Hunt 35 Carbon Gravel or Bontrager Aerolus Pro 3V?
 

For my Checkpoint ALR 5. Thoughts on either?

Never dealt with the Bontragers but I have a set of the Hunts and they're bulletproof and a great price for what you get. They stand behind their product too with a three year warranty and a 60 day trial

Thanks. The biggest difference is the Bontrager rims are 25 mm internal verses 23mm for the Hunts. Hunt is also a bit cheaper. I’m wondering what would be better for 40 mm tires.

Bigger ID of rim will allow the 40mm tire to spread more; which would make for greater comfort at lower PSI.

Both wheelsets are great BTW.

Do you think 25mm vs 23mm internal is that much of a difference? Assuming 40mm tires. Is there a point where it becomes too wide?

This will probably be of interest to you. Has a few thoughts on the subject.

https://janheine.wordpress.com/2019/...eed-wide-rims/

I'm looking at the exact same two wheels. I'm leaning towards the Bontrager wheels because the rim is wider (not a big issue), there is no weight limit on the Bontrager wheels (thinking bikepacking) and the warranty is administered locally.

A fellow here just brought a wheel into the Trek store because he had the bike on his car rack and the wheel was to close to the exhaust, the wheel was destroyed. Local Trek shop swapped out the wheel from stock immediately and working directly with Trek to get their inventory replaced.

I do have the same Bontrager pro 3 rims on my road bike (without the v designation) and have been happy so far. There is no rush to get new wheels on the gravel bike so it’s nice to hear different opinions. Thanks guys.

Be aware that Hunt greatly exaggerates the weight of their wheels.

What does that mean? They say the weight is higher than it actually is?

Bontrager has a long history of cracked rims. Maybe these are different but two decades is a long track record and their rims continue to fail.

From the Aeolus Pro V3 product page...

This is ad copy jibberish. It makes absolutely no sense.


-Tim-

​​​​​These are carbon rims made from the same material their carbon frames are made from.

I don't think the cracked rims you are referring to extend to their carbon wheels.

Hunts use cheapo rebranded novatec hub to keep the profit high, at $1079 personally I would look for at least DT350 level hub and above

I hope you are right for the sake of those who own them.

Many of us were left with broken wheels, denied warranty claims and Kieth Bontrager blogging that it was our own fault for not rinsing off corrosive winter road salt.

Caveat emptor.


-Tim-

Tim,

Sorry you had a bad experience with Bontrager wheels. I too had a cracked on a 2013 Domane that was replaced under warranty.


I just don't think it's a fair statement to make that ALL Bontrager rims will crack.

Fair or not, that wasn't my statement. "All Bontrager wheels will crack" were not my words.

My words were "Bontrager has a long history of cracked rims" and "Their rims continue to fail."


-Tim-

Bingo. For a mortgage payment--I'd expect more than basic cartridge bearing hubs whose most notable feature is that they have cartridge bearings.

A quality hub is more than its bearings. Flange strength, weather sealing, and ease of service all plays a major part, cheapo Novatec hubs are notorious for going bad after a few wet rides. It would not be so bad if it was on a $500 wheelset, you paid for what you get. But on a $1000+ wheelset you would expect more

Does anyone have any new updates on this matter?
I have the same curiosity as the OP: Hunt Carbon 35 vs AP3V.
I'm leaning towards the Bontys, but Hunt has made the 35's very desirable to me too.

As was said above - I would go with the rims with better hubs.

As you're in the US, I'd be concerned about possible tariffs on the Hunt wheels:
https://www.bikeforums.net/cyclocros...ices-fall.html

Ouch.
Thanks for the warning. I just made my decision.

Reynolds....

I just bought some Hunt wheels about a month ago and no tariffs. This was the second set I have purchased from them and both have arrived in less than a week from the UK.

I ended up with a new set of 3Vs from my LBS for a great deal.
The other wheel sets mentioned here are all nice too, but the 3Vs prevailed for me.