# Review: Tokyowheel Epic 38/50 Carbon Clinchers



## Will_Coleman (Jun 23, 2015)

I have the 88 mm elite tubular front from TokyoWheel, paired with a Renn Disk in the rear for TT's. Since I wanted to increase speed in TT without spending a ridiculous amount of money I sprung for the tokyowheel front. The resulting speed increases when mounted on my Cervelo P1 (with 38mm carbon tubular wheels from Neuvation installed previously) was 0.7-0.8 mph increases on local 10 mile TT's. Pretty decent time savings without killing your bank account. The front does get pushed around if its really windy but that probably happens with any deep front wheel.


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## KevinLutz (Sep 19, 2009)

I have a pair of the 38mm wheels with the DT Swiss 240 disc brake hubs. I have about 1,500 miles on them and they are holding up very well. They are fast, solid and can take a beating based on my riding on very rough roads.


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## Lenny1 (Oct 7, 2015)

All wheels are bought from a Chinese source. Same with Boyd Cycling. Boyd just charges a lot more.


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## Howard_Olsen (May 17, 2016)

I've got a set of the 38 / 50 Clinchers and absolutely love them. I can tell you that the modulation you feel in the braking surface is from the pads - I tossed the Blue Pads that came with the wheels and installed a set of Swisstop Black Prince Carbon Pads and the braking performance jumped leaps and bounds and felt every bit as confident as braking on an aluminum track.. These are awesome wheel and 2 years in are still completely true ....


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## Juan1 (Oct 26, 2016)

Except that Boyd is upfront about having a Chinese factory producing the rims for them. And according to Boyd, their rims aren't open mold. They designed the rim shape themselves, and let the experienced factory advise them on layups and resins and all that. That's quite a bit different than buying rims out out of a catalog and slapping your sticker on them.


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## Dave12 (Nov 8, 2016)

Boyd's are too much $$$ these days. He will price himself out of business. You can get Mavic or Reynolds (carbon) for the same price out of the U.K.


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## kiwisimon (Oct 30, 2002)

wheel blew up in the shop.


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## kiwisimon (Oct 30, 2002)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1630897530268610&set=a.154003811291330.23217.100000451359083&type=3&theater


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## Alberto1 (May 26, 2017)

Spot on review. Got the Epic 38/50 in May 2016, when they were released. I was initially very happy because of the customer service, and because I could feel increase in my acceleration and top speed with these wheels. If I had the opportunity to buy wheels again, I would've spend more money to get a set of proven wheels.

In 11 months and about 1500 kms, my opinion is changed. Breaking is noisy and not very good.The rear wheel got off center and started grinding the tyre against the frame, the mechanic could not bring the wheel back to center because the nipples are seized to the spokes. Regarding the front wheel, the pulsations when braking started almost from day one, and got worse with time. The braking surface is showing material imperfections (mechanic said it is bulging) hence the pulsation.

I e-mailed TokyoWheels one week ago, asking how to apply my warranty. They have responded, albeit very slow compared with the quick response when buying the wheels. Today I am waiting for someone "operations" to assess the issue.

Trust the TokyoWheels guys will take care of the warranty, however, in my opinion, the issues with the wheels were not worth the savings.


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## Fred_Hams (Jun 16, 2017)

Sorry to say this....but It's one guy... there is no "operations" guy. The guys office is a Day rental office. The company is basically a backyard sticker operation flogging the cheapest Taiwanese rims with a whole lot of marketing hype and shill reviews he's written himself.
Goodlike getting your money back. Shouldn't you be getting 110% back anyway.


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## TR (Jul 26, 2017)

I agree with Alberto. I purchased a set of 50/60 Epics in September 2015. Initially, I was impressed. There was some brake noise but not too much of a problem; however, noises became more frequent. After 18 months, my mechanic showed me how the rims were beginning to fail as the bead was starting to separate. He suggested that I not ride them anymore. I sent an email to James and to customer service, even though I thought they might be one in the same, asking specific questions regarding the short life span my rims were experiencing. Its funny, post purchase, email responses came quickly; however, after a month, I have not heard anything back. It appears you do get what you pay for.


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## fred4 (Oct 12, 2019)

I'm waiting on an epic 3.4 front rim. I managed to fall, and have someone land on me. I cracked the Roval clx40 front rim. 
I bought the bike used for under 3k, I just couldn't justify dropping 1/3 of the cost of the bike for just the front wheel.
Since I'm in my mid 60's, I'm not looking for a race wheel, so things like ceramic bearings are above my appreciation.
On the other hand, even a duffer can feel lower rotational momentum on a hill, or a pass.


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## fred4 (Oct 12, 2019)

I got the front wheel, and it's nice. With the wider rim, it's not the perfect match for the Roval in the back, so, I ordered the matching rear wheel. Based on what I seen on Ebay, I can sell the Roval wheel for about the price of the front and rear wheel.
The 3.4 does have a feature that the 2013 Roval wheel doesn't, it can run tubeless. I'm over 200 lb, so, pinch flats are always on my mind.
If I don't like them, I can always switch to alloy,


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## fred4 (Oct 12, 2019)

So, I've got a couple hundred miles on the front/rear combo. The twitchiness of the Roval/Tokoyo mismatch is gone, so, it probably was the rim width.
I'm running Black Prince pads, so, braking is pretty solid, and no signs of pulsing. On the hills, I do alternate front and rear brakes. I figure that way they have a chance to cool.
A couple years ago, I had a blowout, and I was very happy it happened on an uphill. Up to that point, I was still sailing down hills at 40 mph.


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## Makona94 (7 mo ago)

Total scam. Web site reads "back in stock sale", as well as delivery time of 14-21 days. I placed an order back in September! Still waiting. Better off buying from a bike shop as at least you'll see and get what your paying for.


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## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

Makona94 said:


> Total scam. Web site reads "back in stock sale", as well as delivery time of 14-21 days. I placed an order back in September! Still waiting. Better off buying from a bike shop as at least you'll see and get what your paying for.


Live and learn.


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