool me in this regard.
Custom builders such as myself can actually build relatively affordable custom wheels exactly suited to our customer's needs. There is no marketing bs and no hype. Perhaps such wheels aren't very flashy. Their simply functional and serve their purpose. The spoked structure (properly designed and built) is pretty simple and really strong. This means my customers pay for my 30 years of expertise, they get exactly what they want and they know who built it, so there's a bit of actual recourse should issues arise, which there rarely are. I won't build wheels I don't approve of. I'm too busy for more headaches.
As a small business, I take pride in my work, have integrity and I value my reputation. So I'll try hard to keep people happy.
I rebuild relatively simple reliable wheels on my customer's old hubs for far less on a regular basis. These are wheels that will last a really long time, endure abuse and have actual value as precision hardware that doesn't fail. If I designed them, truing is free for the life of the wheel. Ultra light race wheels, no warranty.
Peter White, quite a renowned builder in the northeast US says much the same on his website.
To put it simply, here's my quote: Consumers will always PAY for what they get, one way or another. This doesn't mean you will always get what you paid for, regardless of the cost.
When you hand over your hard earned money, that decision is a personal responsiblity.
I encourage everyone to stop a moment, ignore marketing BS. You just might purchase what was once, somebody else's freakin problem. Now THAT might become yours to solve. Your money is gone.
Interesting to read the comments here are mostly positive about owners wheelsets. I think I’m up to seven sets so far of road/TT/cx/gravel/mtb. Being a fat f*cker, I’ve found that that are bomb/blob proof.
Looking forward to the 5yr olds attempt at reaming 👍
This is why I don't watch the hambini channel (except Thai because im looking for hunt Ud and I see this video). He gets one of thousands and then bashes the whole brands if all they make is junk. It's not fair. Watch MAPDEC cycle instead. He's honest but provides some perspective and context.
I have 8 sets of Hunts of different types including 650b dynamos. They seem OK, have done loads of miles and I've not had any problems. I used to run Mavics but found them too harsh. Horses for course I suppose but will watch the reaming with interest......
8 sets ? ! ? ! ? !
How many miles do you run that any of those sets could have been used over 'loads of miles'?
@@RobinHood-yk8og They are on three of my bikes, a set on each on both of my daughters's bikes and my wife's bike. The remaining ones have different tyres on for my bikes because I'm too lazy to change tyres and blocks. Some are nearly six years old and have toured through France and a couple, including my wife's have done the Mallorca 312 several times including the training etc. If I was to hazard a guess across all four family riders, we've done well over 30,000+ miles on them. My original Four Seasons have done 7000+ miles and are still going strong. They are also a mix of thru axle and QR. However, I will say all the free hubs are marked. As for Hunt's service, I'm impressed. Really easy to deal with and you get a great kit including spare spokes when you buy them. And no, I'm not connected to them in anyway.
@@RobinHood-yk8og roasted 😂
I have Hunt 54 UD and I love the weight look specs etc but the bearings are pretty terrible. They just feel like they grab a lot. I have some wheels built with White Industries T11 hubs and NSK bearings that roll insanely smooth so I was amazed at how the drag almost makes the Hunt feel heavy. In fact it was my search to find bearings that lead me here but Hambini is sold out right now :( .
Had hunt 4454 for a year. Running lovely
Ignoring the bikes for a minute, that’s a lovely festool hoover!
For your 6th birthday we will buy you some over axle bearing drifts and guide tubes to install bearings.
Or you could make some maybe after morning cartoons🤷🏾♂️
I'm a big unit and ride the Aero Superduras. Compared to any other wheels I've had they are basically indestructible, and the bearing life has been outstanding. I'm also a bike mechanic and have seen no issues with any Hunts I've had through the workshop.
If you want bad wheels with bearings that last 4 seconds, I'd suggest Fulcrums.
I think for fairness the model and age of the wheel / hub should have been noted, in case these issues may have been caught and resolved in later iterations.
Of course, YMMV and I guess Hambini will always see the very worst case scenario for any equipment.
Wondering if this also re-ignites the "to grease or not to grease when installing bearings" debate...
The 6902 disc side bearing just seized on my Hunt gravel front Wheelset. Since quality NTN 6902s are hard to get, I sprayed it with degreaser, rust washed out, left overnight and now it’s spinning fairly free. I added bearing grease and it’s good. I will replace when good bearings become available. Question: should I be servicing all wheel bearings in this manner at least once every season?
That seems like a lot. Are you spraying with a pressure washer? Do you ride in lots of rain and mud?
@@Windband1 no. On the contrary I wipe after rides and wash monthly with rain drop type water never directly on bearings. Plus it’s the wife’s bike who rides just weekends.
@@MokaBoucha Okay, that's good. Strange about the bearings though. You gave it the right fix though, so just keep an eye on them. Cheers.
@@Windband1 I replace 4 bearings with NTN
Dude….. I love you. You have had to have been a bike mechanic once
Haha watching and reading the comments months on, it's interesting to note how many people are absolutely fine with their Hunt wheelsets. You remind me of a car youtuber called Scotty Kilmer, just without the shouting. But both hating on popular products and getting caught out wrong.
I have a set of HUNT 44 Aerodynamicist Carbon Disc for about an year, so won’t comment on the longevity. Yes the hub is loud AF for sure, but so was the one on the wheels that came with the bike (syncros on a Scott Addict), I did not notice great difference in that regard. So far the wheels have not disappointed 🤞🏻
I love the loud hubs. Eliminates the need for a bell. 44s will prob be my next purchase
No probs with my trail boost wheel set and they have taken a hammering….hub swap was super easy when I moved to 12 speed. Lightweight and cheap enough 😀
bought some fulcrums and there no better , had to replace the 6001, 6803 and the 6903 bearings in the front and rear wheels after 1 season of use and around 1500miles
Are therea any good wheels on the market?
Which wheels do you recommend for a Gravel? 700c or 650c
Either size, as long as your frame can accommodate 650b wheels since not all will. I run both, and both are good.
Depending on tire size, frame and fork you'll reduce the trail a few MM making the steering quicker, if that changes the handling in a way you don't like then stick with 700's. That's the big thing.
Terrain and tire options are another consideration, if I'm on fast, relatively smooth tracks I'll go 700's, if it's on the rougher end 27.5x2.1 for the volume and big tread.