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Re: WheelTop EDS TX Full Wireless Groupset (Chinese SRAM) Just my initial thoughts on the EDS RA6000 (carbon rim brake) groupset.  Up front, it’s working well for my intended purposes and after 6 days of continuous riding I am quite happy with the product for the price.  Time will tell how good of a groupset it actually is.

For a good overview of the groupset, I found Ribble Valley Cyclist’s review to be helpful:

I received my group a week early, which was a surprise.  No damage to the packaging.  Everything appeared to be in order.  Not a lot of instructions or extra parts.  It’s basically a mini grouppo, bring your own crankset, chain and cassette.  I pre downloaded the app.  For the first two days, I fumbled my way through the app, set up and tuning.  Translations to English are not the best but if you are familiar with working on bikes most of it should be self explanatory. 

I set the group up on a 14yro near mint Tarmac Elite frame that I’m using on my turbo during the winter months.  The rest of the year its my “training, travel, take to work bike”.  Despite it’s age the bike performs really well.  I had brand new 105 R7000 before I put the EDS on.  Running 50-34 compact cranks and 11-32 cassette.

Set up using the “Initial Calibration” feature on the app is really simple.  Mount everything, add the chain, set the RD on the smallest sprocket and move it slightly inboard till it rubs the next gear.  Back it off and set the limit screw.  Function test by moving through the gears and set the high limit screw.  All done. 

I got some chatter in some of the middle gears.  Took me a while to figure out the “fine tuning” feature but once I got it sorted, fine tuning has actually gotten pretty easy.  I recommend moving up or down in increments of +/-50.  You’ll know really quickly if its going in the right direction.

Performance wise, I am comparing this group to SRAM AXS Force (previous gen), Ultegra Di2 11spd, and Dura-Ace Di2 11spd.  I have thousands of miles on all three of those groups and have my opinions on all of them.  My opinion is that Di2 has always “worked”.  I’ve never had an issue with Ultegra or DA. Tuning, cassette, chainring swaps, all easy.  Battery life, never an issue.  SRAM,  worked great, hoods were a bit big, it was noisy and it took me a year to figure out how to prevent the dreaded FD overshift… but it was still a solid group.

EDS in comparison to these groups “feels” to me ever so slightly slower in shifting. Not like in a detrimental way, it’s just what I perceive to feel.  I am only using it in “Casual mode”.  I tested “Race mode” in the stand and it shifted much faster but it would skip 2-3 gears.  Also, Race mode is supposed to drain the battery quicker.  In Race mode it didn’t seem like the FD shifted any quicker. 

Over the last 6 days I’ve ridden between 20-30 miles each day.  No missed shifts, no chatter (after fine tuning) or hang ups. Riding hilly undulating routes with constant shifting. It was surprisingly good with zero issues.  Felt better than my SRAM Force if I can be honest.  The paddles for shifting are decent but don’t provide positive “click” like Shimano or SRAM when making gear changes.  Set up of the FD was easier than the RD and far easier than SRAM’s FD.  I set it one time, fine tuned it and have had no chain drops.  The FD is slow but it works with no drama.

Hoods in my opinion are ugly but functional.  They “work” but lack any real thought or ergo design behind them.  On the other hand, they are bigger than Shimano’s hoods and smaller than SRAM’s.  The rubber is pretty good too.

I did not take any weight measurements, however when I unboxed the group, each component felt heavier than I expected.  On the bike, it didn’t affect the overall bike weight by a large margin.  Both batteries came with about an 80% charge.  I charged them to 100% before started my tests.  After one week the RD is at 70% and the FD is at 75%.  I plan to ride until I hit 20% before recharging.

Couple of concerns and annoyances.  Spare parts, battery replacements, hoods are not available.  Every time you want to connect to check battery life or make changes to the group, you have to wake the system with the charging cable plugged into a power source.  There is no external wake feature.

I plan on putting the miles only this group over the summer.  As issues arise or anything happens of concern I’ll update this thread.  In the meantime, I think if it continues to work as is I will try it out with a 12spd set up in the fall.
May 04, 2024, 02:40:21 PM 		1
Re: WheelTop EDS TX Full Wireless Groupset (Chinese SRAM) Gravel groupset to be anounced "soon"
source https://youtu.be/alWjt9AqT0Q?si=apztFRmVhx_yEia0&t=1365
May 08, 2024, 03:35:46 AM 		1
VeloBuild VB-R-066 Disc 2023 Road Bike Build I recently completed a new build based on the VeloBuild VB-R-066 2023 Disc endurance(ish) road bike frame and the L-TWOO eR9 electronic groupset.

I've only ridden it for 30km, and so far, so good, but this is no long term ride review, instead I'll focus on the build. In short, it met my expectations.

Let's start with the summary: Total weight of the built bike, including pedals, bottle cages, out-front mount for computer/light, seatpost mount for light/radar, and bike pump mount: 7.85 kg, or 17.3 lbs. Total cost for all components, including shipping, sales tax, etc was AUD 3347, which based on today's exchange rate is USD 2225 or EUR 2055.

The frame is size S in a matte black finish. I'm sure I'll regret choosing a matte finish, but for now it looks great. The frame weighed 885 g, with all bolts and attachments removed. The uncut fork was 359 g, and the seatpost was 203 g (400 mm). I didn't order a handlebar from VeloBuild.

The frame also came with thru axles, rear derailleur hanger, front derailleur mount (bolted on, not riveted), cable exit rubber gaskets for both electronic and mechanical shifting, expander plug, top cap, headset bearings, seatpost bung and cover, crank scuff plate, and a headset cover for using a non-integrated stem and handlebar. The headset ring and cover wasn't deep enough to reach the top bearing, which perhaps could be fixed with some headset spacers, but I used a Ritchey upper headset instead. The extra rear derailleur hanger I had ordered didn't come in the box, so I contacted Chris, and I got it in the mail a few weeks later.

Frame and fork quality was ok - fine - about what I expected from VeloBuild after following this forum for some time. The frame had some sharp edges around the headtube and bottom bracket shell, but otherwise it was quite smooth. I noticed some pitting inside the fork steerer and in the lower bearing seat in the headtube, but that was all the pitting I could see.

There was some paint overspray on both the brake caliper mounting holes, in particular on the fork - not a surprise. I faced these myself using an IceToolz "Shuriken" Disc Mount Facing Tool #E272 (https://www.icetoolz.eu/en/icetoolz-disc-mount-facing-tool-shuriken-e272/a9232) that I had ordered in advance. I didn't have a bolt with a nut that was long and thin enough for clamping the tool so I could face the rear caliper mounts, but I was able to solve it by using one of the long caliper mounting bolts and the L-TWOO adapter plate (see photo). I think the facing helped - aligning the calipers at the end to avoid brake rub was very straightforward.

The lower entry point for the hydraulic brake hose on the fork required a little filing with a round file before I could push the hose through. Again, not a surprise, but a quick fix.

I've never built a fully internally routed frame before, so I spent quite a bit of time pulling and pushing foam damper casing as far as I could into the downtube and chainstays. I even pulled the electronic power cables for the derailleurs through the foam damper casing in the chainstay and around the bottom bracket area. Enabling mechanics to use old gear cables to pull the hydraulic hoses through the frame and the foam damper casing is a great feature of the L-TWOO groupset.

For the T47 bottom bracket, I installed a cheap Lingmai branded one from AliExpress with internal bearings for a 24mm crank spindle ("t47-24i"). I also ordered a ZTTO branded one as a backup, it was identical in both looks and weight (except the logo), so they're probably from the same factory. It threaded into the shell without any issue.

I had an unused Elita One Carbon seatpost lying around, so I used that instead of the one supplied by VeloBuild. Both had a very snug fit in the seat tube, and I have had no slippage so far, using only carbon paste and torquing the bolt to 4 Nm.

Installing the L-TWOO eR9 groupset went well, by following their user manual (https://oss.ltwoo.com/download/en/eRX_User-Manual_V2.6_EN.pdf), with a couple of exceptions - see below.

The user manual refers to a "stability adjustment screw" at the back of the front derailleur, but my eR9 version didn't have this. Related to the front derailleur, I added a chain catcher for peace of mind, but so far I haven't had a dropped chain. I'm running the groupset as 2x11, with 50/34T chainrings and a 11-32T cassette.

For chain sizing, I followed the Park Tool instructions (https://www.parktool.com/en-int/blog/repair-help/chain-length-sizing), which resulted in a slightly shorter chain than by following L-TWOO's method. I figured since there's no clutch, and the rear derailleur cage spring is weak according to some reports, it was better to make the chain shorter rather than longer, for improved tension.

To reach the mounting bolt for the shifters, I folded both the front and the rear of the hoods, and inserted the ball-end of an Allen key from the front. Make sure you have a high quality Allen key for this!

For bleeding the brakes, I followed the method in the manual of pushing mineral oil from the caliper to a funnel on the levers. I didn't do the extra step of opening the vent hole. However, after the first shake-down ride on a bumpy road, I did another quick lever bleed (funnel on the lever, brake pads left in the calipers, pump the levers). I got some more air bubbles out then, and I now have great brake feel from the levers.

Components:
Tools purchased for this build:
May 22, 2024, 08:12:25 AM 		1
Re: Build Log - Carbonda hard tail for daughter's birthday. Well, the build is complete!

It was very straight forward for my first full bike build.

There are a couple of things that I will need to change: the 1 x 12 groupset came with a 30t front ring, which just is not big enough for the wide range 12 speed. We don't live in a hilly area, so the bigger rear cogs aren't getting used at all. I will change it to a 34t - unless anyone has any suggestions?

The brakes are big and bulky - they look lovely, but the rear caliper only JUST fits, pressing up against the frame. I might get a mixed set of brakes - 2 pot on the back, 4 pot on the front like the magura trail sport, OR a custom order from Lewis bike.

The current weight is, and I will remind you this was not a weight weenie build, comes in at 9.86kg (the aim was to be lighter than her old, smaller 27.5" wheeled bike that was just over 12kg)

I will reply when I get some more time with the final costs (spoiler: it was significant, but still half that of a similar build from a boutique brand)
June 03, 2024, 04:01:22 AM 		1