In March of last year, Ashima displayed their new Aineon disc brake rotors that utilized only 3 of the usual 6 rotor mounting bolts. True weight weenies have been known to only use 3 of the 6 rotor bolts to save weight for some time, so why not design a rotor specifically for the purpose? Subsequently, Ashima released a 6 bolt version of the rotor as well to be sold alongside the 3 bolt model. While you can mount the 3 bolt rotors on any 6 bolt hub, if the point is to reduce weight, why not design a 3 bolt hub to go along with this? It may seem a bit regressive as people are just finally getting rid of their 4 bolt Coda rotors, but at least the 3 bolt standard uses the same spacing pattern as the popular 6 bolt standard.
Looking to do just that, Token is now offering two new 3-bolt hubsets for both Cyclocross and XC mountain biking. The CX model will be only offered in 24h drillings front and rear, and only in 130mm spacing for the rear. However, there’s nothing to say that you can’t use one of the XC rear hubs that is offered in 135mm for your cross bike, if that’s what you need. The XC hubs will be offered in 24/28, 28/32, and 32/32h f/r combinations with the front hubs either in QR or 15mm through axle. Sold as a set, they will also include Aineon rotors and a set of 6 titanium rotor bolts. As far as the weight is concerned, CX hub sets should come in at 154g for the front and 240g for the rear, with the mountain bike variants adding another 5 grams.
In addition to Token’s wide range of brightly colored, anodized parts and nearly every bottom bracket you could need these days, they also have a new carbon tubular design that is said to be more efficient thanks to their G-Spoke design. See it after the break.
Most tubular wheels that have internal nipples, either attach the spokes to the inside of the aero section of the rim to reduce the overall length of the spoke, or attach them to what would be a traditional looking box section rim that uses a aero “fairing” that is glued to the box section rim to complete the profile. The latter is said to improve wheel stiffness and performance by those who use the design, and Token is taking it one step further with their G-Spoke design. Using metal grommets to support the load of the spoke, the same portion of the rim that the tire is glued to is what actually supports the nipple and spoke. Token claims that these offset spokes that are attached directly to the outer part of the rim results in better power transfer to the tire, since there is less rim material between the two. The G-Spoke design has been a few years in the making, and currently the technology seems to only be available on their T50S Carbon Tubular wheelset which clock in at 1497g for the set. Also, the T50s wheels feature Token’s Anti Vibration Carbon technology which supposedly offers a much better ride quality than other carbons. While Token doesn’t specify what the material is, they do say that the addition to the carbon has similar properties to Kevlar.
Like most Token wheels, the T50s include a number of accessories including Token’s award winning Shark Tail skewers shown above, wheel bags, valve extenders, carbon brake pads, spoke adjusting tool, and extra spokes and nipples. As it stands, it seems Tufo North America is the sole importer of Token products, with most of them available for sale on their web store.
