Hunt 25 Carbon Gravel Race wheelset review

The Hunt 25 Carbon Gravel Race is designed to combine versatility with low weight for use over varied terrain.

With a wide 26mm (internal) hookless rim that Hunt claims weighs just 385g, the British brand is targeting this wheelset at gravel riders tackling the harshest and steepest days in the saddle.

The Hunt 25 Carbon impressed in testing, delivering a sensible balance of sheer speed, rigidity and compliance.

Hunt 25 Carbon Gravel Race details and specifications

Hunt credits the 25 Carbon Gravel Race wheelset’s low 1,434g weight to its hookless rim technology, allied with an all-new hub.

The freehub incorporates three treble-tooth pawls, resulting in a low 7.5-degree engagement, which it says improves climbing and out-of-the-saddle responsiveness.

Hunt has been in the hookless rim business longer than most brands, debuting its first hookless design in 2016.

This latest-generation gravel wheelset gets an asymmetric design to balance the impact forces on the rim from both the drivetrain and disc braking.

This light 385g rim is laced to Hunt’s top-grade Sprint SL hubs, made from an alloy that has an exceptionally high strength-to-weight ratio to better maintain power transfer.

The 25 Carbon Gravel Race wheels come with tubeless rim tape fitted – installing tape well isn't always the simplest job, so it’s a welcome inclusion.

However, on my test wheelset, it leaked and – in the end – I had to replace it. Leaky tape isn’t a problem exclusive to Hunt, but it’s an issue that ideally shouldn’t be passed on to the rider.

We’ve seen plenty of Hunt wheelsets on test at BikeRadar without this issue, so it’s possible it’s an outlier on my test set.

Like the Campagnolo Levante wheelset, the Hunts come complete with brake rotor Center Lock lockrings – a neat inclusion in an £849 wheelset.

Hunt 25 Carbon Gravel Race ride impressions

Riding over a mix of surfaces, from tarmac to loose trails and fire roads, the Hunt 25 Carbon Gravel Race sucked up most things.

It takes out buzz and a lot of the chatter, tracking well and staying true to provide a comfortable ride.

It's less capable when a loose surface turns rocky, struggling to cope, bouncing somewhat and becoming harsher in feel.

Putting the hammer down in the hope of being able to skip over the worst elements didn’t really work as a solution.

In simple terms, it performs much the opposite of the Reserve 25/GR wheelset – it's not so good at speed, but comes into its own for long, steady rides, where it's versatile enough to cover diverse terrain.

The freehub is very noisy, and if you’re riding alone, it seems to almost echo against your surroundings.

I also noticed, when climbing or on rocky flat sections, an occasional ‘skippy’ quality to the power transfer through the freehub, as though not all the pawls were engaging as they should.

That said, I couldn’t find any logical reason for it. The freehub hadn’t failed, nor is it a deal-breaker.

Hunt 25 Carbon Gravel Race bottom line

The 25 Carbon Gravel Race wheelset provides good value for money for most riders.

The rim is deep enough to deliver enough stiffness for speed, compliance and pick-up. The spoke construction takes enough edge off in rough, but not too extreme, terrain to be comfortable over distance.

I was impressed by this sensible trade-off that results in solid, no-fuss performance that will suit a lot of riders for many miles.