Sadly, Shimano's cranks aren't bullet proof either

Two things you would never see me order from ali... carbon cranks and carbon cockpits. WAY too many horror stories for such little benefits..

• The brake bleeding process is exactly as depicted in the official bleed guide video on youtube. I used the same EZmtb brake bleed kit that Trace Velo used, which has the adapter needed to screw into the caliper. The brake lines and brifter bodies came filled with light blue oil, which I flushed out and replaced with shimano mineral oil. Really easy bleed, no more difficult than any of the shimano brakes I've done. I did unscrew the free throw adjustment screw before bleeding; after the bleed was done the brakes were firm but needed to be pulled back quite far to make contact with the rotor, and screwing in the free throw screw about 3 turns reduced the throw a lot while not negatively affecting rotor/pad clearance as far as I could tell (no rubbing).
• I used a housing ferrule with a plastic sheath to protect from the sharp edge on the cable exit of the rear derailleur as depicted in tsneidin's post previously. The shift indexing is VERY sensitive to cable tension; a quarter turn of the barrel adjuster yields very noticeable differences in shift performance.
• The b adjustment screw on the rear derailleur is almost useless. I'm using a 46 tooth cassette and have the b screw backed out almost all the way.
• The clutch isn't as strong as the ones on Deore or GRX rear derailleurs, but still seems adequate for a 1x setup. It's certainly stronger than the first gen Sensah SRX clutch which dropped my chain quite a few times.

• The brifters are quite petite. I have average sized hands and if the brifters were any smaller I wouldn't be able to get my entire palm on the top of the hoods. The shape is quite nice though, and there's support in the brifter body everywhere there's contact with the hand or fingers; overall quite comfortable.
• The braking is excellent, easily on par with the 105 disc brakes on my other bikes. I haven't experienced any rattling from the brake piston retaining clip either.
• The force required to downshift is greater than upshifting, and I often have to use 2 fingers to comfortably downshift. The downshift lever/paddle has a moderately thin section near its top and I'll be keeping an eye on that section for any signs of fatigue.
• The ability to dump 3 gears up + 4 gears down is amazing, I use it quite a lot when slowing down/speeding up or cresting a hill. Probably my favorite feature to be honest. It is hard to dump all 4 gears with the thumb shifter from the top of the hoods, much easier to do in the drops, but I can get 3 gears reliably which is enough for me.
• I'm temporarily using flared bars (~16 degrees of flare) until the actual bars I ordered arrive. The brifters are ok at an angle but I think they'll be more comfortable in a level, non-flared position. Something to think about when choosing bars, as this is nominally a gravel groupset and all gravel bikes seem to come with flared bars these days...
• The compression nuts on the brake calipers seem to be anodized so I don't think they'll be susceptible to the corrosion problems that Trace Velo had. I do live in a much drier environment, but I plan on riding this bike quite a bit in the winter so it is a concern.

Depends on the crankset. The Racework carbon crankset is about 377g and the Goldix/Zeroing crankset w/hollowed out crank arms is about 475-480g. In order to match those weights, you have to go Dura Ace of SRAM Red at a significantly higher cost.

Will those shift buttons also appear on the ERX?

I remember awhile back you posted a website detailing LTwoo's financial investments. Unfortunately that site has a regional lockout now, but I found it interesting one of LTwoo's investors were US based.

Just spotted Sensah Empire HRD 11 speed for sale on Aliexpress. Price is $249 for shifters, disc brake calipers, and derailleurs. Looks promising!

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805841249421.html

Are you able to know how this feeling is influenced by the differents components vs your 936, especially the wheels which are probably much more faster?
Can you spot the difference in the suspension behaviour between 909 and 936?

I’m thinking of retiring my 936. I have 1500 miles on it. The drive side chainstay is failing (due to a lame attempt to ride through a cinder block garden) and the drivetrain is 11sp (same cassette for all 1500miles, one chain swap).

Here’s what I’m thinking so that I don’t trigger the wife alarm:
1. new frame that is T Type compatible
2. New T Type drivetrain
3. Swap wheels, suspension, brakes (sus just got the 200hr service 500 miles ago)
4. Ride like a stole it

Anyone else retire their 936? What did you do?