- This week on GTN Unboxing I have wheels.
Don't we all love a set of wheels?
And if you don't already, then I can assure you,
you will by the end of this video
because I have the Vision Metron 81 SL wheel set
in this box.
A nice set of deep section wheels,
and as always, I'll be giving you the chance
to get your hands on a set of these wheels
at the end of this video, so stay tuned to find out how.
But for now, let's get unboxing.
(electronic tinkling)
(whooshing)
(slow pop music)
Right then.
This is Vision's latest Metron 81 SL wheel set.
And it was actually released approximately a year ago,
building upon Vision's previous Metron range,
but with a few new and different features,
which we'll get into a little bit later on.
But to start with, let's run through a few of the basics.
Now this is Vision's deepest wheel set
other than obviously their disc wheel.
With a rim depth of, wait for it, 81 mil.
Who'd have thought it?
So this is obviously really geared
towards aerodynamics, real aero-specific wheel
so really focused on the triathletes
and time trialists out there.
Now they are a fully carbon wheel set coming
in the option of clincher, tubular, and even disc brake,
all with an external rim width of 24 mil.
So they still include this asymmetric rim profile design
which we saw on the previous and older Metron range,
and basically, this means that
it has a better weight distribution throughout the wheel.
Along with that, they've also got this offset spoke design,
which in turn helps the stiffness of the wheel.
In fact they actually look very similar
to the older Metron 81 wheels,
but the details are very different
because for starters, we've got a totally revised rim
on this new 81 SL wheel.
They've got this rather fancy, laser-etched,
microdot braking surface, which is basically
just a rough braking surface, and apparently this can
really bring you to a stop quite sharpish
in all weather conditions.
And I've actually been riding these wheels
for the past year or so, and I can confirm
that they are pretty solid at stopping quickly.
Now they've also overhauled their hubs,
and this has resulted in a slight change
to their spoke layout and design,
and what they've done is they've upgraded
from standard cartridge bearings
to something we call angular contact bearings.
Now I'm not gonna bore you with the specifics
of angular contact bearings because
there is a whole separate video in bearings alone.
But in short, angular contact bearings do respond
a lot better to side load, and in turn,
means that they last a little bit longer.
Now with the front wheel hub we've got two
of these angular contact bearings in there,
and then on the rear wheel hub we've got four.
Now to add to that they have their new clamping collar
on these wheels, which you can see just here.
It's called their preload assembly reduction
or PRA for short.
And what this does is stops you from
over-tightening the hubs, which can cause unnecessary drag
by clamping down on those bearings
and reducing the life expectancy of those bearings.
So by having this clamping collar there,
hopefully furthers the life of them.
Now you may be wondering whether these wheels are compatible
with your bike, and you'll be pleased to know
that I'm very sure they will be
because they're both 10-speed and 11-speed compatible
and also Shimano and SRAM.
Now moving on from the hubs,
and these wheels feature direct pull bladed spokes,
which you can see here with these very sharp
and aerodynamic spokes.
Now they're laced in a two-to-one pattern
on the rear wheel with external nipples
on both the front and the rear wheels.
Now what this means with the two-to-one ratio
is basically that we have for every two spokes
on the drive side of the wheel,
which you can see here, we have one on the non-drive side.
And what this does is helps to balance the tension
between the two different sides of the wheel
taking into account that we have the hub on the drive side.
And what the external nipples refers
to is this part on the spokes.
Just at the end we have essentially an external nipple.
So this allows you to quickly and very easily
adjust the tension of the spokes.
And talking of which, these actually include
what they call ABS self-locking nipples.
So it has a perforated nylon ball
within the head of the nipple,
which in theory should prevent you
from ever actually needing to true the wheel.
They can also take a lot of confidence
in knowing that a very skilled mechanic has
personally dealt with and built your wheel
by how which, I will say, is a very nice thought
when you're trying to go as fast
as possible on these wheels.
Now I think that's most things covered,
apart from one very, very important bit of data,
and that is the way, and I'm sure some of you are dying
to hear this now, 'cause the clincher wheel set coming
at just 1,740 grams, and then the disc brake clincher
and tubular wheel set coming at 1,850 grams.
And then the lightest wheel set is the rim brake
tubular wheel set which coming in at just 1,550 grams.
So how do you get your hands on a set of these wheels?
Well it is really very easy, very straightforward.
You just need to head down to the description
below this video, there's a link there,
click on that, take you over to a web page,
and you just need to answer a very quick and easy question.
But before you do that, why not hit the globe
and subscribe to GTN if you're not doing so already.
If you'd like to see these wheels in action,
why not head on over to Michelle Vesterby's pro bike,
where you'll see them there, and click just there for that.
And if you'd like to see a little bit more
on gear ratios, you can watch our gear ratios explained
video by clicking just down here.