See likes

See likes given/taken


Your posts liked by others

Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 ... 7
Post info No. of Likes
Re: LTWOO RX hydro sets Update after tearing the RD apart and doing some milling

The BIG source of weight penalty in these 11S R9 RDs is the derailleur hanger screw, or "B-axle". It looks like a functional knockoff/copy of the shimano ultegra-6700-series B-axle. Anyways as I mentioned earlier, it's solid steel. Stock weight is 20 grams for the screw alone. Im sure the aluminum screw specced on the RX is half the weight.

I was able to drill out out about 5 grams alone from the B-axle by driving an m4.5 drillbit down the centerline.

I also dremeled/filed out that chunky hanger knuckle and put an m8 hole in the faceplate of the parallelogram. It only yielded about 5 grams. While it's satisfying to see it all milled out, I gotta say it was not worth the time, effort, or worry involved in doing something that extreme.

All in all I got the RD weight down from 229 to 220g, for $0.

If you really want to effectively tune these R9 derailleurs to match the RX, I'd say replacing the b-axle with with an aluminum shimano replacement, and cable screw with alu or titanium would get you 10 grams. I think that's going to run you about $20-30USD

At that point, I think you might as well go to the Shimano 11-speed ultegra r8000 rear derailleur, which has been confirmed as compatible with LTWOO shifters in the component news thread, weighs a nice ~198g and can be found for ~$90USD.

I've done the numbers on weight and cost of what I call "super-weenie R9": LTWOO R9 hydro brifters and FD, Ultegra RD, and ONIRII XR calipers. Estimated weight coming in at 1125 grams and $553 (after shipping) if you buy the R9 gruppo from the LTWOO official store and add on an ultegra RD and XR calipers. This is in fact lighter than Ultegra R8020's quoted weight of 1132 grams for the same parts. LTWOO brifters are about the same weight as ultegra, so all of that weight savings is coming from the XR calipers.

For comparison, an ultegra disc kit with chain, crank, brifters, derailleurs, and cassette are about $800-1000USD online. To match that for "Super-weenie R9", throw in a $100 S-ROAD cassette, $178 racework crankset, $55 YBN chain and you're at $886. So "super-weenie R9" is not exactly saving you money. It *does* make sense if you have specific needs. For example I want a crank-based power meter with 167.5mm arms, and all of these cheap ultegra groupsets come with non-meter cranks and 172.6mm arms. So if you factor the cost of having to shelve and replace the crank, then starting with a crankless LTWOO kit starts to make more sense. Similarly, the Ultegra cassette is about 30-40g heavier than an S-ROAD cassette.


Update: just wanted to make a note of something I found disappointing about the R9s: the plastic shift levers are rivted on. There is no replacing them. If you have a bad hard shift and break them, you have to replace the whole lever. Talk about garbage design.
February 28, 2023, 09:54:00 AM 		4
Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc! I recently ordered a Magene QED P325 power meter, which seems to be their answer to the stiffness, inaccuracy, and shifting problems in the P325-CS (https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804699484005.html)

I just took delivery today and made a quick unboxing video:

Hope you enjoy it!

Only thing I am waiting on now for the build is my Seka Exceed frameset, which apparently is in the country and just needs to make its way to me! Hopefully I can do a proper review on these cranks soon!
March 06, 2023, 10:07:58 PM 		4
Re: Spider mounted power meter advice
Quote from: ChrisB on March 12, 2023, 07:57:42 AM

Even cheaper here when getting with Zrace crankset  :o
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004025125658.html


That's the P325 crankarm mounted power meter, not the P505 spider meter.

I just picked up a Magene QED P325 crankset, even though it's almost double the price. Personally I much prefer its construction to the Z-RACE.
March 12, 2023, 07:08:41 PM 		1
Re: Onirii hydraulic flat mount brakes
Quote from: kbike on March 23, 2023, 08:11:44 AM
I bought this calipers this week. If they look good I'll swap out my ltwoo brakes. 

Nothing performance wrong with the ltwoo. I just don't like how much they weight and look. Everyone weighs the ltwoo without brackets which is wrong. With flat mount calipers you can mount without brackets but ltwoo you must use brackets.

Actually just did the same. I noticed the price on the set from ZRACE dropped to $45 for the anniversary sale. Weight of the calipers alone is supposedly 100g lighter compared to LTWOO. I suspect the ZRACE mounting hardware is also lighter. Fingers crossed!
March 23, 2023, 02:01:14 PM 		1
Re: Groupset News
Quote from: carbonazza on March 22, 2023, 07:04:42 AM
I've seen an MBR video where they show how they did hit the frame/derailleur many times.And talk about a race Nino Shurter crashed on that side, but was able to continue the race without the need to straighten the hanger.

PeakTorque recently put out an analysis on it. Personally I am with him. Just because it's strong doesn't mean it should be. A hanger is ~$30. A carbon dropout will cost you the whole frame. And I also agree with his point that it further challenges manufacturing tolerances at the dropout, which we've seen time and time again is not something manufacturers do well.
March 23, 2023, 02:07:21 PM 		1
Re: LTWOO RX hydro sets
Quote from: BalticSea on April 06, 2023, 03:40:40 AM
Do their rim brake shifters still have plastic arms + internals as seen in Trace Velo video? How is the shifting? Debating between Sensah Team Pro and Ltwoo R9 shifters

Yes, the shift lever arms on the R9 are plastic. To boot, they are riveted in, making them irreplaceable. In terms of weight, this doesn't actually change anything, and I actually think the shift smoothness/crispness is decent, despite me running full-internal routing on the shift cables.

I'm not sure what you mean with the internals being plastic--AFAIK all the mechanical shifting bits are stamped steel, and the brake hydraulic housing (edit: I meant hydraulic piston assembly) is machined metal. Really, you get what you pay for, and with the LTWOO stuff you definitely are trading quality in for weight.

I think it's important to do the cost analysis--put all the parts, weights, and their costs in a spreadsheet, and compare. At the time I bought my stuff, ultegra groupsets were scarce, and I couldn't find them as a set without the cranks, which was important to me since I needed a crank-based power meter. When I ran the math, the R9 groupset was going to be less than half the price of going to Ultegra R8000 hydraulic for comparable weight. This math can change even more dramatically if you compare bundle deals, You can get a full Ultegra build kit for ~$1000USD, which is about exactly what I spent on my R9 groupset + power meter crank + ybn chain + sroad cassette + onirii rotors + bottom bracket.

In the short months since, it seems market pressures have eased dramatically and you can now easily find parted-out ultegra groupsets on AE for pretty cheap. For example, you can easily find R8020 brifters+calipers for $500 and a derailleur set for $120USD. At that point, the LTWOO R9 Carbon+ZRACE brifter set is only saving you ~$200, and I really do believe that Ultegra is bringing $200 worth of added value in terms of quality.

So in summary, I really think the LTWOO R9 set should be reserved for aggressively minimizing costs, and it will do that job well. If you can afford the extra $200 though, I would spring for the Ultegra set
April 06, 2023, 09:14:56 AM 		4
Re: LTWOO RX hydro sets
Quote from: jonathanf2 on April 11, 2023, 05:59:38 PM
I'll think about it. Part of me is just lazy to bleed the brakes, hence why I haven't done the install yet!  ;D

So this might sound like a bodge, but I actually have gotten away with bleeding using just the cone at the top. None of this syringe bleeding business that is demonstrated in the videos. I have gotten effective bleeds just by hooking everything up, putting a bleed cone at the top with oil, and squeezing the brakes a few times until the bubbles stop coming out. It takes a couple of sessions to get to 100% bled, but you get completely usable brakes after the first session, and then the few bubbles trapped in the caliper come up after a couple of shakedown rides. SUPER easy.
April 11, 2023, 10:10:31 PM 		2
Re: Onirii hydraulic flat mount brakes Reporting back after my first ride with the ZRACE XG calipers hooked up to LTWOO RX. Did a bunch of hill intervals, about 200ft/60m elevation on each, with decently steep terrain--so you could say it's a fair test.

Nothing too interesting re: power and modulation. It's about the same as the OEM LTWOO RX brakes. Brakes generate a TON of dust though, compared to the RX. My only point of reference are Shimano XT and Sram Rival hydro brakes (the original iteration)--I would say this setup definitely has better power and modulation compared to those old Sram brakes, and approaches that of the XT brakes.

Didn't detect any brake fade. That being said, I've never experienced brake fade, I think you really need to descend a serious mountain to experience that.

These brakes are light and look sharp, but I have to say, I am disappointed by how wide they are. They are a full 5mm wider than the LTWOO RX. If you care about marginal gains, these are definitely less aero than the LTWOO calipers, and I think that's nothing to scoff at. Most brakes will hide nicely behind the fork legs, but on the XG calipers, the cylinder port stands proud of the fork's silhouette. Having an extra 5x10mm square section in the wind near the leading edges probably costs a watt or so.

Now, the weight is really the big win here. Sub 100g calipers with pads is a big deal. Haven't done a final weigh-in on the bike to see what the improvement is, but I will report back once I do.
April 11, 2023, 10:28:33 PM 		4
Re: LTWOO RX hydro sets
Quote from: jonathanf2 on May 08, 2023, 12:14:05 PM
I'm planning to give my LTwoo R9 hydro shifters another try, especially since I received a pair of ZRace XG brake calipers that are surprisingly small/light.

Make sure to set the olive as close to the barb as possible on these. They have a design flaw where the hose blocks one of outboard oil port if the hose is sticking out at all.
May 09, 2023, 07:35:22 AM 		1
Magene QED P325 Crankset Hi all,

I ordered a Magene QED P325 power meter a few months ago and wanted to share some disappointing news. I've always noticed the chainring had a bit of runout, but didn't think much of it. It wasn't until I put an Ultegra derailleur on that the problem became really noticeable, and it's pretty much impossible to set the front derailleur now. I've tried making a warranty claim, complete with a video of the runout, but the Magene email support punts me to the dealer support, and the Magene official store on aliexpress claims this amount of runout is normal, and refuses to send a replacement.

I've uploaded a video to youtube ( ) titled: Magene QED P325 chainring runout, which clearly demonstrates the problem, and I use the video to estimate that the magnitude of the chainring runout is 0.9mm. Clearly unacceptable.

Even more frightening, the Magene website page on warranty says: If products purchased from other official Magene channels (for example, AliExpress, Amazon, etc.), the warranty policy of that channel shall prevail.

From this, I get the sense that Magene is basically putting me at the mercy of their Aliexpress dealer for all warranty claims. 

I think it's really disheartening to see Magene let customers down like this at the warranty step. Magene postures as a premium brand, with premium prices for the China-components market. I paid $500 for this crankset. You would expect at least a modicum of warranty service. All this warranty claim would take is sending a replacement chainring, which I've seen on AliEx for $75. Why they refuse is beyond me.

If you are thinking about buying from Magene, I seriously would reconsider and think about the warranty service you've seen people receive.

There are many alternatives to Magene power meters and cranks. There is Sigeyi. There is XCADEY. An XCADEY power meter and crank is a similar claimed weight as the QED and costs about $100 less.
May 22, 2023, 12:27:34 PM 		1