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Re: Best and worst overall quality/value components/tools/gear from AliExpress? Having used these Kactus disc rotors on my gravel bike on some steeper 15-25% downhill descents, I can now recommend them. Once the brake pad material bedded into the rotors, they have excellent bite. On my gravel bike I replaced a pair of Shimano MT800 disc rotors that always look like crap due to the light grey rotor material. Also having used both the Kactus and Onirii lightweight floating disc rotors, I prefer the Kactus rotors due to more braking surface which I think makes a difference in performance.

This store had the rotors for much cheaper, but have recently raised prices probably due to the current sale:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806205553049.html
March 22, 2024, 12:00:37 PM 		1
Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc! Goldix, Ztto and a few others have another style cassette similar to the Spedao/SRoad cassettes, but with sturdier rear spider, torx screws and thicker bracket. The Spedao cassettes have been known to crack by the riveted bracket after extended use. This one is also all-steel. I’m a bit hesitant going with some of these AliEx mixed alloy/steel cassette mainly because I do quite a bit of climbing and those alloy teeth tend to wear faster.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mLGq14W
March 25, 2024, 02:06:32 PM 		1
Re: Sp cycle
Quote from: gf on March 27, 2024, 06:51:40 AM
Some experiences with Spcycle official sotre recently? I'm considering to buy a gravel frame directly from website.
Some issues? delay? Everything ok?
Thanks

I had no issues buying from SPCycle. Though I would order from AliExpress, plus use a credit card for an extra layer of protection. This way you can bring up a dispute through AliEx and as a last resort do a charge back through your credit card provider. I would make sure they send you photos of the frame before shipping, video record your unboxing and double check the entire frame before assembling. I do this with all my bike frameset purchases. Also check if they have your frame already in-stock, it'll speed up the shipping process. My frame in-stock arrived in exactly 14 days to my doorstep in the USA. The frame itself was okay, the interior carbon wasn't as clean as either my TFSA built road bike or my Taiwan made carbon gravel frame. I needed to sand the disc fork hole to fit the brake cable. Plus I'm not a fan of PF BB86, but I used a threaded PF bottom bracket that's been creak free and spinning just fine.

I'm still riding my SPCycle road frame with no problems. Stiff ride, but fast.
March 27, 2024, 11:36:06 AM 		1
Re: WheelTop EDS TX Full Wireless Groupset (Chinese SRAM) In my large US city, I go on a few group rides and barely anyone builds their own bikes. I don't even think road cycling is growing in the US. Who wants to see a bunch of dentists doing a crit race around a business park? Also young people can't afford any of the mainstream bikes and/or associated gear. They have other things to worry about like cost of living! I was covering a fairly large road bike event a month ago and the majority of riders were in the older demographic with disposable income. Those people have better things to do instead of learning bike maintenance and will just pay an LBS to do the work.

I think LTwoo and Wheeltop will see more growth marketing in Asia. Road cycling appears to be growing there and it's probably why Shimano has been expanding factories especially in SE Asia.

https://www.agenzianova.com/en/news/Shimano-opens-a-factory-in-Singapore-to-increase-sales-in-South-East-Asia

The only potential growth I see in the US market is gravel. I could see LTwoo EGR doing well and they'd be smart to equip a few riders at events like UNBOUND gravel. If Wheeltop did a gravel groupset I think they could compete well against SRAM AXS XPLR.
March 28, 2024, 11:21:20 AM 		1
Re: LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets I received my AliEx sale ER9 groupset while I was out of town last week. It took exactly 7 days to arrive from China to Southern California. Anyways, I examined all the hardware and everything looks good. Now I have to decide which road bike I'm going to install it on? It might have been easier if I just bought a new frame with the groupset! I'll report back later this week once I get it installed.
April 01, 2024, 11:14:47 AM 		1
Re: LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets I receive lots of items with C2032 batteries. Maybe they accidentally packed a mineral oil container into your package? Anyways, I'd be annoyed that my package was returned. On the bright side, the blue edition ER9/X should be available on the next AliEx sale, so you can order the new & improved version instead!  ;)
April 01, 2024, 11:55:20 AM 		1
Re: LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets I was getting my ER9 groupset setup last night and I verified mine did not come with CR2032 batteries (bought from the LTwoo "Official" Choice Store). Though I had to do a quick Google search to find where the battery slot was on my shifters. I'm really impressed by the customizable options via the app. I got everything sync'ed up, so now I have to figure out which one of my road bikes will receive the conversion. Also I can see now see how water ingress can be an issue, I'm debating which sealing method would work best for me. I was thinking of just using rubber cement around the plug, because I don't see myself detaching the RD once installed.
April 02, 2024, 09:19:09 AM 		3
Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc! Looks like there's now a Chinese version of Shimano premium grease. For 2 tubes, it's cheaper than 1 Shimano tube. Locally I paid $20 USD for the Shimano stuff. Reviews seem positive, might be worth checking out:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805757540625.html
April 02, 2024, 01:16:14 PM 		2
Re: LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets
Quote from: zerstorer on April 03, 2024, 09:18:38 PM
Just coat it outside the lip should be fine. What's important is that you ensure the cable is firmly plugged in. Personally I would prefer hot glue or liquid tape since that ensures a waterproof seal and yet is easily torn off when needed.

Chain catcher shouldn't be needed. Do note the FD limits are all adjusted in app.

I finished my bike rebuild last night and I opted to use rubber cement around the cable ports and then applied dielectric grease once it dried. I figure a glob of rubber cement should provide adequate adhesion that's easy to remove and the dielectric grease over that for moisture protection. So after installing the chain catcher, I was able to adequately tune the FD. I was too lazy to remove it though.

First impressions. Everything shifts excellent once setup. Though it was an all-day affair tuning the bike. I'm not sure it was any easier over setting up a cable mechanical bike. The software tuning app is amazing. I've never owned SRAM AXS or DI2, but gear protection and one touch shifting are awesome. I used a quality pair of batteries and battery life seems to be good so far.

On the not so bright side. I'm not fond of the puny RD springs LTwoo and Sensah tend to use. They work, but it's more confidence inspiring how Shimano uses an over engineered spring coil. Also my RD cage looks like it can only accommodate the same size jockey wheels provided. There's no wiggle room to tweak the size. Weight-wise, the ER9 isn't exactly less weight compared to mechanical Ultegra. I either broke even or maybe added a few grams to my bike.
April 04, 2024, 01:32:19 PM 		7
Re: LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets Yesterday I took the ER9 groupset on it's first ride doing a quick 40km and 600m of climbing. I took it up and down one of the worst road climbs in our city with lots of pot holes, dirt and loose rocks. My aim was to see if I could drop the chain while constantly shifting the ER9 using the whole gear range. The ride included flats, climbing and fast downhill descents. The ER9 worked amazingly well! Shifting was smooth, my cables stayed in-place, I never dropped the chain especially on the fast bumpy downhill and I was totally satisfied with the performance.

There were only a few issues I had when riding. I seemed to accidentally hit the left shift button inadvertently switching to the small chainring while descending in the drops. Also I didn't like that both left FD buttons functioned the same. I'd prefer to have one button dedicated to the small chainring and the other to the big chainring. Without auto trim, it's hard to hear if the chain is rubbing on the FD or not especially when listening to music. The LTwoo grips are a bit too narrow for my taste, I tend to prefer beefier grips. The LTwoo hydro brake calipers work fine, but they're definitely heavy, I might swap them out later on for some lightweight calipers.

Also I think 12 speed is worth switching over to if you plan on buying this groupset. I'm not sure if the smoothness of my ride was attributed to electronic shifting, the wider range cassette, a freshly waxed chain or all of the above? Either way I liked I was able to keep a similar cog range as my 11 speed 11-32t and get the added benefit of the 34t in the low gear.

In regards to gearing I think 50-34t is as big as you can go with an 11-34t cassette with the ER9 without compromising shift performance. It can shift 52-36t + 11-34t, but without a clutch or some sort of cage stiffness adjustment, it feels a bit sloppy. Regarding battery life with lots of shifting due to up and down terrain, I was at 84% from full charge after the ride. I think it'll be a good idea to buy an additional charging cable as backup and maybe bring a power bank if planning a century or more. Also I'm not sure how long the CR2032 batteries will last in the shifters? I think I'll have to pack a few batteries in my saddle bag and dedicated screwdriver moving forward.

Overall my first impressions of the ER9 is very positive. With tax and shipping the whole thing cost me $350 USD for the groupset and it seems the early production kinks have been ironed out (crossing fingers). Also the money saved going with the ER9 can be applied cutting weight elsewhere like a lightweight cassette (which I opted for) or lightweight brake calipers. I still think it's a good idea to have a firm grasp of tuning a mechanical groupset. I don't think I'd jump straight into electronic without knowing how to tune a mechanical bike.
April 05, 2024, 11:09:14 AM 		4