Mid-priced carbon wheels from UK firms: Parcours, Scribe, Zed Wheels, Just Riding Along, VEL...prob not Hunt!

What’s the story with Hunt wheels, what is it that’s so bad about them? Is it a hoddy build quality that is destructive once ridden for a while? As far as I can tell they’re pretty commodity builds - novatec hubs, pillar spokes, Kinlin (alloy) rims, that from a decent wheel builder should be okay. But I have heard bad things about them, and had multiple friends have issues.

If your looking at that budget I'd recommend Scribe. Having owned both you'll not notice that much different in terms of riding. Heard about alot of issues with Hunts, but that's almost expected with them being popular.
The Scribe customer service is second to none, they run a small team so you get to talk to someone that can make a decision or has knowledge.

My guess is just poor qc with Hunt. As you say, there's nothing particularly bad about the components, but they're in kind of a middle ground between the big companies that have all the fancy robots and qc, and the little companies that have only a few skilled technicians overseeing the process end to end.

Hmmmm, good to know and thanks for replying... I've not heard good things about their hubs either through other sources, so they might be worth swerving!

Hunt warranty is a joke because they said there had been an 'impact' and offered me a minor discount on a whole new wheel because they didn't have any rims.
I can't imagine any wheel failing without an 'impact', which is apparently only what the warranty covers. Maybe spontaneously exploding while in the shed?

I'm not arguing one way or the other about the quality of Hunt wheels or their customer service or whether it did suffer an impact etc, but warranties don't cover post-purchase damage.

A warranty covers defects in materials, manufacturing, assembly etc, ie they "warrant" that what you buy is in good condition when sold.

Hunt tend to get a bad rep around here because I suspect people are a bit snooty about them, or a bit jealous that they managed to have a bit of a big break doing pretty basic stuff which other one man outfits and bike shop staff on here do already.

I had a set a while ago and they were perfectly good, as mentioned above, its all the same stuff from Taiwan anyway so long as the end price and warranty is good.

Hunt replaced my alu rear wheel foc, minimal questions, when the rim started cracking around the spoke holes.

Heard plenty from scribe wheels on ridelondon ye gods whatever they use for rear hub the freehub is loud

Had a set of ally rim brake wheels from scribe that were decent enough. Didn't last too long. Hubs are obnoxious but perfect for commuting.

Yes, the are loud. Hunts are quite loud aswell. If a noisy hub isnt your thing you can just ad more grease. It does take a while getting used to but I like it, can keep you legs turning over slowly if you want to muffle it

I’m not snooty about anything really, I just want to get the best for my budget... doesn’t help if you hear bad things about hubs etc though. Heard very good things about Parcours... Scribe are on the list as well

they are all the same, god level is lightbicycle

Weirdly, a different person at Hunt has now come back to me and said they didn't refuse my warranty claim, and offered me a new rim, spokes, tubeless tape and the cost of a rebuild, which is fantastic service.

Maybe they just refuse first up and offer crash replacement as a policy? Or posts on LFGSS have more sway than I thought?

Anyway all's well that ends well, I retract my earlier statements about their warranty, and am a happy camper.

Good to know... glad you got it sorted in the end!

LFGSS >>>> TrustPilot

+1000 for Arkane (@broken_777). Lovely guy, lovely wheels, quick turnaround, and local!

Gonna revive this thread for my own good if nothing else... I've got the cash burning a hole in my bank account for a new set of rims... Hunt, Scribe and Parcours are on the list... Hunt have 20% off if you spend a certain amount of money so I can get around £150 off the wheels I'd be going for. In my price range, all wheels weigh around the same, so I'm now looking at warranty length etc as a decider... I think Hunt might be at the top at the mo because of their free H Care package. Anyone feel free to help me change my mind!

Hunt have a great warranty, yes. I've used it 3 times over the years when rims have cracked and various hubs failed.

I don't know what Martin at Arkane's warranty is like as once he built my wheels I never needed to speak to him again, apart from to ask him to build me some wheels for a different bike.

I had Parcours Ronde on a bike that was stolen, I really rated them - build quality was great.

Good to know... a couple of my mates have got Hunt and they like them... always good to have something else though... I'll look into Arkane now!

Looking to stitch a set of circa 50-60mm carbon rims to some suzue promax hubs for track. Is Light bicycle the recommended default provider for such rims?

So... finally took the plunge... after quite a few emails with Martin @ Arkane, my wheels have been specced up! We did go through what I was looking at and what he could offer for how much I had... they came in under budget and I know I'm gonna get a great pair of wheels.

yes

I work as a wheelbuilder. I can have and have had the choice of many high end boutique components. These days, for customers and for personal builds i find it hard to look beyond some combination of bitex hubs, sapim spokes and venn carbon rims.

I was going to go with Bitex purely down to the bearings they use, but went with DTC in the end as they're pretty much the same as DT Swiss but without the price... plus they use the same bearings as well. Mine came out pretty light in the end which I wasn't too worried about... and they look amazing! @broken_777 did a bloody good job!

What's the latest fan favourite wheelset then?

Currently running these stock OEM fulcrums and curious to see what I could get for £1kish and if it would be a worthwhile upgrade.

Obvious considerations:

• Scribe
  
• Parcours
  
• Hunt
  
• lightbicycle (but douby possible on C2W schemes)
  
  

Ideally 50-60mm and wide