Hunt releases a 963g tubular wheelset just in time for hill climb season

Hunt Hill Climb SL Disc wheelset

With the British hill climb season just around the corner, it’s a good time for Hunt Bike Wheels to launch its new sub-kilo Hunt Hill Climb SL Disc wheelset. A disc brake version of the original rim brake Hill Climb SL wheelset that Hunt launched back in 2018.

With a sub-kilo claimed weight of just 963 grams for the pair, 426g for the front and 537g rear. The tubular wheelset has a 30mm deep, 26mm wide profile to support tubular tyres from 23mm to 28mm widths. Ideal for making your best lightweight bike a few grams lighter and placing them among the best lightweight wheels, although they will probably be more of a specialist, nice wheelset option. 

The front wheel looks to come in at bang on 426 grams on Hunts scales (Image credit: Hunt Wheels)

Hunt claims the wheels are inspired by the passionate British hill climb community and that British hill climb champion Andrew Feather and other Hunt athletes have provided input

The wheels are laced up with UD carbon spokes in place of steel ones. The carbon spokes are said to weigh a claimed 2.6 grams each. They can still be trued though and are replaceable in the event of a breakage. There are 20 in the rear wheel and 18 in the front, which is laced 2:1.

The rear wheel is equally as feathery. Seriously light wheelset's biggest savings often come from producing a really light rear wheel (Image credit: Hunt Wheels)

The Hill Climb Disc SL rear wheel also features Hunt’s latest H-Ratchet UD SL alloy hubs. Which use a 6066 T6 aluminium alloy body. The freehub body itself uses a 40-tooth ratchet with 9 degrees of engagement for quick power uptake. Probably a useful thing to consider if these wheels have been aimed at hill climbers. They’re available with Shimano HG 11-speed, SRAM XDR or Campagnolo 11-speed or N3W freehub options.

Splines for the cassette, who needs them? Hunt says that the steel freehub insert will hold your Shimano HG cassette in place just fine (Image credit: Hunt Wheels)

The Shimano HG freehub option takes weight reduction to extremes, with the body drilled out and all the cassette splines removed in favour of a single steel anti-gouge plate. The axle too has been drilled out to save grams.

Tubular wheels still have the edge on tubeless for low weight, due to the simpler-to-build wheel profile and the absence of flanges to retain the tyre beads. Likewise, the lightest tubular tyres are still lighter than the best tubeless clinchers.

Despite the low weight, Hunt says that it’s not scrimped on wheel strength, so you can be confident riding back down the other side once you’ve bagged your hill climb race PB or Strava KOM.

You can pre-order the Hunt Hill Climb SL Disc wheelset now from Hunt Bike Wheels, priced at £1,299 / $1,699/ €1,699. Shipment is slated for Week 2 September – ideal timing to shed a few grams from your hill climb bike.

(Image credit: Hunt Bike wheels )