Welcome to the UnBox Factory. Today: Hunt 34 aero wide disc wheels 

Well Seymour they made it, despite your directions. 

In case you’ve been living under a rock (unlikely) or just had something better to do (far more likely), I recently obtained a Cannondale CAAD13 105 Disc through nefarious means (capitalism). 

As with every CAAD ever, I knew that a wheel upgrade was pretty much 100% necessary in order to wallow in my own crapulence. That is. To unlock the potential of the CAAD13—which is forged from cold, hard, strong metal found deep in the earth. 

Hunt wheels have been on my radar for a bit now. Like a million tiny Itchies hacking away at Scratchy's lungs, Hunt came the hell out of nowhere with well-reviewed wheels that are obtainable without having to pay those outrageous grocery store prices for something the farmer probably spit in. 

So, desperate for validation and a sense of meaning in a cold, hard, meaningless world, I picked up a pair of Hunt 34 Aero Wide wheels. 

Why? Price, weight, aero, depth, character. 

Price: $739 CAD (I LIKE IT) 

Weight: 1548 grams (I LIKE IT)

Depth: 34mm (I LIKE IT) 

Character: I've a hunch that the CAAD13 is the new go-to budget aero bike, and I kinda felt like the Hunt 34 Aero Wide wheels fit that mandate. They're aero looking but not obnoxiously so, they're apparently pretty damn fast, and they too are forged from metal mined in underground sugar caves. 

In short: 

I've bagged about 300km so far on these grizzly bears, and a more thorough review is incoming at alarming speed. But, for now, hold still while I unbox you!

The Box, The Box! 

The wheels came in a box and this is the box. I'm a fan of Hunt's branding—it's a refreshing, airy change from big bold scary spaceship Zipps and Boras and Enves and god knows what else. 

Here's what's included (along with the wheels)—a few spokes, a spoke wrench, rotor adaptors, a spoke puck, sticker, and tubeless valves.

The Hunt branding on the spoke puck is a nice touch.

The included spoke wrench is quite nice, with a leathery-ish cover and quality feeling materials. Good UX and attention to detail here. 

Hunt's really nailed the human touch thing, and details like this inspection card highlight that value prop. 

The asymmetrical 12mm hubs look great. Note that little plate on the left. That threads out, and—if you're using 6 bolt rotors—acts as a top cap of sorts for the adaptors displayed a few photos above. I don't know enough about hub physics to say much about these hubs, but the bearings feel great if a tad on the stiff side. Not worried—they'll break in. 

Nothing much to report here. Hubs feel good, and the freehub is OUTRAGEOUSLY LOUD. Which I like. 

Behold, your new god! 

Rear wheel detail. 

Front wheel. 

Again, I dig the minimalist branding. It's distinctive without being overwhelming. Big points for no-nonsense external nipples. 

Aerodynamicist is a neat word. I like this little aero icon, too. Again—in the era of massively bold, space age branding, this is modern feeling stuff.

Pardon the terrible photo, but note how the valve stem hole and the Hunt logo both on the hub and rim line up perfectly. Lovely attention to detail that gives these hoops a handmade feel. 

Tubeless ready is good, but not even really worth mentioning in this day and age—everything is, really.

Early Thoughts

Combing through the Hunt 34 Aero Wide details, I was impressed. I love the depth, I love the branding, and I was impressed by the attention to detail. Plus, that freehub is obnoxiously loud, which is a hoot. 

Compared to the Mavic Allroads that I bought/unboxed a few months ago, these have a very different feel as a thing-in-the-world. The documentation is minimal but super clear. The bits and pieces feel high-quality, and it feels like something created by real humans, and not oppressive robots or space-ants who can't be reasoned with. 

Plus, these totally sanely priced Rory Calhoun's cut a significant chunk of weight off of my CAAD13. 

Ride impressions to come.