Am curious as to what everyone thinks…
I am currently riding on zip 404s (clinchers) and have been very happy with them thus far. They are the Firecrest model (about 2-3 years old if I can remember correctly). I am 5’6" and weigh 140.
I am upgrading my bike and it comes with Vision Metron 81s. I was originally planning on keeping my 404s…both because I am happy with them and I was thinking about keeping the cost lower since I already have racing wheels. I am told that the Vision Metron 81s are “better” than the 404s. I do have concerns with the deeper wheel set…first of all when changing flats. I’ll need to carry an extender (and remember it) in addition to my tubes. I am also a fairly light rider and was a little concerned about being blown around with the deeper wheels. I own a set of 808s as well but have hardly ridden on them. That was mostly because my last coach felt that I would have better power output to energy expenditure on the 404s as well as risk of being blown around on the road. For what it’s worth, I’m not a very fast rider. My pace for long distance (half ironman) is about 17mph (100-130watts) and for sprints about 20mph (140 watts)
Does anyone have any personal experience with them? If so, what do you think of them and how do they compare?
Bumping this one. I’m interested to hear some feedback as I’m in a similar situation.
I seriously doubt you are going to find objective data on this comparison. I suspect the person that told you they are “better” is a salesman. It’s likely they are very close in performance to your existing 808s, and there’s really no reason to keep both of those wheelsets, so I’d take both for a spin and sell whichever set you like less, I’d pay attention to braking characteristics and susceptibility to wind. Your coach should have at least told you to run the rear 808 for anything but an uphill time trial. It’s a touch faster than the 404 and in fact you’ll have better stability in the wind with a rear wheel that is deeper than the front. As to using either the 808 or the vision in the front, you should ride it in training and decide for yourself your wind sensitivity, that’s something only you can decide. Both wheels will certainly be more susceptible to crosswinds than the 404 but this bothers some riders and not others, and you can always err on running the 404 if you expect any wind and keep the 808 or vision for calm races.
Am curious as to what everyone thinks…
I am currently riding on zip 404s (clinchers) and have been very happy with them thus far. They are the Firecrest model (about 2-3 years old if I can remember correctly). I am 5’6" and weigh 140.
I am upgrading my bike and it comes with Vision Metron 81s. I was originally planning on keeping my 404s…both because I am happy with them and I was thinking about keeping the cost lower since I already have racing wheels. I am told that the Vision Metron 81s are “better” than the 404s. I do have concerns with the deeper wheel set…first of all when changing flats. I’ll need to carry an extender (and remember it) in addition to my tubes. I am also a fairly light rider and was a little concerned about being blown around with the deeper wheels. I own a set of 808s as well but have hardly ridden on them. That was mostly because my last coach felt that I would have better power output to energy expenditure on the 404s as well as risk of being blown around on the road. For what it’s worth, I’m not a very fast rider. My pace for long distance (half ironman) is about 17mph (100-130watts) and for sprints about 20mph (140 watts)
Does anyone have any personal experience with them? If so, what do you think of them and how do they compare?
The tubes and tires will matter a lot more between the 81s and 404s than anything. From a practical stand point, you will go slower on the 81s if you are already nervous about their handling