LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets

[mrpercussive]

Did you check the plug connections on the FD and RD to make sure there’s no water residue in there? That could cause some sort of short circuit.

Yup! Dry... so hopefully it gets warrantied somehow or it fixes itself somehow... Pretty bummed. Really wanted this to work and it has been for almost a year and then this...

[jonathanf2]

Yup! Dry... so hopefully it gets warrantied somehow or it fixes itself somehow... Pretty bummed. Really wanted this to work and it has been for almost a year and then this...

Did you do any preventative measure with the cables like dielectric grease or heat shrink plastic? I've yet to ride any of my ER9 bikes in wet weather and I don't plan to! 

[mrpercussive]

Did you do any preventative measure with the cables like dielectric grease or heat shrink plastic? I've yet to ride any of my ER9 bikes in wet weather and I don't plan to! 

no i didnt... just installed and rode it. I don't plan to ride in rain either and when it's shit weather i'm normally just stay indoors or grab my gravel bike as i hate cleaning bikes. Coming from California, it's been pretty easy to figure out but now that i'm in Virginia, it rains all the time and sometimes from out of nowhere like what happened to me and it sucks... so yea hopefully it gets figured out soon

[jonathanf2]

no i didnt... just installed and rode it. I don't plan to ride in rain either and when it's shit weather i'm normally just stay indoors or grab my gravel bike as i hate cleaning bikes. Coming from California, it's been pretty easy to figure out but now that i'm in Virginia, it rains all the time and sometimes from out of nowhere like what happened to me and it sucks... so yea hopefully it gets figured out soon

If there is an issue, I'm sure it's RD related. I would thoroughly dry the RD with a blow dryer or something and clean both the battery and charging ports. Maybe even let it sit for a few days.

If nothing works, hopefully the 80 Design store sends you a replacement RD. Since I bought one of my ER9's from them, I'd be curious how they handle customer service! I'm in SoCal and that was one of the reasons I took a chance with the groupset since I know most my weather will be dry. So far it's been flawless, but I still wouldn't chance it in the rain.

[Phaxe]

If there is an issue, I'm sure it's RD related. I would thoroughly dry the RD with a blow dryer or something and clean both the battery and charging ports. Maybe even let it sit for a few days.

If nothing works, hopefully the 80 Design store sends you a replacement RD. Since I bought one of my ER9's from them, I'd be curious how they handle customer service! I'm in SoCal and that was one of the reasons I took a chance with the groupset since I know most my weather will be dry. So far it's been flawless, but I still wouldn't chance it in the rain.

I ended up using liquid electrical tape around the connector as a preventative measure. When I was on my road bike today, which has ultegra di2, I realised that I've done 45,000km on it without a single hiccup. I guess that's why you'd spend the extra money it.

[jonathanf2]

Not really an ER9/X issue, but the other day when doing a climb segment, I heard a loud pop and realized 3 of 4 rivets on my front derailleur hanger had popped off. It happened when I was shifting from the big to small chainring. It's the same issue that occurred with Trace Velo's Trifox X18 frameset. My TFSA frameset is using the same FD hanger with 4 rivets. My guess is that the extra weight/torque of the ER9 FD + chain catcher I'm using eventually wore out the rivets. Luckily I was able to ride back home. So I cleaned up the frame, added an adhesive back to the hanger and re-riveted it back in place. The new rivets are stainless steel and I opted not to epoxy the hanger onto the frame. From a few YT videos I saw, even epoxied FD hangers can break, tearing off part of the carbon.

Anyways, it's probably something to keep an eye on, especially if you're using an older frameset.

[erallen30]

This groupset is more expensive than Shimano 105 di2. Have no idea why anyone would buy it.

[Sebastian]

This groupset is more expensive than Shimano 105 di2. Have no idea why anyone would buy it.

Not sure about pricing now. But er9 wasn't even remotely close to 105 Di2 when I bought it. I got the upgrade kit for 460EUR incl shipping and customs/taxes. Even if I had bought 105 Di2 with some used parts, I would have landed at +700EUR. That's why I gave it a chance.
With ERX it's a different story. I don't think the bits of cosmetic carbon fiber and miniscule weight difference justify the up in price.

[jonathanf2]

For all the issues I've had with the ER9 which I've documented on this thread, I've been able to resolve all of them. I would still buy the groupset based on price and features. I'm running 2 bikes with the ER9 and riding both of them several times a week. I paid less than $400 USD for each groupset. So far they're performing quite well.

[Serge_K]

This groupset is more expensive than Shimano 105 di2. Have no idea why anyone would buy it.

i bought an erX 2 days ago, new, for 210 eur. from a dude on a french ebay-like website who thought he had bought a tablet because the box looked all fancy.
Given the rate at which the RDs have been dying on me, i figured it would get used

[Sebastian]

i bought an erX 2 days ago, new, for 210 eur. from a dude on a french ebay-like website who thought he had bought a tablet because the box looked all fancy.
Given the rate at which the RDs have been dying on me, i figured it would get used

I admire your undying enthusiasm for this groupset
If I was in your shoes, I'd probably have tried to cram together a used Di2 groupset already.

[Serge_K]

I admire your undying enthusiasm for this groupset
If I was in your shoes, I'd probably have tried to cram together a used Di2 groupset already.

I know
I'm a contrarian, i do contrarian things. Others would say i just like to fuck myself
My current view on ltwoo electronic is: when it's not broken, it's pretty great for the riding i do. I like that a new RD is c.150 eur. The only thing that's not been reliable & not good with all the bikes i've launched in the wild is the RD. So, i keep running the experiment.
Now, i wouldnt use this in the rain. to commute. on really bad roads. on a gravel bike. to race. if i can't fix my bike myself. if i want something reliable. if i want to make my life easier. And so on.
I'm about to build bikes for friends who live far away from me: i'm telling them to buy shimano

[erallen30]

Not sure about pricing now. But er9 wasn't even remotely close to 105 Di2 when I bought it. I got the upgrade kit for 460EUR incl shipping and customs/taxes. Even if I had bought 105 Di2 with some used parts, I would have landed at +700EUR. That's why I gave it a chance.
With ERX it's a different story. I don't think the bits of cosmetic carbon fiber and miniscule weight difference justify the up in price.

Once you consider full groupset pricing the 105 di2 is cheaper.

[Sebastian]

Once you consider full groupset pricing the 105 di2 is cheaper.

Not where I live. Dunno about your domestic market. But a full 105 Di2 groupset is basically 1000EUR in Germany. er9, a ZTTO lightweight cassette, chain and crankset is somewhere between 6-700. Also, most of us probably have some stuff in the parts bin. I reused a Sram crankset I still had and used er9 with my existing 11sp components before upgrading to 12sp. Why would I buy a groupset with cranks and a cassette that I don’t want?

[SirBikealot]

Once you consider full groupset pricing the 105 di2 is cheaper.

not even close. Got my er9 with super lightweight 11spd casette, Ultegra chain, chainrings AND Magene 505 base powermeter for 725€ including postage, import taxes etc.
105 di2 WITHOUT powermeter is at 1090€ right now.