Team Marc Pro presented by Gym One
  • Blog
  • Team
  • Sponsors
  • Schedule
  • Photos & Videos
  • The Bike
  • About
  • Shop
Team Marc Pro presented by Gym One
  • Blog
  • Team
  • Sponsors
  • Schedule
  • Photos & Videos
  • The Bike
  • About
  • Shop

Team Marc Pro presented by Gym One

Uncategorized

First Ride Impressions: New Token Konax Pro Tubeless Carbon Clincher Wheelset

written by Phil Mooney February 12, 2018

The team is lucky enough to continue to be sponsored by Token Wheels again in 2018, and we’ll be racing the all-new Konax Pro Wheelset throughout the season. The new shipment of wheels arrived at the service course last week. I’ve put in a few rides on them and want to share my first impressions of the new hoops!

 

I’ll start with the basics. These new wheels are light, wide, and deep. They have and external/internal rim width of 27.4/20mm. That’s nice and wide. They’re deep and fast rolling with a 52mm rim depth. They’re feather light 1452 grams. They’re built with Sapim CX-Ray spokes with external nipples. This is great, as external nipples make the wheels incredibly easy to service and straighten up if needed.

Unboxing the wheels, everything looks totally dialed. They come well protected in a plastic covering in a solid wheel box. Included with our wheels are the new red carbon brake pads, skewers, and a 70 mm valve stem. The wheels come pre-taped and are ready to be set up tubeless right away. Look for a second post soon about setting the wheels up tubeless with tires from IRC.

 

The graphics on the wheels are subtle and look sharp. The large token logo is dark and blends in smoothly with the wheel. A small gold leaf logo highlights the model name of Konax Pro. The matte black carbon rim surface is crisscrossed with glossy black stripes. The hubs are gloss black and precisely engineered, looking like a machined military grade part. All together, the wheels look rad. The black on black on black creates a subtle look to the graphics, but a look with plenty of character. It’s an unobtrusive design that will easily blend in with any bike but grab your attention when you look at the details. Kudos to the graphic design team that put this unique look together.  When I mounted the wheels on our KTM race bike, the machine looked fierce. There’s something about deep carbon wheels that screams speed.

Out on the road, I loved the feel of the new wheels. The wide rims change the shape of the contact patch of our 25c tires pumped up to 95psi, and this helps smooth out the ride. If you haven’t tried wide rims and tires, you must. When I started to pour on the watts, the light wheels responded instantly and spun up quickly. I loved the characteristic whooshing sound of carbon wheels accelerating up to speed. The squared off top of the rim profile was clearly designed with cross winds in mind, and despite a 20 mph cross wind along the bay the wheels felt completely in control and grounded. And, finally, my favorite aspect of the wheels, their torsional stiffness. They just did not flex laterally. It’s a great feeling when you know all of your power is being transferred into forward momentum, with no energy lost to side to side swaying.

 

These wheels are top notch. I can’t wait to get them to the guys at training camp next week to see what they think!

 

 

First Ride Impressions: New Token Konax Pro Tubeless Carbon Clincher Wheelset was last modified: February 13th, 2018 by Phil Mooney
cry baby hillCry Baby Hill, racingIRC TireKTMMarc ProOLABracingRitcheySRAMToken
0 comment
1
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Phil Mooney

I began road racing as an undergraduate after taking a class entitled “The Science of Cycling” as a winter term course at DePauw University. I joined the collegiate cycling team as a freshman, became hooked on cycling, and quickly became a Cat 1 racer on the road and track. I continued to race seriously after moving to northern California for graduate school at UC Davis (Geology). The 2010 season was my first season road racing on a national level at NRC races, riding for the Yahoo! Cycling Team. Immediately after finishing graduate school, I signed my first professional contract and spent the year racing in Europe with Team Raleigh. A few years and many miles later, I made the decision to retire from road racing and start to enjoy more leisurely rides on my mountain bike. In conjunction with this switch, I got married to my wonderful wife, Mandy, and took a more traditional job in the Department of Geology at Sonoma State University. In 2015, I continued to work at Sonoma State while taking over the helm as the owner and manager of Mooney Cycling LLC, the business umbrella that runs the Herbalife p/b Marc Pro - Nature's Bakery Team, and also launching the Bikelangelo brand of custom stem caps with some friends. You can now find me answering emails from my phone as I continue to enjoy riding around beautiful northern California!

previous post
2018 Kit Design with Jakroo
next post
Dusting off the cobwebs in the Dominican Republic

You may also like

Sky Tavern XC – Nevada State Championships

August 19, 2008

2008 NCNCA Cyclocross Cup: Dorothy McAlinden Park...

November 11, 2008

Who are the Ward's? I don't need...

March 26, 2014

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Follow Marc Pro Cycling Everywhere

Facebook Twitter Instagram RSS

Latest Posts

  • A Series of Unfortunate Events – Island Style – 2019 Tour of Tobago October 21, 2019
  • The Biggest Criterium in the Carribbean October 12, 2019
  • Tour of Tobago, Stages 2-4 October 9, 2019
  • Big event, small island style – Tour of Tobago Stage 1 October 3, 2019
  • Athens Twilight Crit: Part Bike Race, Part Party! May 15, 2019

Subscribe for Team Updates

Blog Categories

  • Advocacy (27)
  • Featured (26)
  • Gear (52)
  • News (95)
  • Off Season (12)
  • Photos (35)
  • Race Reports (349)
  • Ramblings (39)
  • Reviews (21)
  • Training (29)
  • Uncategorized (469)
  • Videos (22)

Popular Posts

  • The RULES, from Velominati

    December 28, 2010
  • Wahoo ELEMNT vs Garmin Edge 810 Showdown!

    May 3, 2016
  • Justin Mauch wins Fish Rock in a Two Up Sprint over Lance Armstrong!

    March 12, 2017

Subscribe for Team Updates

Tag #marcprocycling on Instagram

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Domestic Elite Team #11924 • Copyright © 2007 - 2018 • Designed at 5280' by OLAB