Lún HYPER 3 Review: The First Bad Move by Winspace?

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I have already tested Winspace HYPER 2020, HYPER SE, and MEGA wheels. So, I believe you will find my review of the latest, Lún HYPER 3 wheels, helpful because I will compare these wheels with each other. I have ridden HYPER 3 for over 500 km, and below, I share how (and if) they passed my in-house quality control checks, how they ride, and much more.

My HYPER 3 wheels scoring at a glance:
Crosswind Stability 5/5 | Stiffness 5/5 | Riding Comfort 3/5 | Speed Maintenance 5/5 | Tire On 3/5 | Trueness 5/5 | Spoke Tension 5/5 | Dishing 5/5 | Price 2/5 | OVERALL 4.1/5
More about this road wheels scoring.

Lún HYPER 3 Summary

Lún HYPER 3 wheels are the latest version of the HYPER series introduced in 2024. The main difference is that HYPER 3 wheels have wider rim width and spokes, are slightly lighter, faster, and stiffer, have a titanium ratchet, and no longer have the butterfly finish. They are only available for disc brakes and are $200 more expensive than HYPER 2. (Source)

Main Features

Here is a quick summary of the features and specs of the Lún HYPER 3 wheels.

Also available at lunwheels.cc

First Impressions and Unboxing

Winspace packs its wheels in a black branded box. This time, the package was visibly damaged during transport. I hoped the wheels remained untouched because dealing with damage caused by the logistics company would be frustrating for me and Winspace (because it wasn’t their fault, but I am sure they have insurance).

Luckily, the wheels were scratch-free thanks to the protective covers and packaging (as you will see from my in-house QC checks).

In-House Tests

Lateral and Radial Trueness

I checked the lateral and radial trueness of both wheels. Their results are among the best ones I’ve tested (over ten wheelsets). This confirms my past experiences with Winspace wheels. The assembly quality is top-notch.

Spoke Tension

The spoke tension was a bit surprising. While the rear wheel had perfect spoke tension consistency, the front wheel had 5 spokes outside the 5% average spoke tension on the drive side. It’s not a big deal, as the wheels are trued well, but I just wanted to demonstrate that not even Winspace is perfect.

Rim Centering (Dishing)

The dishing (how well-centered the hub is) ended well. I would say it was the best result, as I wouldn’t be able to pull a sheet of paper between the end cap and the dishing tool. In other words, the hubs were perfectly centered. Are these wheels Cyclists Hub special because I have the wheel testing policy public? I don’t know.

A Look Inside

Compared to the previous generations of HYPER wheels, the internal rim structure looked much better (smoother and with fewer wrinkles). However, I encountered an unusual bump (photo 2). I don’t know what caused it, but I’ve never encountered anything like it.

The Difficulty of Putting the Tire On

HYPER 3 wheels are tubeless-ready, so, as always, I tried to put my Tufo Comtura 4 TR 28mm tires on. I had a great experience with Lún HYPER 2020 in this aspect. So, how did the HYPER 3 end?

Putting the tires on was so easy that I didn’t need tire levers. However, I’ve already used these tires for a few hundred kilometers, so they are softer and a bit stretched out. This, together with the wider internal rim width, could also be the reason why I didn’t manage to put the tires on with a regular floor pump. I had to use an air compressor. Luckily, at least the rim tape was preinstalled.

Also available at lunwheels.cc

Riding Experience

To quickly sum up, the HYPER wheels are known for their durability, stiffness, and ability to maintain momentum. However, they have slightly worse crosswind stability than some other wheels I tested. Naturally, I wondered if the “10% increase in lateral stiffness” and “2.2W savings” would be noticeable.

So, after riding Lún HYPER 3 for over 500 km, I can say it’s not unless you ride HYPER 2023 and HYPER 3 side-by-side and are super sensitive to marginal differences.

As I hinted at in the introduction. HYPER 3 are living up to the reputation of Lún wheels. They are, therefore, very stiff, which will be appreciated by those who want efficient power transfer from the pedals to forward motion. I would rank their stiffness somewhere between the Lún HYPER SE (or possibly the Farsports Ventoux S) and the Lún MEGA. However, remember that high stiffness harms ride comfort, especially if you ride in an area where there are roads with many cracks, potholes, etc. The stiffer your frame, the more you will feel vibration fatigue, especially on long routes, which is often overlooked. Carbon-spoked wheels may not be for you.

I tested the Lún HYPER 3 wheels on a Winspace Agile frame, which has dropped seatstays and a fairly narrow seatpost, so the rear structure can absorb much of the vibration (much more than my previous bike, YOELEO R12). However, you can still tell that these wheels transmit more vibration than steel-spoked ones. The roads in our area are about 50/50. Some are great, and some are the opposite. So, the HYPER 3 wheels are more of the less comfortable ones due to their high stiffness.

The 46mm rim depth in the front and 54mm in the rear is universal. You’ll use it in most scenarios, i.e., for both flat riding and rolling and hilly terrain. Personally, however, I don’t mind riding long, steep climbs with the HYPER 3. I don’t feel like they are unwilling to ride due to their stiffness, but they are not as lively and responsive as the Elitewheels DRIVE 45mm, which have extremely low inertia and are still my favorite climbing carbon wheels.

One of the changes with the HYPER 3 is the larger rim width. The internal one has gone from 21mm to 23mm wide, but the external one has only gone from 28mm to 28.6mm. This is a missed opportunity, in my opinion, as wider rims and the use of wider tires are becoming trendy due to the improved ride comfort and, according to some tests, speed. For comparison, Elitewheels DRIVE Helix have an internal width of 21mm, but the external one is 31.8mm at the front wheel and 30.8mm at the rear. The RESERVE wheels, ridden by the Visma-Lease and Bike team, have an internal width of 25.4/24.8mm (front/rear) and an external width of even 34.4/32.1mm (front/rear).

Winspace has changed the layout of the spokes on the HYPER 3, which they say should have an effect on stability in crosswinds. The truth is that the HYPER 3 do seem to me to be a bit more stable than the previous gen. But whether it’s really the spokes layout or the different shape of the tire (due to the larger inner width) I can’t say. We are still talking about marginal differences.

Personally, I think one of the least appreciated improvements will be the titanium ratchet, which should be lighter and more durable. This component takes a lot of time to test its longevity properly. I will update this review if I run into any problems with it or the hubs. For now, however, I can only say that the freehub sound is loud, but quite pleasant.

Of course, we have to talk about the price as well. Compared to the HYPER 2023, it has increased by $200 from $1499 to $1699. Considering that you use my 10% discount (code CYCLISTSHUB10), this difference is $180. This increase puts the HYPER 3 wheels well away from the $1000 price point, an imaginary price point for many people. So I ask: Is Winspace pricing itself out? Even the Winspace Agile frame is already significantly more expensive than previous Winspace frames.

For me, HYPER wheels still provide excellent value for money, but I imagine that for many people, this will already be a no-go price category. Additionally, I think the HYPER 3 lost its uniqueness in the form of the butterfly finish, which was great to market (especially on Instagram and YouTube) and made your bike stand out from the crowd. Check out how great the Lún MEGA wheels (which have the same rim finish as the HYPER 2023) look:

This makes me wonder if HYPER 3 aren’t the first major mistake of Winspace in terms of pricing and marketing. After all, the HYPER 3 look similar to the HYPER SE 2023 (they have a matte finish), so it’s not obvious at first glance that I’m riding the latest wheels. Why do I mention this? Because cycling is somewhat elitist, and people want the “latest and greatest.” I don’t play that game here, but many people do. This can lead to the HYPER 3 not becoming as attractive because they look the same as most other wheels, other than the wide carbon spokes.

Also available at lunwheels.cc

Lún HYPER 3 Alternatives

You can also check out the wheels in the following table, which shows the individual criteria of all wheels I tested and my rating.

My Verdict

Unsurprisingly, the HYPER 3 is superior in most respects to the previous generation. The biggest improvement I see is in crosswind stability. I am not able to detect stiffness or improved aerodynamics, even on side-to-side rides. The assembly quality is top-notch.

Conversely, I consider the switch to a matte finish and the move away from butterfly-weave to be a step backward. I think that’s a shame because that’s one of the features that made HYPERs unique. Another minor detail that I didn’t mention in the review is the replacement of the transparent valve caps with plain black ones as if the HYPER 3 (except for the wider carbon spokes) were less “cool.”

I’m sure the higher price will put off many potential customers who may prefer to choose the HYPER 2 or a competitor. Personally, I find this price increase to be “unjustified” in terms of performance. However, I understand that Winspace invests not only in development but also in marketing, development of its distribution network, and customer support, which brings with it additional costs that inevitably have to be reflected somewhere.

Also available at lunwheels.cc

Winspace Wheels FAQ

The product for this review was kindly provided by the manufacturer. This did not influence my overall verdict or my opinion about the product. You can learn more about how I approach reviews here.