Hunt 32 Aerodynamicist UD Carbon Spoke Wheelset

The Hunt 32 Aerodynamicist UD Carbon Spoke Disc wheelset brings World Tour climbing performance – and interesting tech – to a relatively sensible price. The climbing performance is brilliant and the handling is spot on. There's a lot to like.

We first saw glimpses of this wheelset at the 2021 Tour de France, under Qhubeka rider Sergio Henao. While the Qhubeka team folded before the 2022 season and Hunt lost its place in top-flight bike racing, those wheels did eventually make it to market.

> Buy now: Hunt 32 Aerodynamicist UD Carbon Spoke Disc wheelset for £1,199 from Hunt

Riding them, at 1,240g with valves and tape, doesn't present too many surprises; picking them up out of the box suggests they're going to be reactive and well suited to the climbs and, funnily enough, those assumptions are well placed.

We'll come to climbing in a moment, but first I want to cover how well these wheels handle. The low weight makes them incredibly nimble and, while the ride might be on the twitchy side for some, I absolutely loved riding these wheels.

With such a low weight and high stiffness, it wouldn't have been a surprise to find them a bit jittery in rough corners, but the Aerodynamicists seem to absorb those little shocks well. They left me able to sail through turns.

The 32mm-deep rims offer a little bit of an aero advantage over shallow alloy wheels, but you're not getting the hyper-fast ride of a deep wheel. That said, I was happy to jump into a few races on these; they weren't the thing that was holding me back. I can blame a lack of training and poor tactics for that.

Where these wheels really shine is when you get away from the ultra-competitive world of road racing and head instead for the ultra-competitive world of Strava KOMs up silly hills. Here the 32 Aerodynamicist UDs deliver exactly what you need. They accelerate quickly and never leave you feeling like your precious watts are going into anything other than forward momentum. You're still going to need a strong set of legs to nab a KOM, but these wheels will match the effort of even the strongest rider.

The build here is really good. The rim is a hookless design, so you're going to need to pick something that is ETRTO compliant. The 28mm Goodyear tyres I fitted were very tight to mount, but then went up easily.

While we're on the subject of tyres, you have a maximum pressure of 72psi to play with. For me, at 63kg, that's plenty. But if you're nearing the weight limit of 109kg, it might be an issue.

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Hunt not only committed to hookless with these wheels, but introduced new hubs too. The Sprint SLC hub has been updated with a move to 7000-series aluminium, and the result is a claimed weight of 95g front and 220g rear. The three-pawl design in the freehub has 48 points of engagement, and the hubs are on the loud side.

Carbon spokes

One thing I'm not overly sure about is the use of carbon spokes. Yes, they seem to work well – I've had no issues with them and they are sure to be a good conversation starter on the club run – but I haven't found them to add anything in terms of ride feel over a steel spoke.

Hunt says they allow the system weight to be reduced because it takes fewer carbon spokes to achieve the same lateral stiffness figures as regular ones, and certainly the overall weight can't be argued with. I was extra cautious when installing the tyres as I didn't want to snap a spoke against my thigh; I don't actually know how strong they are against those kind of side loads.

The Taper Lock spokes are at least replaceable, and you're able to true the wheels just as you would with a standard spoke.

Taking all of that into consideration, I am certainly impressed by the price of £1,199. I've just finished reviewing the Roval Alpinist CLX II wheelset (£2,500) and the difference isn't worth crossing the £1,300 gulf. The Rovals are great wheels, don't get me wrong, but you can have a brilliant wheelset with fancy features at a much lower price.

Verdict

Light, stiff and well priced – these fly up the climbs and are well worth the money