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review
£1,499.00
VERDICT:
Fast, smooth, wide and very capable wheels at a decent weight and competitive price
Weight:
1,332g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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Wheels can make or break a bike, and these Vision Metron 40 Tubular wheels will flatter and enhance any bike they're fitted to with slick performance, a good turn of speed and great looks. Not that looks are important at all, but they are really and that's one big reason for the enduring popularity of deep section wheels.
The wheels here are essentially the same as those used by the Cannondale Pro Cycling Team, which includes of course Peter Sagan. They've been racing them last couple of seasons, at Grand Tours and in the Classics, and had a few victories along the way. So they've proved their worth in professional competition, but are they any good in the real-world? Short answer; yes.
They're 40mm deep, as their name suggests (Vision offer a choice of rim depths, these are the shallowest) and the have a trendy wide 25.4mm profile, very much similar to Zipp's Firecrest. I mounted a pair of 25mm Schwalbe Ultremo 25mm tubular tyres and they proved a good match, the wide rim providing a good foundation for the wide tyres, with a smooth transition from rim to tyre, no light bulb effect and a smooth teardrop overall rim and tyre profile. Vision specify a 23mm minimum tyre width, so no going fitting 21mm tubs okay?
The rim shape was developed using computational fluid dynamic analysis and wind tunnel testing but Vision don't make any of this data available, and with the road.cc wind tunnel out of action at the moment, it's tricky to validate the aero performance of the wheels. That leaves real-world seat of the pants impressions, and boy did they impress me - these are properly fast wheels.
The wheels provided instantaneous acceleration due to the low 1,332g weight, so climbing and building up to speed was a joy. I used them in several road races and here they excelled with the higher speeds involved, because above about 35km/h they noticeably roll along with greater momentum than regular wheels. That's to be expected but not all deep section wheel have that same feeling of actually helping to push you along the road. These do that.
Deep section wheels can a handful in windy conditions though, but the bulbous rim shape and reasonably shallow depth of the Vision wheels gave them plenty of stability in blustery and very windy conditions. It was easy to hold your line even in a strong crosswind. They simply weren't blown off line easily like older V-shape section rims.
While the wheels felt good and stiff during out of the saddle straight line sprints, with no brake rub evident, it was possible to detect a bit of flex when loading up the wheels heavily into fast corners. Still, you have to push the wheels pretty hard and even then, there were no unpredictable handling traits as a result.
Braking performance with the supplied Vision brake blocks was excellent. They were firm and tight but not grabby, with plenty of power on tap for those situations when you need to come to a speedy halt. Using the brakes on longer descents didn't result in any undesired heat buildup either, and the braking performance remained progressive and predictable. It's on a par with Zipp and Enve.
The hubs have a 17mm diameter axle up front. The rims are laced to the hubs with 18 radial, bladed spoke in the front wheel and 21 in the rear comprising 14 two-cross laced on the driveside and seven radial spokes on the non-driveside, with ABS self locking nipples. The rear hub has a freehub compatible with Shimano/SRAM 9 to 11-speed, and a Campagnolo version is also available.
Durability was faultless. I tested the wheels all summer, raced them, trained on them, rode them in the rain, took them down muddy rocky tracks, and they shrugged it all off. The wheels are still true, I've not had to take a spoke key to them, and the hubs are still as smooth as the day I pulled them out of the box.
They've proved their worth in the spring Classics under Peter Sagan, and in the real world they're brilliant wheels. They're even a reasonably comfortable wheel, helped no doubt by the 25mm tyres and running them at about 80-90psi.
It's difficult not to use Zipp wheels as a benchmark for testing deep section wheels, but even against such competition the Vision Metron 40 Tubular wheels are hugely impressive and very capable. They're a similar weight, offer great braking and aero performance, look smart in any bike they're fitted to, and they're significantly cheaper, which makes them a bit of a bargain considering the level of performance they offer. Vision might not be the go-to choice for fast wheels, but these are worthy of consideration if you're in the market for fast wheels.
The price also includes branded wheel bags, valve extenders, brake blocks and carbon fibre quick release levers.
Verdict
Fast, smooth, wide and very capable wheels at a decent weight and competitive price
road.cc test report
Make and model: Vision Metron 40 Tubular
Size tested: 633x24.5, Hollow Monocoque Carbon, Tubular Rim
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Vision's ultrafast and stable aero wheel developed through extensive CFD analysis and wind tunnel testing. Top-of-the-line hubs with low drag bearings.
The Vision Metron 40 Carbon Tubular Wheelset is a 24.5mm wide, 40mm deep dish carbon clincher aero section wheelset. The wider rims gives it a super aero modern rim shape that cuts through the air effortlessly and with the extra light P.R.A (Preload Reduction Assembly) hubs and straight pull, aero bladed spokes make these wheels 1320g per pair. They 're the perfect wheel to road race on, and are uses for the Cannondale Pro Cycling team week in week out. The hubs use 6 sealed bearings, 4 in the rear, 2 in the front mounted onto a 17mm axle. They finish the rear hub off with an aluminium freehub body in either Shimano 9/10/11 speed or Campagnolo 10/11 speed. Vision have had these wheels built by hand in Italy by people considered to be artist of their trade.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Full carbon 40mm section tubular rim
''New extra light P. R.A. hubs for DP spokes
''17mm hub axle diameter
''Aero bladed spokes
''Special ABS self locking nipples
''Artisan built, entirely by hand
''Includes special carbon QR (QR-89), brake pads, valve extenders and wheel bags
''Rims: UD carbon finish
''Front hub: UD carbon finish
''Rear hub: black anodized
''Spokes: Black
''Color graphics options: red, black
Sizes: Aluminum freehub body for Shimano 9-10-11sp or Campagnolo 10-11sp
'' Spokes (F/R): 18 radial front wheel; 21 rear wheel, 14 cross x2 drive side and 7 radial non drive side (2:1 ratio)
'' Minimum tire requirement of 23mm
'' Weight: 1,320g/pair (w/o QR)
Rate the product for quality of construction:
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
9/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
8/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
8/10
Rate the product for value:
8/10
Yes £1500 is a lot of cash, though shopping around does reveal some discounts, but they offer a very similar level of performance to the Zipp 303 Firecrest Tubular and they're significantly cheaper than those, so with that in mind they do offer good value for that is clearly a very high performance product
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Really fast wheels for people who like to ride fast, not just buying deep sections for the looks alone.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
They're rock solid in the wind, very fast at high speeds, very light and superbly durable.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
There's a bit of occasional flex in the corners when really tanking along.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.
Would you consider buying the product? Yes.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.
Anything further to say about the product in conclusion?
These are impressive wheels from a company with not much track record in premium high performance wheels, but they've proved their worth at the hands of Peter Sagan and they proved their worth in my hands.
About the tester
Age: 31 Height: 180 Weight: 67
I usually ride: My best bike is:
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, cyclo cross, commuting, touring, mtb,
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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22 comments
u shape wide carbon wheels are stabler than narrow v shape,there is no doubt,especially cornering.
Do they do a clincher version of these?
Yep, and they're brilliant.
As a side note, I've seen these wheels badged up as other wheels in the pro peloton: they're good enough that teams sponsored by other wheel manufacturers will buy them in and re-sticker them.
I've also seen them totally de-badged and they look better IMHO.
If true then that's disingenuous if not immoral, at the very least.
Apropos little more than idle curiosity, but does the red spoke on each wheel have a functional significance, or is this simply a design statement?
(with apologies for side-tracking the charity debate)
I believe it's to show where the valve is. I know I struggle with that.
And it's a design statement.
Why are there two valve holes close to each other in the rim? (Spare inner tube? One goes flat, just blow up the spare? Good idea! Great for commuters -- hate changing tubes in the rain. But I can imagine the racing guys resenting the extra weight, what with having deprived Oxfam of £1500 an' all.)
A propos, what keeps these wheels on? My wheels all have big bolts on the end of the axles, or a QR wotsit on my modern one.
"Apropos little more than idle curiosity, but does the red spoke on each wheel have a functional significance, or is this simply a design statement?"
The first time I saw this was on Mavic Ksyriums some years ago and it indicates the location of the valve. It's also supposed to look cool, I think.
On my new swisssides they're just a design thing, the valve is elsewhere.
If you've £1500 to spend on a pair of bicycle wheels, think how better that money might be used by a charity for any number of more deserving causes.
If you've 1.5 minutes to spend reading an online review about bicycle wheels and posting utterly irrelevant comments on said article, think how better that time might be used by raising money for charity.
You pompus a***.
It's a bit of a false comparison though. A charity providing medical help might well save a life with £1500. I'm not sure what anyone would do with 1.5 minutes of my time. Even if I used the time to 'raise money for charity' I might simply end up diverting the money from one charity to another.
Unless of course I found some way to address people with spare money who were considering something other than charity to spend it on.
It wasn't really a literal thing tbh.
Also, to comment on the actual wheels - they're not in my budget, but if they were these wheels would be top of my list for upgrading a decent bike. Lovely things.
In fairness, if you have got £1,500 to spend on a pair of wheels, it's a safe bet to say you have probably been taxed a good lump already, and upon spending said £1,500 you almost certainly paying the wages, and therefore providing the food and shelter, of staff members allowing them to eat, sleep and raise their own families.
So, please keep on earning sufficient wages to allow big discretionary purchases, pay big lumps of tax and NI contributions (and thereby pay for the welfare state, including the pensions and hating subsidies of the older folks), and enjoy riding your bike!
You'd need a much higher horse if I were to disclose how much I spend on bikes and components then.
Charity is a personal choice, not something to be judged by.
Why on earth are you wasting your time reading a consumer website that reviews often very, very expensive cycling kit for people who can afford to spend some of their wealth on things for their own pleasure (or, indeed, for a few of them, actually to genuinely improve their sporting performance)? Surely your time would be better spent perusing the various charity websites or - better still - actually giving your time to one or more of those charities. You never know, you might persuade one of us rich bastards to contribute if you ask nicely enough... In the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy drooling over kit I can't afford but can appreciate.
Ridiculous comment. Are you sure any purchaser doesn't already do that? I've just spent nearly £300 on wheels, but I also donated £250 to charity about a week before. Are you suggesting I should have worked my ar$e off in order to donate £550 to charity and be satisfied with simply having a roof over my head and money to feed my family? That's the kind of stupid socialist thinking that disincentivises anyone from sticking their head above the parapet to succeed in their chosen profession.
Yeah, you've really nailed socialism there haven't you?
This ^
Yes, it would appear so. And probably still supposed to feel guilty about it.
I've tried avoiding posting but the comment above has me so wound up for the last few days.
If you care about £1500 that much why do you do something about Christmass, I.e. stopping the £millions being spent on Christmass trees that will be dumped in a few weeks, wasted food, cards that will be binned.....
Or maybe the £billions spent on the arms race with two purposes, to make someone richer and to kill, maim or incapacitate.
Or possibly have a go at the silly rich who earn £150K+ a week.
Instead you have ago at those of us who read such articles and dream or have made sacrifices to be able to afford such items.
There, I've said my piece.