New Carbon Clinchers - Token C58's

I currently own two sets of Token Wheels!


Token T50's which are 50mm carbon tubulars that I have on my cyclocross bike


Token C50's which are 50mm carbon clinchers I use as my everyday wheels on my road bike



I've owned and used these wheels for two years now. The T50's have seen limited use, but the C50's I've used as my everyday wheels on my road bike. The only problem I've ever had is I've broken 2 spokes on the clincher wheels - no biggie, it's gonna happen to every wheelset eventually. There was one thing that did annoy me a bit, it was that mounting and removing tires on the clincher set was a bit difficult at times - enough so that I contacted Token to discuss it with them and they were nice enough to send me out a brand new wheelset that they are still just testing and not yet released for sale - Token C58's.

The Token C58's are 58mm carbon clinchers with a redesigned rim. The old C50's had a lowered braking surface that required the use of a special brake pad holder - not a big deal at all, unless you are changing wheelsets quite often.



The new C58 rim design has the brake surface in the standard position so standard pad holders can be used and wheel swaps no longer are an issue.



Right now I have around 1000 miles on the new C58's and gotta tell you I'm really enjoying the C58's. I've tried flexing the wheels to see if I can get any brake rub when riding - none. I have no "scientific" proof (no power meters here, sorry), but I think the C58's are overall faster than the C50's, even on a hilly ride and even with the weight disadvantage over my 50mm wheels (+250 grams). I even used these wheels during the 2nd Annual Mike Clark Memorial Conquer the Hills Ride. Granted on a few hills toward the end I was really wishing I had a compact crankset, but I think that was more the motor than the extra weight in the wheels I was rolling with.

Pennsylvania pot holes, daily tar and chip roads, general road disintegration conditions - wheels are still perfect.

So if your looking for a set of carbon wheels (frame, components, etc) that won't break the bank - you may want to consider some Token - send me a note and I can put you in touch with my Token Contact.

Tour of Lancaster Intercourse Time Trial

another slow update.....early August I stopped buy the Tour of Lancaster Intercourse Time Trial that turned out to be a day of turrential down pouring rain. I just love shooting time trials, seeing cyclist in all their beauty and pain! Add to that rain and a photographer couldn't ask for a more dramatic day of shooting. Bad thing was the rain ened up being so terrible that it was blowling sideways and bouncing hard enough off the ground to blow into my Nikon 300 f/2.8 lens. These are the days I'm glad I keep full rain gear in the car and a Think Tank Hydro cover for my camera equipment. The Nikon D700 performed excellent even in these trying conditions. I started out the day with a 1.4x converter on the lens, but due to the conditions being so dark, I needed to shoot pretty much wide open - most of these images are at or close to ISO 6400.

Intercourse Time Trial Photos can be viewed here!

The severe rain caused all of the roads and fields to flood making the course late in the game pretty difficult to navigate - in fact when I decided to call it a day, I drove by the last racer I saw for the day picking out corn stalks from his rear wheel - apparently no brakes and a ride thru the corn field.