Win&Win / WIAWIS has launched a slew of new products from its subsidiary brand WNS (pronounced: Winners). New for the 2024 season are 3 risers and 5 new limb models!
Almost all of the products are already available and/or in stock and can be found in our shop now. So I want to take the opportunity to tell you a little bit about the new products.
Liberate DX 25″
I’ll start with the bad news right away: Perhaps THE most interesting of the three new risers is unfortunately not yet available. The Liberate DX 25″ is a riser that is priced slightly higher than the currently cheapest riser from WNS, the Explore DX. The Explore is one of the cheapest ILF risers on the market, but to be honest, it also just looks like it. The Liberate is in a completely different league. It is also made of cast aluminum and painted, so it uses this inexpensive manufacturing method to save costs. However, the Liberate looks very sporty and modern and punches above its weight.
The Liberate DX is offered in a 25″ version and will be available in 6 colors. The riser has a lateral limb adjustment option, all the usual threads for stabilizers and dampers and even if still unconfirmed, the wooden grip from WNS will probably be compatible with this riser.
The Liberate DX is a worthy competitor to the Kinetic Lancer V2, which is manufactured using the same process, is similarly inexpensive and also weighs around the same.
Armato C3 ILF Limbs
To match the Liberate, WNS offers new limbs which go by the name of Armato. These, too, are reasonably cheap, but they do cost more than 100 EUR. So this is not the bottom tier where you find fiber limbs like the Explore W1, but one step above that. If you are familiar with WNS, the C3 kind of gives away what level these are. Currently, you can get the Delta C2 and C3 limbs with the „C“ denomination, with carbon/foam (C2) and carbon/wood (C3) construction. Surprisingly, the new Armato C3 limbs are about 10% cheaper at launch than the Delta series, which is a pleasant surprise in these times of high inflation.
The Armato C3 have a glossy finish, with a white front side and a black back side. The Armato C3 carbon/wood have bright red accents, while the Armato C3 carbon/foam have bright yellow ones. Not everyone will like the yellow design, but if it matches the rest of the setup, this can be very, very sexy! 🙂
The weight suggests a comparable construction to the Delta series. In our test, we weighed a pair of Armato C3 limbs in 70″/ 26 lbs at 440 g, which is pretty much the same weight as the Delta C3. The speed of the limbs should therefore be comparable.
Elnath FX 25″
The Elnath FX is a step up in price and it is undoubtedly the successor to the very popular Motive FX (formerly SF Elite-Alpha). The new cheapest anodized riser in the WNS lineup has unfortunately become a little more expensive compared to its predecessor. However, this is probably simply due to the fact that the manufacturing has become more costly.
The limb pockets are now closed, whereas they were open on the Motive FX. The lines of the cutouts and the elegant curve on the front face of the riser have remained the same, but there are now more cutouts than before. To be precise, the three under the grip have become four and instead of four cutouts above the grip, there are now six. What material remains between the cutouts is now quite thin and delicate. So delicate in fact, that there is hardly any space left for the threads for clicker and sight. This is a considerable difference to the Motive FX.
The Elnath FX is also extremely light for a 25″ aluminum riser. Although the manufacturer claims 1140 g, the first Elnath we received weighed only 1085 g!
The Elnath is available in 6 colors, as usual white and yellow are painted, the other four are matt anodized. This is also a difference to its predecessor, where a high-gloss anodized finish was used. Here, WNS is responding to the current trend: matt colors are simply en vogue.
Procyon C5 ILF Limbs
Matching the Elnath FX are the new Procyon C5 limbs from WNS. WNS provides little information about the composition and the weight is also quite similar to the Armato limbs. So, even though I don’t have hard evidence to back it up, I would not expect a major differences in speed here.
However, with the visble carbon layers, the Procyon limbs score more points when it comes to design and style. This means that there is a lot of black, interspersed with white and either blue (Procyon C5 carbon/foam) or red accents (Procyon C5 carbon/wood). I personally like the design, but others may say that there is a bit too much stuff written on the limbs.
By the way: WNS does not include protective covers with either the Armato C3 or the Procyon C5. I think that’s a bit stingy, especially with the Procyon series, as it is standard with other manufacturers in this price range. But it is what it is, I just wanted to warn you!
Fortunately, protective covers are available for cheap, for example those made of fleece.
Quantum AX 25″
The Quantum AX is priced even higher and is therefore the most expensive of the bunch. The riser is fully CNC-milled and is also matt anodized. It clearly targets the ambitious archer, with its 1185 g it is not only a good deal heavier than the Elnath FX, it looks the part, too. The additional material of course means that high draw weights are no problem.
There is more material between the cutouts, but they are curved organically (similar to the WNS SF-Line Vulcan X). To justify the price a bit more, all stabilizer bushings, the tiller bolts and the clicker extension are anodized black. Especially those who opt for the Quantum AX in black will get a truly black riser!
However, WNS has not pulled all the stops with the Quantum AX. Variable button heights, as with the Vulcan X, are not available. In my opinion, you don’t need it anyway, as I’ve already said at one point or another. That’s why I think it’s good thing, because you’re not paying for unnecessary nonsense. But if you already aboard the hype train and you want to adjust the button position vertically, you have to skip this one. No manufacturer offers this yet at this price point.
The build quality of the Quantum AX is almost shockingly good. There are no sharp edges and the matt anodized finish looks simply stunning. And of course it comes with a thickly padded bag!
Unfortunately, the availability of the Quantum AX is still poor. Although we have already been able to take a look at (and take photos of) black and blue, we don’t yet know what the two shades of red, Fiery Red and Viva Magenta, will look like in real life.
Hyperion G8 ILF Limbs
Of course, the Quantum AX also needs suitable limbs! WNS supplies these with the Hyperion G8.
Just like with the Quantum AX, the Hyperion G8 limbs are not the new top-of-the-line limbs from WNS, as the SF-Line Apex G9 limbs are still priced significantly higher. But you won’t get much more limb for the money.
To illustrate, let’s just look at the weight: The pair of Hyperion G8 in 70″ / 34 lbs weighs 370 g! That’s only 5 g (!) more than a pair of Win&Win WIAWIS NS-G limbs. And those are over 700 EUR. The same pair of high-end Fivics SKADI carbon/wood weighs 385 g. It can therefore be assumed that the Hyperion G8 are really fast.
Then there’s the design: Carbon as far as the eye can see, elements in gold and white and black caps over the dovetail assembly. Very, very nice!
And of course WNS also supplies protective covers with these.
Conclusion
I really like the new models. And that’s saying something. I didn’t like the trend towards extremely „bulky“ or „chunky“ risers in recent years. But WNS never went that route and so both the Elnath and the Quantum are just quite elegant.
When it comes to pricing, I think WNS made some good decisions, too. In my opinion, WNS has overstepped the mark somewhat with the SF-Line models they introduced in 2022. There is a limit what people are willing to pay if it says „WNS“ instead of „WIAWIS“ on the riser or the limbs and rightfully so. With the current lineup, the prices are reasonable again and you get a lot of bang for the buck.
The quality is not an issue with WNS anyway. It’s not for nothing that WNS has consistently been one of our best-selling brands for years and the rate of defects is really, really low. In my opinion, Win&Win / WIAWIS builds the best limbs on the market, full stop. And the quality you can get with their subsidiary brand WNS is still extremely good. If the price is right, it’s an easy recommendation from me.
What I don’t like is the amount of risers and limbs that WNS now has on offer. I am really not sure what is the successor to what. Will all models remain available? WNS currently (as of 11-2023) lists 20 different limb models on their website. Naturally, we get asked about the differences between all these different models. This is already difficult for us, mostly because we hardly get any information from the manufactures as it is. And more models just make it more confusing and more overwhelming, especially for beginners. We try to do our best, in support tickets, product descriptions and blog posts like this one. But we could use some help from the big brands in archery as well.
Be that as it may, we are now eagerly awaiting the first delivery of Liberate DX risers and Quantum AX in the 5 missing colors! When we do, we will of course update the images and information in the shop. So stay tuned!
Update 2023-11-17
Yesterday we received another batch of Elnath FX risers, including some in „Fiery Red“ and „Viva Magenta“. Now we also know what these colors look like in real life. Magenta on the left is actually what I would call „red“. „Fiery Red“ on the right could also have been called „Bronze“. It is a very nice color, but the naming is somewhat confusing if you ask me.
Tilman Bremer ist Gründer und Inhaber von Bogensportshop.eu. Er schießt seit 1997 mit dem Recurvebogen und lernt immer noch jeden Tag mehr übers Bogenschießen dazu.
