Thanks for tuning in today we're going to be
reviewing the Token Shuriken oversized pulley for the Shimano 105 derailleur.
So if you're a fan of cycling you know that pro cyclists always have the latest and greatest
equipment from the newest aerodynamic bikes to the latest accessories. Now you've probably noticed
in more recent years oversized rear derailleur pulleys like this have become a lot more popular.
Today we're going to be looking at Tokens variation this is for the Shimano 105. They
also have it for Ultegra and Dura-ace but what's interesting here is you don't typically see
them for the 105. It's usually reserved for higher end products so it's really nice to see this.
In terms of packaging really simple, you have the Token logo in white on black nice large window where you
can actually see the big derailleur on here. Simple ghosted on letters on the side and then simple on
the black on the back as well. While I open it up we'll go over the specs. Retail on
this is $159 so quite a bit more affordable then some other options on the market.
The big thing with this is you get 19 teeth on the lower pulley and 12 on the
top that's compared to the typical 11 that you will see. This uses an anodized cnc construction
and supports up to a 34 tooth cassette on the rear. It uses a upper TBT bearing which is a ceramic
ball with titanium coated races while the lower is a premium bearing which is a carbon steel.
Inside the packaging you have a really nice foam piece that holds it in place
and some basic instructions to install it. You can see here the
Ultegra version is a little bit more fancy with the carbon cage and gold accents.
Now let's take a look at the weight of the oversized pulley. What's interesting is despite
being larger these are actually lighter than the stock component so this comes in at 64 grams.
Now let's go over the fit and finish of the oversized pulley. If Shuriken sounds familiar
it's because it is a Japanese word that translates to hidden hand blade and it's better known as
throwing stars or ninja stars. The design of this is very reminiscent of a ninja star as this is
such a larger bottom pulley. Now even though this is not as fancy as the Ultegra or Dura-ace
version which have a carbon fiber cage and gold accents. The CNC aluminum here and the
finish feels really premium and really quite large so it'll definitely stand out on your bike.
Now there's a couple of interesting features here, you have the higher quality bearings here
on the upper and lower that provide a reduced the drivetrain losses.
Now there's a lot of hype around these oversized pulleys so once we get on the bike we'll see how
much it really matters but they definitely promise quieter shifting, smoother shifting
and reduce some of the drivetrain loss. The overall finish on this feels really well made
it's almost a semi-gloss finish with all the pieces feeling very durable and well labeled.
So now the first step is to uninstall the original bottom pulley so there's a simple bolt under here.
I want to carefully take that out then you should be able to rotate this out.
There's a little retainer spring here which will simply slide out.
There you go there's the original one now installing the Token pulley is actually
pretty straight forward. You don't need to be a professional mechanic as it's simply one bolt.
Now you want to carry over some of the parts from your stock one
so I have the retainer spring and the little plastic dust cover you also want to use a
little bit of grease when you're putting this together on the spring and along this shaft.
Now there's also three mounting points for that spring and that adjusts the chain tension i'm
gonna go ahead and put in the middle but you can choose the one you prefer. So we'll put
a little bit of dab of grease on the shaft and then slide it over and that should be about it
and then you want to align this with the derailleur. There's a little bit
slot here once you have it aligned and that's about it then you put the bolt on
and that's it you're done. Now let's do a little comparison between the stock shimano 105
pulley and the Token variation you can see just how much larger this is with the 19 teeth
compared to the stock version which is probably closer to 11. It really looks almost comical,
also with the aluminum finish and the semi-gloss design it looks a lot more premium than the stock
variation. You can see the mounting points are almost identical though if you were to lay them
side by side the actual pulley mounts and the overall design is quite similar. What Token has
done is they've actually hollowed out a lot of the pulley itself reducing the rotational weight
and that makes makes a lot more efficient than the stock ones which you can see are more solid
with the top one being actually completely solid while the bottom only has small little
windows in it. So this is actually easier to clean as well and you can see the teeth design
are quite a bit different the shimano one has a more of a standard cut to it
while the Token has their little Conti-wave design which is slightly beveled on the edges.
Now weight wise these are almost identical the Shimano one on my scale weighs in at 66
while the Token weighs in at 64 and even though they're very close it's
impressive that they're able to maintain the same weight despite the larger design.
Now once we put some miles on the bike with the oversized pulley we found that
the shifting and noise was very similar or better than stock. There were no derailleur
adjustments needed to get the shifting down it was just as good as before once we swapped it in.
Now unfortunately we didn't notice any major performance improvements and even Token is pretty
good about this you do save some Watts but unless you're a professional athlete
where every second matters most road cyclists won't notice it.
Now let's go over the pros and cons for the Token oversized pulley. What we like about it is that
it's well priced unlike a lot of oversized pulleys on the market that cost nearly 50% of your bike
price this is really cheap at only 150. It's also one of the few options available for Shimano 105,
the majority of the options on the market are just for the jockey wheels instead of the whole
pulley assembly. It also installs in less than five minutes so you can definitely do this at home
as long as you're able to take off your chain and reinstall it that's about the hardest part of it.
Some of the cons is the fact there's minimal performance gains don't expect to be the next
Lance Armstrong when you install this on your bike, you're only really going to notice
the gains on really long rides or if you're a competitive cyclist and need every second.
It's also only available in black unlike the other models of the Shuriken which are gold
this is only available in black so you can't really mix and match it. Also despite being well
priced it costs more than the stock 105 derailleur replacement. Taking everything into account would
give the oversized pulley an 8.6 out of 10. Even though the performance gains aren't that
large it's a very well designed oversized pulley that shifts well and easy to clean and also gives
your bike a lot of flare. Thanks for watching this review don't forget to like and subscribe.
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