Hunt Releases New 'Proven' XC & Enduro Carbon Wheels

Hunt have certainly been busy. The wheel manufacturer has in recent years transitioned into bike sales with the Privateer brand, sponsoring world tour road teams and now brings out their Proven models - their carbon rimmed, top tier off-road wheels.

The wheels have been in development for the past two seasons under Hunt's sponsored athletes, namely in XC and enduro. This isn't their first carbon wheelset - the Hunt All Mountain Carbon's are already in their range. Hunt say the Proven Carbon Range is an extension and continuation of all the lessons learned from the All Mountain model. Through those lessons, combined with impact testing, riding and deflection measurements, they realised it would be advantageous to offer a rim that was more tuned to suit specific disciplines.

There will be two models: the Proven Carbon Race XC and the Proven Carbon Race Enduro.

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Another comparison could be the 24mm rim width E13 XCX Race carbon wheels weigh 1350g. However, the Hunt's rim is wider. Significantly wider, in fact. The 30mm internal width makes the claimed weight look better still.

Before getting onto what we know the benefits can be with a rider rim profile, a wider rim can also cause the tire to deform less during high cornering loads. This becomes even more relevant when you're running lightweight tires that might not offer that much sidewall support to begin with. Hunt also make the normal claims of offering compliance, damping, control and strength. Compliance and damping are the two that interest me the most, personally, even if only because new product releases are usually with fanfare of stiffness, stiffness, stiffness. Whether these wheels do offer a good level of those attributes is yet to be decided, however it is great to see the industry moving away from a fascination with carbon wheels having to be as stiff as possible.


Despite being called XC, there seems to be an acknowledgment from Hunt that what XC is is changing, even if sometimes our attitudes are perhaps slower on the uptake. In 2022, XC is changed. Full suspension bikes are more common, if not universally adopted and we're seeing bikes with longer travel. 120mm for a World Cup race bike would have been unthinkable a few years ago but now more travel and decent geometry mean there are plenty of lightweight fast bikes that are also plenty of fun, too. The Carbon Race XC's are built with this new wave in mind, it would appear, and Hunt say the wheels were built for "lightweight XC bikes with up to 120mm of travel". Somebody, wrestle Levy off his gravel bike and tell him to turn off the Tom DeLonge - he's got some downcountryering to do.

As stated, the rims use a 30mm internal width, which is combined with a rim depth of 22mm. While the claimed benefits are harder to perceive than rim width, or measure the real life implications on the trail, shallower rims can offer a high level of flex, and therefore compliance, than rims with a deeper profile. It also plays into low weight. However, it is something of a balancing act with impact resistance.


The wheels use triple-butted Pillar 1420 bladed straight pull spokes and are laced to CNC machined hubs that use dual sealed Revo bearings and feature 5-degree hub engagement. Centerlock disc mounts will also satisfy those wanting to get their rotors off in a jiffy.

Proven Carbon Race XC Competitor Impact Testing


Regarding their in-house testing, Hunt had this to say "Testing is something we take very seriously here at HUNT and having 24/7 access to our new engineering facility and custom impact test rig ensures we are 100% confident that each new HUNT wheelset meets our high standards. The graph below shows the impact test results of Proven Carbon Race XC and leading competitors. The graph below shows the impact energy (J) recorded at the first sign of failure."

They also include a note, further explaining "If we were unlimited in our budgets we would ideally have tested 3-5 of every competitor wheel. So please note this result may not be repeated with other rims of that brand/model." They released similar data for their Trail and Enduro Wide wheels. For more information on their impact tester, you can see pictures from an insert test they let me conduct at their facility. While their data is useful, it's probably worth taking with a pinch of salt, if only because other brands don't release their own findings. It's not to say Hunt shouldn't, but rather it would be nice if everyone did.

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The enduro wheels weigh less than 2000g, which is impressive for a wheelset that can handle EWS-levels of punishment. Hunt also claim that their wheels aim to deliver "accuracy, comfort and strength". Accuracy and comfort suggest something that has compliance at its core. Of course, stiffness is something of a balancing act. While high amounts of stiffness are easy to conflate with precision, sometimes a wheel with a bit more give with deflect less and reduce the chance of high-frequency compression pushing the rider off their line.

I imagine this is where having different carbon tunes comes in. For me, my personal preference would be to have something more complaint and elastic on the front, where less of my mass sits, and something both laterally and vertically stiffer on the rear to ward off unwanted flex when driving through the rear of the bike. Of course, we don't want something too flexible on the rear and it will always be a compromise. Hunt reference this and say they wanted to make a front wheel that's accurate for last-minute direction changes but also a wheel that tracks well. They also claim this approach can reduce fatigue and aid comfort.


Both front and rear Race Enduro rims feature the same 23mm depth and 30mm internal rim width, with Hunt claiming their engineering team has "Manipulated the construction and carbon layup of each to offer tailored handling characteristics". The tougher rear construction adds 61g to the overall rim weight and offers greater strength.

Again, the wheels use Pillar triple butted spokes. There are TB2016 spokes upfront and Pillar TB2018 in the rear. The more extreme butt on the front wheel's spokes should offer more compliance, and the thicker 1.8mm butt on the rear should offer more stiffness. It might seem relatively marginal but how the hub receives information from the rim is all down to the spokes and small changes like spoke gauge can make a real and tangible difference.

Again, the hubs feature Hunt's own CNC machined hubs featuring heat-treated axles, dual-sealed, replaceable Revo bearings and your choice of freehub. Race Enduro will be available in Boost and Super Boost hub spacings, and offered in 29", 27.5", and mixed options.

Proven Carbon Race Enduro Competitor Impact Testing


The graph above shows the impact energy (J) recorded at the first sign of failure. Hunt claim their Proven Race Enduro exhibits an impact strength 12J greater than that of the Hunt All-Mountain Carbon H_Impact wheelset.

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All Proven carbon wheelsets ship with Hunt's lifetime crash replacement warranty for the original purchaser, and covers you against accidents and mishaps. Pre-orders available from September 30th. For more information visit huntbikewheels.cc