LTWOO RX hydro sets

[00Garza]

Did the replacement shifter work much better than the first?   I just installed my shifters and am having similar bad shifting.

Its still tricky to get dialed in, but yes it absolutely solved the shifting issues I was having. No matter the adjustments made, couldn't get it indexed properly. Fortunately my mechanic had a spare shimano shifter sitting around. We tried the shimano one and it helped identify the shifter as the problem. Rear mech was flawless with the shimano shifter.

[jcr]

I am on the fence of ordering a set coming from Campy originally but want to see what people have to say about usability and shift quality.

[dsveddy]

Are all the shifting "complaints" due to the Campagnolo style shifting vs. Shimano? Or is the thumb trigger really hard to use?

I think more the former rather than the latter. As far as Campag-style thumb shifting goes, the ergonomics are about as well-designed as they can be. Some users have reported that the mechanism binds a bit and is hard to press, but that's not a problem I've experienced.

My explanation is that thumb shifters will always have these problems because you only have 1 thumb wrapping around the shifter, (versus 4 fingers on the other side), meaning that thumb shifters will always require the user to move their thumb and loosen or change their grip to shift, while paddles near the brake lever let you maintain grip with your remaining fingers. Furthermore, shift paddles near the brake lever are reached by extending the finger rather than contracting it, while LTWOO's thumb shifters are positioned behind the thumb so they can be reached from the drops, meaning the thumb would have to be contracted to reach it. But, there is no way to contract your thumb to reach the button from the hoods, because the thumb is already contracted to grip the hood. This means you have to move your hand.

Maybe there is a mythical thumb shifter design that avoids this problem. I've thought of something like two small thumb levers connected by a bracket under the hood body. One near the brake lever pivot (like on the old Shimano Sora) so that your thumb can extend to shift from the hoods, the second near where the current lever is, but with a smaller profile designed to be exclusively operated from the drops. One can dream.

[jcr]

you mean the solution is eRX? 

[jonathanf2]

I'm not quite at the point of fully writing them off, but I am at this point looking into moving to Shimano Ultegra. Back in January when I ordered all of these parts, Ultegra was pretty hard to source cheaply. Nowadays, there's tons of backstock getting sold on ebay and even AE for not much more than LTWOO.

Like you say, the upshift ergonomics just aren't nice, I feel like I am just tolerating them. I have to move my hand back on the hood for every upshift. I've raced with these shifters and it's fine (especially from the drops) but at this point I am done, I just want to run Ultegra because I feel like upshifting from near the lever would be much more comfortable.

I'm running GRX shifters on my gravel bike and I just feel those shifters are near perfect. Big and grippy and easy to adjust. I'd almost be tempted to run a pair of those mated to the ZRace XG calipers and get the best of both worlds in terms of ergonomics and weight reduction.

Are all the shifting "complaints" due to the Campagnolo style shifting vs. Shimano? Or is the thumb trigger really hard to use?

I'm prone to out of saddle for climbing/sprinting, and the thumb shifter doesn't allow me to fully grip the hoods. This isn't an issue with either Shimano or Sensah that gives me complete grasp of the hoods. If they just made the grips bigger similar to my GRX shifters on my gravel bike, then I don't think it would be an issue.

[dsveddy]

I have discovered the secret to getting good front shifting out of the LTWOO RX shift lever paired with latest-generation Shimano "switch" front derailleurs (i.e. Ultegra R8000)

Normally the installation instructions for the Shimano FD tell you adjust cable tension until two markings on the front derailleur are aligned when the derailleur is shifted into big ring. When following these directions and pairing with an LTWOO shifter, the shifter's front derailleur trim settings don't work, they are too far away from the outer and inner limits, and therefore cause the derailleur cage to touch the chain when trimming.

I have now realized that the solution is to simply increase the cable tension way past Shimano's suggested set point. Then, you adjust the lower and upper limiter screws on the front derailleur to set the outer and inner limits of shifting. With this higher tension, the trim stops will now be be much closer to the outer and inner shift stops, making them useful again.

[jonathanf2]

First impressions of the Sensah HRD hydraulic groupset:

[abedfo]

Argh, wish I had waited for the sensah stuff. I much prefer their hood shape and shifting mechanism. Oh well.

Anyone have any tips on indexing the ltwoo rear dérailleurs? It's perfect on the stand but always seems to be half a cog off when I come to ride and it gets progressively worse !

[kbike]

There is a problem with sensah shifters when mounting them flaring out.  When you go into the drops and pull the brake the levers will shift.  This is a huge issue when going downhill and the front shifts. Having the right do it isn't as huge an issue. 

This happens cause you hand is pulling the lever diagonally.  It doesn't happen as much when braking from the hoods but will do it.

Interesting that the right only does double shifts. I wonder if the new shifters are harder or longer to diagonally pull brake and get accidental shift.

[dsveddy]

Well this is a bummer. Hit a pothole, shifter moved. Reset and gave it a tighten. Next time I was out, still wiggly. No matter how much I tightened, still wiggly. Then, I used my eyes and took a good hard look at the shifter, and saw my problem.

RIPieces LTWOO R9 Hydraulic shifter March 2023 - June 2023. You gave me 3 months of fairly okay shifting.

[00Garza]

Well this is a bummer. Hit a pothole, shifter moved. Reset and gave it a tighten. Next time I was out, still wiggly. No matter how much I tightened, still wiggly. Then, I used my eyes and took a good hard look at the shifter, and saw my problem.

RIPieces LTWOO R9 Hydraulic shifter March 2023 - June 2023. You gave me 3 months of fairly okay shifting.

Ouch.
Can you see where the crack/break originated? I’d assume around the mounting bolt.

[jonathanf2]

Well this is a bummer. Hit a pothole, shifter moved. Reset and gave it a tighten. Next time I was out, still wiggly. No matter how much I tightened, still wiggly. Then, I used my eyes and took a good hard look at the shifter, and saw my problem.

RIPieces LTWOO R9 Hydraulic shifter March 2023 - June 2023. You gave me 3 months of fairly okay shifting.

I've fully written off LTwoo. Simple things like tightening the shifter bolt clamp is a pain in the butt. Routing the mechanical shift cables is convoluted. Lastly, I just did not like how the thumb shifter gets in the way when I want to fully grip the hoods.

Maybe look into getting a pair of 105 hydraulic shifters. I think you still might be able to salvage the LTwoo brake calipers and use them with 105. Between the Chinese groupsets, I much prefer Sensah. They're slow to develop, but they seem like they have better support and their designs are more well thought out.

[dsveddy]

I haven’t looked too deeply but the crack definitely runs through the shifter bolt.

At this point the shifters are actually the last remaining LTWOO parts from the group-set. I ditched the derailleurs for ultegra and the calipers for z-race a while ago. I’ve managed to source some deeply discounted dura ace R9020 shifters from FB marketplace, so I’m looking forward to installing those soon 

[jonathanf2]

Looks like Shimano still wants to keep 105 the groupset of the people. 105 12 speed mechanical is coming.

[k2502915]

Install of GRT groupset went pretty smoothly but I’m having a hell of a time bleeding the brakes. The rear went okay, but the front I simply cannot get to develop any pressure. And I can’t figure out why! Fluid moves through in both directions when I push or pull it with a syringe. The only thing I can see is that the syringe adapter piece (that screws into the caliper port) leaks a bit during bleeding. But that was the same when I bled the rear. I’m using the ZTTO bleed kit.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.