The Hunt Adventure Carbon wheels are a rare mix of performance and value

Words and Images: James Raison

Hunt Bike Wheels are growing into a bonafide monster in the performance wheel market with a substantial consumer-direct offering and increasing presence on stock builds. To that point, I was sent a set of Hunt’s 650b Adventure Carbons by Grove Bike Co who offer that wheelset as part of the Grove R.A.D Force’s Carbon Gravel Plus build (Check out our review of the Grove R.A.D).

Grove wanted some feedback on what the Hunt Adventure Carbons mean for buyers. After a few months of gravel bashing I can confirm they mean very good things for anyone who buys them with a Grove, or whacks them onto a bike they already have.

IN THE BOX

Obviously you get a Hunt Adventure Carbon wheelset, but you get plenty of extras too:

Hunt Black Shield tubeless tape fitted to wheels
Cassette spacer for 8/9/10 speed
Tubeless valves
Pillar spoke key
6-bolt disc rotor adapters
Spare spokes and nipples

It’s great to see each wheelset ship with spares and tools.

THE WHEELS

The Adventure Carbon V2s squeeze a lot of quality bits into their $1,179 (+GST) AUD price:

Rims: 22 mm deep, 30 mm wide unidirectional carbon with V:Absorbe resin to reduce vibrations
Hubs: Hunt Race Season Disc straight-pull alloy. Forged and CNC’d 6061-T6 heat treated aluminum alloy body
Spokes: 28 cross-laced j-bend front and rear stainless steel
Nipples: brass, external, 12 mm with washer
Bearings: EZO Japan sealed cartridge
Hubs: 6061-T6 aluminium, 28 hole
Freehub: H_CERAMIK coating, 6 pawl, 28 tooth RapidEngage freehub with 5 degree engagement.

The individual parts of the Aventure Carbon V2s are simple. The sum of the parts for this price is formidable.

SETUP

Getting the Hunt Adventure Carbons on the bike is gloriously simple.

Tubeless setup was a cinch. They’ve pre-taped the rims and a small cut marks where the tubeless valves get pushed through. I punched the valves in and screwed them tight before mounting the Panaracer GravelKing SKs with hands only. The tyres snapped onto the bead with just a floor pump and easily held air after I added some Stans sealant.

The Hunt Adventure Carbons were shod with lovely Panaracer GravelKing SKs

I tried out the 6-bolt adapters first and mounted on some rotors pillaged from another wheelset. You still need the Shimano BB tool to tighten them up but it’s a straightforward process. Later I swapped them out for centrelock rotors and, again, set them up quickly and without fuss.

Finally the cassette; a Sunrace 11 speed that slotted onto the standard Shimano freehub with a small spacer supplied by Hunt.

THE RIDE

The Hunt Adventure Carbon V2s nail the ride experience.

My immediate reaction was holy crap the freehub! The 6-pawl design promises a 5-degree engagement and it’s lightning quick. I’ve ridden plenty fancier and more expensive wheels that engage far slower. It’s remarkable on such a “cheap” wheelset. Further, those pawls give one hell of a buzz when freewheeling or walking the bike. I love a shouty freehub, and this one has some volume. It sounds like angry bees having a chainsaw fight.

After the freehub, the bearings are the next to impress. They’re fairly simple sealed cartridge bearings from EZO Japan and they are smooth. Very smooth. It’s the sort of bearing you want in wheels like this; nice rolling but importantly protected from the outside elements with an extra seal.

Their feathery 1,425g weight looks great on the spec sheet, but isn’t easy to notice while riding. Weight reduced with smaller diameter 650b carbon wheels over 700c alloy rims is quickly gained back with the immenseness of the 48 mm tyres. The Hunts and tyres ended up weighing approximately the same as a modest set of AlexRims Boondocks 3 wheels with 35 mm Panaracer GravelKing SKs. That’s no criticism of the Hunts, rather a reminder that expectations need to be adjusted for this wheel/tyre combo. They feel speedy moreso because of the freehub engagement than any other factor and that gives them a sprightly feeling under acceleration.

I wrote a full article about 700c Vs 650b wheel choice but I’ll give you a quick wrap-up here so buyers know what to expect from the Adventure Carbon V2s. In short you’re getting a smaller total wheel/tyre diameter with 650b wheel and 48 mm tyres than a CX setup 700c and 33 mm tyre. That gives you; sharper steering because it changes the trail, big contact patch with the wide tyres, and large air volume. It’s an excellent wheel and tyre for people wanting more grip and greater comfort to go further than your standard gravel roads. I spent plenty of time on fire tracks and trails because of the added confidence. The zingy steering was plenty of fun too.

The Hunt Adventure Carbons bring a feeling of speed that even hefty tyres can’t fully mask. Ride comfort is usually something I like to devote time to, but it’s difficult to isolate from such large tyres run at 20-25psi. The wheels and tyres in tandem manage to feel fast and be exceptionally comfortable. It’s an all-round pleasure to blast around on the Adventure Carbons.

THE AUTOPSY

I wasn’t easy on the Adventure Carbons. They’ve spent months getting ploughed through everything, whacking into rocks, and charging through water. Getting fitted with such large tyres emboldens you to push the boundaries more. So after over 1,000 km of gravel and adventure biking, I had a mechanic do a health check on the wheels.

There was little of note; rims were straight, bearings very smooth albeit with a slight drag on the rear wheel because of the added protective seal, and even (but high) spoke tension. Tension was checked on both wheels and they were all within 10% of each other. I was told that they were even enough that they wouldn’t be touched during a service. Impressive.

The wheels were typically filthy during the review period

WRAPPING UP

The Hunt Adventure Carbon V2s are objectively very good wheels. When you factor in the sum of all parts; buying experience, performance, and price, then they become remarkable wheels. There’s just not much else of this quality for only $1,179 (+GST). They’re carbon wheels at an aluminium price.

They’re an ideal candidate for riders wanting to adopt a 650b wheel and tyre system, or upgrade from a stock gravel/CX bike. In the months of testing they haven’t put a foot wrong so far.

Buy: you can get the wheels from the Hunt website

Disclosure statement: these wheels were sent by Grove Bikes. It’s not paid and we don’t get any benefits from the sale of Hunt wheels.