IN BRIEF
Hunt has redesigned its 650B gravel wheelset, the 650B Adventure Carbon Disc, and grafted on the H_Core rim reinforcement developed for its mountain bike wheels. The rim moves to 27mm internal width and 32mm external; Hunt says it is optimised for tyres from 45 to 60mm, up to 2.35in, and gives 35 to 65mm as the safe range. The rim is hookless, a TSS profile which, according to Hunt, requires tyres approved for that fitment. The pair is listed at €1,249.00 on the brand’s European store, shipped from its German warehouse. Hunt claims 1,390g on the scales and positions the format as the way to fit bigger tyres without changing gravel bike.
| Price | €1,249.00 a pair (Hunt European store, taxes and duties included) |
| Claimed weight | 1,390g a pair, claimed by Hunt |
| Rim | 27mm internal width, 32mm external, 25mm depth, hookless profile (TSS) |
| Tyre compatibility | optimised for 45 to 60mm (2.35″), 35 to 65mm given as safe by Hunt |
| Reinforcement | pultruded H_Core carbon inserts at the rim bed / sidewall junction |
| Hubs | Hunt H_Ratchet 36T SGL, 10° engagement, H_CERAMIK coating |
| Spokes | 28 per wheel, two-cross, Sapim D-Light 2.0-1.65-2.0mm |
| Freehub body | Shimano HG, Shimano MS 12-speed, Sram XD/R, Campagnolo 9-12 speed, Campagnolo 13-speed |
| Max system weight | 135kg according to Hunt (rider, bike and luggage) |
650B has long been sold as a fallback format: smaller wheels to make room for wider tyres on a frame that would not take them in 700C. Hunt picks up that argument as it stands for its new 650B Adventure Carbon Disc, but with a rim that has little left of the stopgap about it — and a pair claimed at under a kilo and a half.
Rim reinforcement borrowed from mountain biking
What is new in this generation carries an in-house name: H_Core. Hunt explains that the technology integrates pultruded, highly compacted carbon inserts to reinforce the junction between the rim bed and the sidewall, which is to say the exact spot where a rim takes a rock. The brand states that these inserts increase fibre density and that the process comes from its mountain bike wheels.
The rest of the rim is built, according to Hunt, on the same platform as its 25 Carbon Gravel X-Wide: 27mm internal width, 32mm external, and a 25mm depth that Hunt justifies by compliance and resilience rather than by aerodynamics. The official spec sheet gives a rim optimised for tyres from 45 to 60mm, up to 2.35in, and lists 35 to 65mm as the safe range — a cross-country mountain bike figure, on a wheel sold in the gravel aisle. Hunt states that the profile is hookless (hookless TSS) and asks that only tyres approved for that type of rim be fitted.
Hunt: €1,249 gravel wheels with a ratchet hub
The spoke build is conventional and repairable: 28 spokes per wheel, two-cross front and rear, double-butted Sapim D-Light in 2.0-1.65-2.0mm and a J-bend interface that Hunt explicitly presents as a choice made for ease of replacement. The H_Ratchet 36T SGL hubs give a 10° engagement angle thanks to a 36-tooth ratchet ring, and the freehub body gets an H_CERAMIK coating meant to stop the cassette from biting into the aluminium.
On price, Hunt’s European store lists €1,249.00 a pair, with a note that prices include taxes and duties and that orders ship from the brand’s German warehouse. Five freehub bodies are offered at the same price, from Shimano HG to Campagnolo 13-speed.
The European spec sheet gives 1,390g for the pair, a figure road.cc repeats and likewise attributes to Hunt. The same site states that pre-orders were open as of 11 September for availability announced by the end of the month, at a UK price of £949. Hunt also caps system weight — rider, bike and luggage — at 135kg.
