The Campagnolo Hyperon wheels are a purchase best made with your heart, rather than your head

The new Hyperon Ultra wheels from Campagnolo are a resurrection of the brand's de facto climbing wheelset. Now, though, the Hyperon Ultras are looking to cater to the all-rounder, with claims of hitting the ‘perfect ratio’ of aerodynamics, weight, and handling characteristics, leaving the Bora Ultras for the actual racing duties. Have they managed it? Are these some of the best road bike wheels out there, or perhaps some of the best lightweight wheels? I’ve been assessing them since their launch, and have taken them on flat blasts, up the steepest street in England, and, given it’s been cobbled classics season as I write this, over some nasty cobbles too to test their durability. In short, I’m very impressed, but do they live up to a price tag north of three and a half grand? 

Design and aesthetics

In a sea of matte black ubiquity, Campagnolo, and also Corima to be fair, stands out from the crowd with a staunch commitment to the glossy wheel. Personally, I love the gloss; I have a great big soft spot for the stylings of the Bora Ultras, and these sit as a slightly more refined visual package. The toned-down logos, still big, are less brash in muted metallics, and the conventional spoke pattern is less of a head-turner. They are a wheelset that just manages to edge inside the line that separates ‘statement wheelset’ from ‘complementary wheelset’. On the right bike, they don’t overpower things but still bring that unmistakable Italian styling. The test bike I was treated to was an extremely bling Colnago C68, decked out in Campagnolo Super Record EPS, so they’d have a job to outshine the overall package to be fair, but my point still stands; pop them on any performance-oriented bike and they’ll work.

The finish is genuinely beautiful. The gloss exterior is an initial layer of resin applied during the construction rather than a gloss lacquer applied after manufacturing, so in theory, it should be more durable (more on this later), but however it is created it is a treat for the eyes, especially in combination with the seamless looking, unidirectional fibres underneath. 

There are certainly interesting design notes too, beyond the aesthetics. The highly machined freehub body, designed to shave precious grams, shows an attention to detail that’s admirable, and the spoke-hub interface (the ‘head-to-bay’ system) whereby the spoke sits with a hemispherical head in a corresponding socket to allow micro-movements is, on paper, novel, though definitely not something you’ll ever feel. What is sadly lacking are any claims to aerodynamics. There are no wattages saved versus competitors, or even a comparison to the Boras to give some context. Yes, internal spokes help to some degree, and a 21mm internal width is modern (but not groundbreaking), but these feel a bit lacking in terms of hard numbers. I’m not a racer, but from an objective standpoint of measurable speed, there’s a bit of a question mark hanging over these wheels.

The weight, though, is impressive. At 1,240g for a pair, they’re challengers for the best lightweight wheels as well as all-rounders, especially considering the 37mm rim depth. How do they ride though? The rim depth says ‘all-rounder’, but the heritage and weight say climbing wheel.

Performance

The handling is the absolute star of the show: The Hyperon Ultras handle like a much shallower wheelset. They are lithe and taught, and incredibly stiff too. Even mid-depth wheels, for the most part, have an inertia that’s noticeably reduced here. Aero wheels have been an excellent thing for the improvement of average speeds, but personally, I do find they dull technical descents somewhat. Downhill, even on twisty, steep terrain, these were nigh on perfect. They were sharp, they were agile, and they were just generally really really good fun. They made cornering a dream, provided the surface wasn’t too horrendous…

Stiffness is great in the right context. A stiff wheel transfers power more effectively and flexes less in cornering, but to some degree, wheel flex does give you a degree of comfort. These aren’t a hugely comfortable wheel, which is the trade-off for the beautiful handling characteristics. Over the worst of British tarmac, they feel a little skittish, whereas other wheelsets feel more planted. Don’t mistake taughtness, and a perceived fragility for all things Italian, for a lack of durability. I took these over the cobbled streets of Bristol, which in places rival some of the secteurs from Paris-Roubaix, and they held up absolutely fine, despite taking an impact that tore the sidewall of my tyre in two places. No chipping, no denting, and still straight as an arrow afterwards.

This stiffness though, in combination with the feathery weight, fosters a setup that encourages acceleration. The immediate spin-up, regardless of the gradient, is grin-inducing (until the lactate reaches a certain threshold and it’s more of a grimace). I found myself undertaking hill sprints just for the fun of it, and even from slow starts there is no real noticeable lag. Under braking, even with the excellent brakes of the Super Record groupset, they felt a smidge more prone to skidding, as there’s less elasticity between the spokes and the hub, but again this is marginal and not really a criticism when considered in the round. 

One thing I will say too about the freehub is that it's mercifully quiet. I cannot abide loud freehubs, and if you love them then I presume you also love listening to loud revving car engines and can't fall asleep without white noise on full volume. With the Hyperons I could still hear bird song, which was a stark contrast to some Hunt hubs that I'd taken out the previous day that were, no word of a lie, loud enough to make a child cry. 

In short, these are a truly beautiful set of wheels to behold and to ride, but from a pure performance standpoint, there’s a glaring black hole. There are no claims for aero saving and no comparisons that can be made. All you have to go on is feel, and they don’t feel faster than something like the much cheaper Hunt 48 Limitless UD that I’ve also been testing. They are more lively feeling, and more enjoyable downhill, but if you’re a racer why would you pay more for a wheel that is, in all likelihood, slower when taken in the context of a whole race parcours, or at max speed? You'd be better off shooting for something from the list of best aero wheels.

Value

As we’ve seen in our wind tunnel tests, the differences in wattage gains between the top wheelsets on the market are slight, so I’m not suggesting that these are going to be way off the pace by any means. I’m sure the usual suite of wind tunnel testing and CFD analysis has been undertaken, but from a consumer perspective if you’re after performance then why would you spend three times as much for a wheel you don’t know is faster? 

Is it heritage? Is it kudos? Sure, these wheels have both of those in spades, and that is a perfectly valid reason to buy something if you can afford it. These are however marketed as a race wheel without any stated performance gains over the competition, so in that regard, they don’t represent massively good value.

However… however… They are stunning and they ride exceptionally, and on the right bike, I think they make total sense. The handling characteristics mean they’d be a perfect companion if you want a bike that just feels brilliant. In the same way, the Specialized Aethos, or even the Colnago C68 that I’ve been testing these on, are built around a ride experience, I think you should view these wheels in the same vein. They’re more enjoyable than wheels that are probably faster (I must keep using probably, given the absence of objective data I’m afraid), and truth be told if you’re spending upwards of 3k on a set of wheels is value your real concern?

Verdict

We spend a lot of time assessing things from a performance standpoint. Are they faster, stiffer, or more aero? I don't think these wheels are something you’d buy using a rational thought process, and that’s absolutely fine. It’s perfectly ok to want to buy or to buy things just because you want them. If you want a set of wheels that are an absolute blast to ride, that feel like a more traditional set of shallow wheels with more of an aero benefit, or even just because they look sexy then go ahead, you’ll not be disappointed, I promise. 

I can’t promise they’ll make you faster, but there’s more to cycling than speed. Give me a slower bike that handles brilliantly any day.