Out of balance Hunt carbon wheels?

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AlanW

Guru
Location
Not to sure?
Ive just taken delivery of a pair of Hunt 36 UD carbon wheels and very nice they are to. Super light at just 1290 grammes, which means that they hook up incredibly quickly and ascending with them is just fantastic. The bearings are so silky smooth to, these are not the ceramic bearing version either. A really lovely, if a bit expensive, wheels.

However, descending with them isn't so good as they are so out of balance. Once you get up to 30mph + you can really notice the out of balance nature of the wheels. At first I thought it might be the tyre/tube combo that might be the problem, but even with them removed its still really bad for the price that they cost.

I know its not a good and accurate test because a bike behaves differently on the road than it does in a stand, but with the bike mounted in the work stand, if you get the rear wheel spinning at a decent rpm, the vibration is that bad it dam near shakes the bike out of the stand!

Needless to say I've sent Hunt a couple of short video clips so it will be interesting to see what they say?
 

Joffey

Big Dosser
Location
Yorkshire
It might be a common problem as Silca produce a wheel balancing kit. My Zipps are out of balance but I can't say I notice when I'm riding them.
 
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AlanW

AlanW

Guru
Location
Not to sure?
There's a guy on YouTube that shows how to do the balancing using blue tack and golf lead tape. Looks quite easy, but I would hope that an excessive out of balance would be covered in the warranty.

View: https://youtu.be/dcgiUcbS64c

Yes l watched that the other night and ordered some self adhesive golf weights. But then noticed that the Hunt logo is adjacent to the valves so it would look odd covering up half the logo.
Ideally it would be good to put the self adhesive weights under the rim tape?
 

C R

Guru
Location
Worcester
Yes l watched that the other night and ordered some self adhesive golf weights. But then noticed that the Hunt logo is adjacent to the valves so it would look odd covering up half the logo.
Ideally it would be good to put the self adhesive weights under the rim tape?
The way I understand that video you most likely need the weight across the wheel from the valve, not next to it. You may be able to lay the tape along the ridge of the rim, so it wouldn't be too visible, and you can get black tape for more stealth.
 
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AlanW

AlanW

Guru
Location
Not to sure?
The way I understand that video you most likely need the weight across the wheel from the valve, not next to it. You may be able to lay the tape along the ridge of the rim, so it wouldn't be too visible, and you can get black tape for more stealth.
Of course you are 100% correct, no idea why l said put it next to the valve, totally defeates the purpose!
Hunt wheels have two lots of logos per wheel, one next to the valve the other one directly opposite the valve, thats the logo l was thinking of...😁
 

C R

Guru
Location
Worcester
Of course you are 100% correct, no idea why l said put it next to the valve, totally defeates the purpose!
Hunt wheels have two lots of logos per wheel, one next to the valve the other one directly opposite the valve, thats the logo l was thinking of...😁
Is there enough space on the ridge for the tape to go along the top of the ridge instead of across? That way you wouldn't cover the logos. In any case, perhaps better to wait for Hunt to say what they think.
 
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AlanW

AlanW

Guru
Location
Not to sure?
Is there enough space on the ridge for the tape to go along the top of the ridge instead of across? That way you wouldn't cover the logos. In any case, perhaps better to wait for Hunt to say what they think.

If it was a case of just one strip it might be possible, but weighting the wheel with lumpd of bluetac to gauge the necessary weight required suggests lm gonna need five or six self adhesive weights. This would mean sticking them on top of each other, rather than side by side as per Shane Millers You Tube clip.
But as you, lm doing nothing till lve heard back from Hunt
 

C R

Guru
Location
Worcester
If it was a case of just one strip it might be possible, but weighting the wheel with lumpd of bluetac to gauge the necessary weight required suggests lm gonna need five or six self adhesive weights. This would mean sticking them on top of each other, rather than side by side as per Shane Millers You Tube clip.
But as you, lm doing nothing till lve heard back from Hunt
What about spoke weights? They are used in motorbike wheels, not sure if you could get them to hold on bicycle wheels, but it should be possible.
 
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AlanW

AlanW

Guru
Location
Not to sure?
What about spoke weights? They are used in motorbike wheels, not sure if you could get them to hold on bicycle wheels, but it should be possible.
Again, this is also something lve wondered about, but with carbon spokes crimping weights on might prove problematic in the long term?
 
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