Vision Trimax Carbon 40 CSI Disc review

The Vision Trimax Carbon 40 CSI Disc wheels are the brand's mixed terrain wheelset which is apparently suitable both for road riding as well as gravel or cyclocross, too.

Despite the name, the wheel isn't actually a pure carbon fibre rim. The wheels CSI moniker denotes that it is in fact an alloy and carbon fibre hybrid, and the rim is in fact aluminium wrapped in carbon fibre which supposedly takes on the stiffness properties of a carbon rim (and presumably the strength of aluminium for those wanting to go off-road).

The wheels feel stiff and transfer a lot of the road feel to the rider. I was testing these aboard the Specialized S-Works Venge, a stiff frame which will definitely have accentuated this. Out on the road, they didn't feel like they rolled as well as a pure carbons set of wheels and from my standard riding pace of around 30km/h they slowed down quite quickly, similar to a shallower aluminium rim rather than a 40mm deep carbon section.

Watch: How much faster are aero wheels make?

I suspect the combination has also increased the weight and the Vision Trimax wheelset comes in at 1750g on the scales. It shows on the hills too, and the wheels didn't hold their speed from the flats to the slopes and instead felt sluggish on the climbs.

Mounting the S-Works Turbo Cotton tyres on to the tubeless ready rims posed no problems and the 18mm internal rim sat the 26mm tyres nice and widely, too.

The wheels are built with 21/24 aero bladed spokes and sealed bearings in the hubs. In the box you get a whole host of end cap adapters, including quick release, 12mm and 15mm. Being a disc brake wheelset the Vision Trimax Carbon 40 CSI Disc we opted to go for the standard 12mm setup.

At over £800 these wheels come in at a competitive price that has been hit because of the hybrid carbon/aluminium rim and although they feel bombproof, they're a bit sluggish.