LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets

[rockerplates.de]

You're a brave man, i applaud that.
on price matching, the lower prices are usually because people buy during a "sale" on aliX. Also depends on the region you're in. For example, if in EU, you see prices incl. VAT. Not the case in the UK. Shipping depends on region too. Those who live in Australia pay less in shipping. Long story short, it's complicated. There's a guy selling er9 on the forum btw, his user name is very long and has plates in it i think.
everything kind of works with everything. er9 doesnt sell rotors, cranks, cassette, chain, anyway. i have an ultralight steel & alu cassette, chinese, i m very happy with it, but you ll find people here saying it's shit. as long as it's calibrated properly, it works great, on my setup anyway.
there's a number of youtubers saying that expensive rotors dont brake any better than cheaper ones, so you may want to save your money there. It also depends on the riding you do, and your weight.

yes thats me...i have still one set on stock, oem, with box, not touched..
happy to receive offers for it or it will end up on my new zwiftsetup :-)
this will be a private sale...for the brave...

[coffeebreak]

Apart from two Shimano sellers listed above another one, the cheapest and often the fastest - Newbie bike store. Have bought numerous Shimano goodies from them. They are the only ones where you can buy entire Shimano R7100 12s mechanical groupset for around $375 and 105 Di2 for $750 during the monthly sales/coupons.

If you still want to go ahead with LTwoo ER9, (apparently official) LTwoo store has the cheapest prices. Last time I utilized my coupon, I got it for $365 tax included, shipped to my doorstep.

[lantz]

Lots of negativity in here lately but mostly rooted in a couple of folks talking about a couple of instances - that's not to discount those, but I would *highly* encourage you to try new stuff if you have the patience. I've not had a single issue with my eRX, and there a ton of folks that share the same. As is often the case, the bad experiences are what you hear about. So, if you're on the fence, then, yes avoid it. But for lots of folks, wireless shifting isn't an experience they can afford from the major players so having access to this sort of technology with the appetite to figure it out, try it and play with it, is pretty cool.

[Sebastian]

My personal verdict is that while my er9 works, I think the only big advantage it gives is that it makes bikes with integrated cables super easy to build. The performance in my eyes isn’t really much better than a good mechanical groupset. There’s obvious reliability issues which make me worry if I should take the bike on a holiday or to a race. I took a gamble when buying it and chose to take the risk. But looking back, I’m not sure I’d do it again. I’d like to ride the latest 105 Di2 or Sram Rival electronic to see how they compare.

[TidyDinosaur]

Lots of negativity in here lately but mostly rooted in a couple of folks talking about a couple of instances - that's not to discount those, but I would *highly* encourage you to try new stuff if you have the patience. I've not had a single issue with my eRX, and there a ton of folks that share the same. As is often the case, the bad experiences are what you hear about. So, if you're on the fence, then, yes avoid it. But for lots of folks, wireless shifting isn't an experience they can afford from the major players so having access to this sort of technology with the appetite to figure it out, try it and play with it, is pretty cool.

I don't understand how you can defend this groupset like that. It's crap and A LOT of the people here that have bought it have problems with them. It's not an isolated incident like you make it out to be.
3 (or is it 4 by now) out of 5 groupsets that become defective is not a coincidence. It's a bad product and should not have come to market like this. That combined with the terrible support of Ltwoo should be a warning to not buy this stuff.

[Serge_K]

I don't understand how you can defend this groupset like that. It's crap and A LOT of the people here that have bought it have problems with them. It's not an isolated incident like you make it out to be.
3 (or is it 4 by now) out of 5 groupsets that become defective is not a coincidence. It's a bad product and should not have come to market like this. That combined with the terrible support of Ltwoo should be a warning to not buy this stuff.

Yep, that's me. Writing " a couple of folks talking about a couple of instances" is a gross misrepresentation. Also known as horse shit. It's far, far more than that.
Now as a contrarian, I will keep trying to ride these er9 into the ground because I want competition in the space. What Shimano and SRAM charge for their groups simply is intellectually insulting when you start to understand unit economics. And I have zero respect for patent trolling.
But users be warned: these er9 are not to be used by those who don't want to tinker.
Anaerobic session coming up, uphill, on my er9

[rockerplates.de]

Yep, that's me. Writing " a couple of folks talking about a couple of instances" is a gross misrepresentation. Also known as horse shit. It's far, far more than that.
Now as a contrarian, I will keep trying to ride these er9 into the ground because I want competition in the space. What Shimano and SRAM charge for their groups simply is intellectually insulting when you start to understand unit economics. And I have zero respect for patent trolling.
But users be warned: these er9 are not to be used by those who don't want to tinker.
Anaerobic session coming up, uphill, on my er9

Well, this is the reason why we started to work with ltwoo, we saw a chance to cut off a pieces of shimano and sram...we, as a listed dealership, buy shimano and sram parts at a higher pricepoint than normal customer do at onlineshops.
As we spoke with ltwoo, explained the european market and what is needed to sell legally and what needs to be done quality wise and that customer service is essential IF the product fails...
Well, all this was promised....
we also pointed out, why a legal seller who copes with local tax and duties and far most important, getting customer service handled, if aliexpress comes into play. business is done for any normal distributor or seller..
due to the missing certificates, licenses it is illegal to sell this groupsets as they come, we would have had to invest loads of money to make the product legal (not legal concorning patents), ce certificate, ANt+, bluetooth....all this is not existant for aliexpress sellers, they just sell and do not have to fear shimano lawers.
Due to the quality issues, quantities stuck...we did not want to order the faulty groupsets anymore until new reliable versions are available...ltwoo just went to easy path and jumped onto aliexpress...boom...all the faulty groupsets found customers..
Even the known quality issues are not handled fast and easy, which would be necessary to get back minimum trust in the brand...they want to see videos, pictures  its the old chinese we make it as hard as possible story....
I understand people are on a budget, if they are, it is essential to make an invest in reliable products , so a good di2 105 may is more expensive, but at the end, cheaper because no down time, no hassle ...

hope your anaerobic season was nice....i just had a swim this morning and will have aerobic run this evening!

[rasch]

I am actually not so sure that this groupset is that much cheaper... Looking into high level numbers:

Ltwoo FD, RD, Shifters, batteries etc = 450€
Shimano 105 di2 full groupset which includes Cassette etc = 1000€

If on Shimano we remove the VAT (175€) + crank (135€) cassette (50€), chain (20€), disc rotors (50€) how much cheaper is it actually?? difference is around 100€.


Is it really that worth it to lose warranty etc etc. This is the reason why I don't think a lot of work has to be done by them. Wheeltop needs to lower their and Megane and Sensah need to step in with the same idea.

For me I prefer my solid 105 7020 than any of these.

[Sebastian]

When I put together my build, I got er9 for 460 EUR and combined it with a used crankset and a lightweight Aliexpress cassette & chain. 105 Di2 actually gets more expensive when you buy individual parts and not a full groupset. But I simply didn't need a complete groupset as I had various parts lying around. The cheapest offerings to put together a 105 Di2 mini groupset was something like 650-700 EUR IIRC. To me at the time, that was enough to go the cheaper route. Knowing what I know today, I'd probably get a Sram Mini gruppo which sometimes can be had for around 650ish EUR and be done with cables entirely. My wheels don't have an XD freehub but Sram should work just fine with regular cassettes/chains and chainrings as well. No definite need for flattop chains and 10tooth cog cassettes, I think.
Wheeltop seems interesting as well but I don't see the point when it's basically (almost) as expensive as Western brands.

[Fleckinger]

Wheeltop seems interesting as well but I don't see the point when it's basically (almost) as expensive as Western brands.

Considering weight, the Wheeltop EDS TX competes with the SRAM Force AXS level components. The Force upgrade kit typically costs between $1100 and $1300 USD, but you might find it for around $1000 USD during a sale. On the other hand, the Wheeltop can be found on AliExpress for $630 USD without any sales involved. And with this price difference, Wheeltop looks like an interesting option. But if the weight difference and lack of customization don't bother you, and you need good customer support, Sram Rival is a great choice.

[Sebastian]

But if the weight difference and lack of customization don't bother you, and you need good customer support, Sram Rival is a great choice.

Most of the weight savings usually lie in the cassette and cranks, which is why I usually go lightweight there and go budget with the rest.
While there don't seem to be huge issues with Wheeltop, I do not consider this a safe bet either. Comparing Aliexpress with reputable shops with reliable warranty service isn't fair either, IMO. If I went Aliexpress and Wheeltop, I could just as well buy 2nd hand Sram components and pay with PayPal insurance. That's more of a fair comparison, I think.
But for the time being, I'll just ride my er9 and see what happens

[rasch]

How much difference that weight actually makes honestly speaking? I fell it's a MegaPixels war in the bike industry.

Rim brakes are lighter xD

Anyway it's a discussion which will lead nowhere Up for each one to decide how weight can affect them

[raisinberry777]

You'll remember the pain of a failed electronic groupset long after you've forgotten the extra 100g that Shimano 105 Di2 / SRAM Rival AXS weighs.

[Fleckinger]

How much difference that weight actually makes honestly speaking? I fell it's a MegaPixels war in the bike industry.

Rim brakes are lighter xD

Anyway it's a discussion which will lead nowhere Up for each one to decide how weight can affect them

On a upgrade kit (derailleurs, shifters and brake calipers) scale weight almost doesn't make any difference for the average user. But weight is almost the only thing that differentiates groupsets. So i think it's correct to compare wheeltop to Force, rather than Rival.

[Serge_K]

I am actually not so sure that this groupset is that much cheaper... Looking into high level numbers:

Ltwoo FD, RD, Shifters, batteries etc = 450€
Shimano 105 di2 full groupset which includes Cassette etc = 1000€

If on Shimano we remove the VAT (175€) + crank (135€) cassette (50€), chain (20€), disc rotors (50€) how much cheaper is it actually?? difference is around 100€.


Is it really that worth it to lose warranty etc etc. This is the reason why I don't think a lot of work has to be done by them. Wheeltop needs to lower their and Megane and Sensah need to step in with the same idea.

For me I prefer my solid 105 7020 than any of these.

You can get the er9 for less. You can get a crankset for much less. At this price you're in Chinese carbon crankset territory, which is hundreds of grams lighter than Shimano. A 50 euro cassette is an ultra light which is dura ace level weight. You can get 2 rotors for 10 bucks, that's what I use, as approved by peak torque. AliExpress in Europe includes VAT. Also worth noting that it can be tough to get the exact spec you want from Shimano, across crank arms, chainrings and cassette sizes.