Tokyowheel (1)

Anyone here have experience with or thoughts on tokyowheel? I have a friend who has a set of them and he seems to like them and says they are very responsive to questions and issues.

edit: sorry for the double post. Accidentally deleted the other.

Look like rebadged carbon wheels from a china supplier to me.

No experience but I just moved to Tokyo. The foreigner cycling community is a pretty small but tight group with some serious riders. You might want to try tokyocycle.com, which is the central forum for The community. I don’t know James Ferrer the guy behind Tokyo Wheel, but doing a quick search on the forum, I see some strong riders talking about rides with him.

You gotta wonder, with some of their wheels being named ‘epic’, that they might be headed for, uh, lawsuit territory … as the cafe roubaix guy almost was recently.

I have a set and like them very much. I also have Zipp 202 firecrest and 303s but wanted a cheaper wheel for daily trainers. I typically ride Zipp 101s for training but honestly I just got tired of changing brake pads between the different sets so I searched for a cheaper alternative. I posted a youtube review with some data from the rear wheel with width measurements of the braking surface taken with a micrometer at 21 positions around the wheel; you draw your own conclusions. I will measure the front wheel this weekend and post that data on youtube too. I have weight and spoke tension data if anyone is interested. I have the clincher 50 mm deep wheels and so far I’ve beat them up pretty good on somewhat rough country roads and I’m happy. Am I a little concerned about a CC clincher that is manufactured in China? Sure I am but given the price of what I had with DT Swiss 240 hubs and Sapim CX-ray spokes I’m happy enough. Trust me, if I experience a failure that I perceive as a manufacturing defect I will make it known. I will say that the first set of wheels I received had a slight problem and I contacted Tokyowheel and returned them. After the wheels were released from customs my account was credited but then I decided to try again and I’m pleased. Here is my $0.02. Are the wheels worth it? Are they as good as my Zipps or your most favorite brand? I don’t know. Have they done all the research that the big companies have done; probably not but why don’t you just ask? Sure you can buy cheaper carbon wheels and you can certainly buy more expensive wheels and maybe they are or aren’t any better but to me the customer service I’ve received has been outstanding and I wasn’t looking to spend >$2700 for yet another set of wheels. I wanted a less expensive wheel for training Oh, by the way my Zipp 101s are for sale if anyone is interested.

Oh, forgot to include the link in case anyone wanted to see the data I collected on my Tokyowheel. I have no idea if this is good or bad since can’t measure my Zipps for comparison due to the Firecrest shape proving difficult for precision. The data is what it is so please let me know your thoughts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITR4kLwEPH4

Any disc wheels in the works?

+1 on Disc Brake hubs.
I will buy a pair regardless, but a disc brake hub would be great.

Hi There, I was very hesitant to buy these Tokyo Wheels without any representation here in Australia or any real history of sales etc. No-one I knew had any etc. I bought a set of Epic 38-50 with the Sapim upgrade in December 2013 and have found them to be the best wheels I have ever ridden (I have been lucky enough to have Zipp, FFWD, TWE, Shimano etc). Very stiff combination - have the brakes dialled up very close and no flex touching the pads. Roll brilliantly - so well I am selling my Zipp Tubulars I have been using for racing and will use these with Latex Tubes and GP4000s.

Most impressive is the braking - first ride I was caught out in the pouring rain and found them to brake almost as well as Aluminium rims. I really was unexpectantly impressed here!

Love the wide profile although it can be problematic with your brakes - need them almost at thier width limits. The spokes are a great upgrade - very quiet with the use of brass washers etc.

Really am very impressed and I have found James a delight to deal with. Bit hard to get them on the phone - only issue I have had. But respond to emails very quickly.

Longevity yet to be proven - but in 12 months time if they are still running well I will certainly buy another set.

Out of curiousity which hub did you choose? I opted for the DT Swiss 240s but for my next set of wheels I’ll likely go with the spec’d hubs or maybe up upgrade to the ceramic hubs but since the next set will go on my CX bike I probably just need to stick to steel bearings. Anyway, just curious.

I guess I don’t know why people would spring for them in the first place. They are almost surely just rebranded rims, rebranded hubs and generic steel spokes. It’s nice that they let you upgrade to DT Swiss and cx rays, but by the time you do, you could get some Zipp clincher 60s for less.

How wide are your rims? How does the aero data stack up against flo or zipp?

How are your wheels different from the products offered by Farsports or DengFu?
Who did the rim and mold design for your wheels?
Do you own the rim molds/tooling at the factory where your wheels are made?
Where are your wheels laced, tensioned, and built?
Have you performed any aerodynamic testing on your wheels vs competing wheels?

Why should a consumer buy your wheels vs the Farsports wheels available at the following link?
VELOBUILD MALL

I’m in the market for a new front 88mm carbon clincher and these look promising.

I do need the wheel before April though and it would be interesting to see the test results before taking the plunge.

What tyre combination would you recommend for use with this wheel for minimum drag (aero/rolling)?

When I placed my order it arrived within 7 business days; US customs held onto it for an additional day but knowing it’s a govt agency they don’t get in a hurry to do anything. It probably would’ve arrived in 5 business days but that’s just speculation. What do you have to lose given the money back guarantee? Order, ride, and wait for data. If you don’t like the data or the ride return it since they have the test ride guarantee.

I just bought a set of the Epic 38 clinchers with Sapim spokes and ceramic bearings and I love them. I know everyone is concerned about them being made in China but keep in mind most of the big names are manufactured overseas. As long as they comply with the owner’s specs and the QA is in place it shouldn’t be an issue. Now about the wheels. I received them professionally and securely boxed and in a timely manner. They look Fabulous! And let’s face it, if you are a cyclist looking good is important. Weight - my set weighed in at 1370 Grams. 10 grams under advertised. Braking - compared to my Zipp 303 and Easton EC90 these are by far the best. No pulsing and a consistent feeling when applying pressure. I intentionally bombed down several steep, long climbs staying on the brakes trying to heat them up. They weren’t even warm to the touch. Ride feel - they don’t feel or sound hollow like my Zipps and smooth out the road pretty good. They hold speed and handle crosswinds well. Wheel Trueness - again I have been intentionally hitting rough areas of road, manholes, potholes and other imperfections trying to throw off the trueness and they have stayed true. As a matter of fact they showed up and remain perfectly true. Flexing - I’m 170 pounds and stand quite often toward the end of climbs. My Zipps flex and touch the brake pads when I’m hammering up climbs - these DO NOT. I’m telling you, I don’t care where these wheels were made, they are the real deal. Concerning the owner’s customer service. I’ve sent James no less than seven emails inquiring about the wheels and have never waited more than one day for a super comprehensive response. In closing, if you are looking for an exceptional set of carbon wheels at a Great price log into Tokyowheels. You can email me at Timothy.morello@yahoo.com if you have any questions. BTW: I’m a retired Marine living in Okinawa Japan and if these wheels were crap I wouldn’t lie about it. Everything above is spot on.

These must be amazing wheels. So many people have gone to the effort to register on the forum to post their long detailed positive reviews of them in the last few weeks.

Half the price of the competitors for what I consider to be a better wheel. I think it’s best to let people know.

You summation is correct; I registered on the forum to post a reply about the Tokyowheels because I felt it important to do so. I also posted some data on my youtube channel if you want to see data. To date my feelings are very positive and as I stated in a previous post if I experience anything I perceive as a problem I will first work with their customer service for a resolution and I will also post my opinion. Actually, I returned my 1st set of wheels for what I felt was a slight problem; my account was credited but then I kept thinking about it and decided to give it another go. I’m happy enough.
I have no idea if the data is “The Good, Bad, and Ugly” so I asked others for their input but received no responses. I actually just ordered another wheelset from Tokyowheel; these will be for my cyclocross bike so not sure if anyone on Slowtwitch will want to read about them. Subjective is what it is so I’ll do what I can to provide objective data for my 2nd set once they arrive. I ordered the Elite tubular 38mm with the Tokyowheel (house brand) hub and Sapim CX-ray spokes. My 1st order was the 50 mm Epic with DT Swiss 240 hubs and Sapim CX-ray spokes. These wheels have now become my go to training wheelset.
I’ve not ridden sew-ups on a CX bike before so I’m excited to give them a go.I’ll most likely post subjective and objective review on Cyclocross magazine forum and my youtube channel.

I just bought a set of the Epic 38 clinchers with Sapim spokes and ceramic bearings and I love them. I know everyone is concerned about them being made in China but keep in mind most of the big names are manufactured overseas. As long as they comply with the owner’s specs and the QA is in place it shouldn’t be an issue. Now about the wheels. I received them professionally and securely boxed and in a timely manner. They look Fabulous! And let’s face it, if you are a cyclist looking good is important. Weight - my set weighed in at 1370 Grams. 10 grams under advertised. Braking - compared to my Zipp 303 and Easton EC90 these are by far the best. No pulsing and a consistent feeling when applying pressure. I intentionally bombed down several steep, long climbs staying on the brakes trying to heat them up. They weren’t even warm to the touch. Ride feel - they don’t feel or sound hollow like my Zipps and smooth out the road pretty good. They hold speed and handle crosswinds well. Wheel Trueness - again I have been intentionally hitting rough areas of road, manholes, potholes and other imperfections trying to throw off the trueness and they have stayed true. As a matter of fact they showed up and remain perfectly true. Flexing - I’m 170 pounds and stand quite often toward the end of climbs. My Zipps flex and touch the brake pads when I’m hammering up climbs - these DO NOT. I’m telling you, I don’t care where these wheels were made, they are the real deal. Concerning the owner’s customer service. I’ve sent James no less than seven emails inquiring about the wheels and have never waited more than one day for a super comprehensive response. In closing, if you are looking for an exceptional set of carbon wheels at a Great price log into Tokyowheels. You can email me at Timothy.morello@yahoo.com if you have any questions. BTW: I’m a retired Marine living in Okinawa Japan and if these wheels were crap I wouldn’t lie about it. Everything above is spot on.

2 post tokyo wonder. Nice fluff review.