LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets

[jonathanf2]

Double check your app if there's a new FW for your RD. The ER9 RD version that was being problematic for me, recently updated to version 1.4. My other ER9 which isn't having issues is on version 1.1. I'm testing to see if the ER9 RD with FW ver 1.4 will have less problems, before I install the replacement RD that's shipping to me.

I'm wondering if LTwoo is issuing separate firmware versions on units with different internal hardware?

My ER9 groupset FW:
SPCyle ER9 - RD ver. 1.4 / FD ver. 0.0
TFSA ER9 - RD ver 1.1 / FD ver. 1.12

[Sebastian]

I check for updates every time I connect the groupset with the app. I received two updates in short succession after I set the groupset up. Nothing since then.
My RD is on FW version 0.1.1, my FD on version 1.12

I replaced the batteries. But my hopes are very slim. The strange behaviour continues. Contrary to earlier, the app reports 100% charge after just about one hour. The green light stops flashing and is on continuously. It did that with the old batteries too. When it was still working normal, charging usually took at least a few hours before it was full. And now, after just a few minutes the charge dropped to 96%. I’ll leave it over night and see what happens. But something seems off with the circuit. Charging doesn’t work properly and it drains the battery even when the groupset is asleep, apparently. It started doing that from one day to the next. I didn’t do a particularly wet ride before that.
Luckily, the new batteries have a built in protection circuit that prevents shortages, zero discharge or overcharging.
I’ll see what happens but I think the RD is fishy.

[Serge_K]

If you want to eliminate variables, you can get a lithium charger and place the batteries in the bike when you KNOW they're charged. Then see what the app says, and if they drain for no reason or not. A charger can also do a capacity test, which is helpful.
I've done that several times because my own er9 is very temperamental with charging. It's great redundancy to have. Mine is an opus something, it was the gold standard when I bought it, it's served me well. We live surrounded by lithium cells so such a thing has been useful many times. From memory it's about 20 bucks, and should last you a lifetime.

[Sebastian]

Sure. But regardless of how much the batteries are charged, it shouldn’t drain them when the bike is sitting idle. Historically it never has. The battery level remained largely unchanged even when the bike was left for a week. Now it’s fully drained when I do that.

[Serge_K]

I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just suggesting a way that's been helpful to me in order to isolate a variable to get closer to the source of the issue.
In 2024, Colombo would be using an opus charger.

[jonathanf2]

My ER9 RD replacement RD arrived this morning. Big props to 80 Design Store. They definitely get an A+ for customer service. They definitely should earn our support.

Though I've been riding my revived ER9 RD (happened after like 30+ button resets) and after the surprise FW update to 0.1.14, it's been working quite well! This FW seems to only apply to certain ER9/X RDs though, so not sure how LTwoo ascertains the FW process? If LTwoo's hardware wasn't so quirky, the shift performance and app are actually well done. It seems like Wheeltop is stealing a lot of their thunder.

[klindsey00]

So what is the consensus on the ER9/ERX? I'm looking into buying it (ER9) since it is a great price at the moment. Seems like it works well when it works but has some downfalls. I don't mind tinkering with it to some extent and don't really want to mess with full internal routing with a mechanical group.

• Waterproofing issues- Grease the plugs seems to be a consistent solution
• need to buy decent batteries- What are the current demands on this to justify a specific battery over another

if you do these things it seems like it is a reliable group. Especially if you get it from a reliable seller like the 80 designer store and can actually get warranty support.
I can't justify spending almost 120% on the wheeltop eds group so this would be the limit in my budget, the next choice would be mechanical 11/12speed from ltwoo... What would be your guy's opinion?

[jonathanf2]

So what is the consensus on the ER9/ERX? I'm looking into buying it (ER9) since it is a great price at the moment. Seems like it works well when it works but has some downfalls. I don't mind tinkering with it to some extent and don't really want to mess with full internal routing with a mechanical group.

• Waterproofing issues- Grease the plugs seems to be a consistent solution
• need to buy decent batteries- What are the current demands on this to justify a specific battery over another

if you do these things it seems like it is a reliable group. Especially if you get it from a reliable seller like the 80 designer store and can actually get warranty support.
I can't justify spending almost 120% on the wheeltop eds group so this would be the limit in my budget, the next choice would be mechanical 11/12speed from ltwoo... What would be your guy's opinion?

Buy from 80 Design Store, protect your plugs and spend extra $ on quality batteries. That sounds about right. Also once you get your fine tune adjustments done, I think it's a good idea to write them down somewhere just in case you need to reset the groupset.

I probably would have stayed mechanical if it wasn't for the LTwoo price point. It does work well when working and just be ready to figure stuff out on your own. Now that the 80 Design store has stepped up on warranty service, it's definitely helped and replacement parts are also available for purchase.

[amacal1]

So what is the consensus on the ER9/ERX? I'm looking into buying it (ER9) since it is a great price at the moment. Seems like it works well when it works but has some downfalls. I don't mind tinkering with it to some extent and don't really want to mess with full internal routing with a mechanical group.

• Waterproofing issues- Grease the plugs seems to be a consistent solution
• need to buy decent batteries- What are the current demands on this to justify a specific battery over another

if you do these things it seems like it is a reliable group. Especially if you get it from a reliable seller like the 80 designer store and can actually get warranty support.
I can't justify spending almost 120% on the wheeltop eds group so this would be the limit in my budget, the next choice would be mechanical 11/12speed from ltwoo... What would be your guy's opinion?

This thread is now 78 pages long, so I don't blame you for not being able or willing to scour it. Having followed along for most of it, I'll do my best to summarize. I'll also state that I don't actually own an eR9/eRX, but I do own the 1x gravel version the eGR (different thread running in the cross forum).

It seems like, on the whole, most people are happy with it. As long as it works, it seems like a capable unit with good performance. A few people have had issues and are peeved, a few have had lots of issues - or, more accurately - or multiple units with the same issues and are much more put off and vocal about their displeasure. I don't dare call them outliers, but their vocal displeasure is not without some grain of truth.

The biggest issues is that you can't expect Ltwoo to directly step up and back their product. They put the work of supporting the product on the retailer. They must have some level of backing for their product, as some stores seem quite capable of issuing replacement parts and replacing troublesome units entirely. 80s Designer Store has been the store most talked about for stepping up and supporting users after sales. Other stores have been more spotty. I'll add my own experience that I thought I damaged a part in a crash and reached out to Ltwoo to buy a replacement. They weren't able to help me because they said they don't sell directly to consumers, at least I think they tried to say that but ultimately just kept putting me off. 80s Designer Store ultimately stepped up and offered to sell me the part. Kudos to them.

My own experience is with the eGR and I'm quite happy with it. I'm coming up on 800mi on mine over the last 6 months or so. Still works great, even after a crash that took out my derailleur hanger. Well, mostly. I think the bearings on the rollers were not adequate for a gravel groupset that might see dirt and water regularly, but that's a minor issue since those are easily replaceable. I paid mechanical groupset money for an electronic groupset that shifts as good as 800 mi as it did at 8 mi. What's not to like? I'm going to ride a mess load of gravel this winter and spring, I hope, so I'll have a more seasoned take on it in 6 more months.  Honestly, it works great, so the only thing I can really report on is whether or not it still works in 6 more months.

Buy good batteries. They're not even expensive. Just find a reputable retailer. I bought from a US based retailer that sells for the flashlight and vape markets.  Those markets have been around a while so lots of "reputable" brands with lots of history and reviews. Dont spend $XXX on a groupset and try to save $5 on the batteries. Even 'expensive' cells are CHEAP as dirt compared to the branded packs that SRAM and Shimano sell.

At the end of the day, you have to be aware that you're taking some amount of risk. You can't walk into a bike shop and get a replacement charging cable, or wire harness, or new derailleur next week. In the worst case, you might get shafted with a failed unit that won't be replaced for free. In even the best case, you might have a crash and be down for weeks while you wait for a replacement part, because it all comes from China and none of it is stateside. If you're willing to deal with that, then you can likely reap significant cost savings for, hopefully, just a little risk of inconvenience. If the potential for missing a race or event depends on whether or not you pinch your charging cable, then maybe stick to more mainstream brands.

[klindsey00]

Buy from 80 Design Store, protect your plugs and spend extra $ on quality batteries. That sounds about right. Also once you get your fine tune adjustments done, I think it's a good idea to write them down somewhere just in case you need to reset the groupset.

I probably would have stayed mechanical if it wasn't for the LTwoo price point. It does work well when working and just be ready to figure stuff out on your own. Now that the 80 Design store has stepped up on warranty service, it's definitely helped and replacement parts are also available for purchase.

Thats where I'm at, LTwoo Rx/R9 mechanical are really good value and don't seem to have many major flaws. I could spend a bit more to maybe piece together a used 105/ultegra mechanical disc group, or I could spend a similar amount and get the ERx/ER9 and get electronic goodies.

This thread is now 78 pages long, so I don't blame you for not being able or willing to scour it. Having followed along for most of it, I'll do my best to summarize. I'll also state that I don't actually own an eR9/eRX, but I do own the 1x gravel version the eGR (different thread running in the cross forum).

I've read through a good portion of it over the last week trying to come to a decision. There are large sections where the topic changes a bunch so it is hard to find the real meat and potatoes of what is good/bad. Thanks for your help.

At the end of the day, you have to be aware that you're taking some amount of risk. You can't walk into a bike shop and get a replacement charging cable, or wire harness, or new derailleur next week. In the worst case, you might get shafted with a failed unit that won't be replaced for free. In even the best case, you might have a crash and be down for weeks while you wait for a replacement part, because it all comes from China and none of it is stateside. If you're willing to deal with that, then you can likely reap significant cost savings for, hopefully, just a little risk of inconvenience. If the potential for missing a race or event depends on whether or not you pinch your charging cable, then maybe stick to more mainstream brands.

I'm willing to risk it some... At the minimum having the ability to get replacements is a must, but having a good seller to give warranty if something fails in a way that is not my fault is what I think is a decent position to be in. I have a ECE degree so I'd honestly love to mess with internals and I'd replace electrical components if I had to. Biggest things are not wanting to be stranded over something stupid if i can help it, and not throwing money down the drain on this build.

[Serge_K]

I bought 6 groups, installed them on 5 bikes, 3 broke. Always the RD, always for no reason. Mine (#4) has problems with the charging port. #5 is reporting that the battery started getting drain for no apparent reason. I've put 9k km on mine.
I like it. When it works. You can calibrate it so it works really well, but it takes work. Because it's much more flexible (it's not shimano 11s w a shimano cassette and a shimano crank type of deal), you have to put in the work. Sometimes it gets out of whack and you have to recalibrate it. If you change the cassette, you need to recalibrate. And so on.
It is quirky, for eg, bleeding the brakes requires loosening a screw that's not on Shimano, so if you bring it to the shop, they make break something or get confused.
A friend says shimano brakes are better, so it might be something you can improve by trying various pads, hoses, discs combo. Again, you're not in an ecosystem where things have been chosen for you.
Since i've put expensive batteries, i stopped worrying about having to charge it very often, and shifting is very reliable.

Now. Say you go ride the Atlas. Or go on a bike packing trip with friends. Or race. Or ride in the rain a lot. Or ride roads with lots of vibrations (one of my groups died during a downhill that had bad asphalt and a lot of road buzz). Would i recommend it? No, because if your RD dies, you're F'ed, and F'ing the people with you.
Imagine you're training all year for a triathlon, and it's on that day that the group decides to die on you, for absolutely no reason. You will have a bad day. I'd say if you're a triathlete, given how expensive entry fees have become, buy shimano or sram, be consistent

I dont race, and i bought a spare group so i can replace the RD if mine dies. And i bought a spare RD for Friend running #5, so he also has that redundancy.

We got the earlier versions, as we ordered in the summer of 2023. However, it is evident that the same issues still happen, albeit seemingly less frequently. So you would expect the groups to become more reliable, but that's not fact.

Half the reason i ride what i ride is to experiment. This is not for everyone. I got the groups for c.420 USD. Would i spend 700 for them? no. If i had to spend much more than that, i'd probably use mechanical shimano 11s 2nd hand. Would i spend 1k to get shimano di2? most probably not, i just find it excessive. Shimano and SRAM have been patent milking for years, and i dont care to finance the groupsets of pro teams.
Given how annoying it is to fully route houses, if i ran mechanical, i might run the shifting hoses externally to avoid 90 degree kinks in the cockpit, and then you should be able to get super crisp mechanical shifting.

One of my friends is back to riding his sworks because he can't get the ER9 RD to shift properly and i've been away, and he's as mechanically inclined as I am a good dancer. So i'll have to re-re-re-recalibrate it myself so it shifts well again. He likes it. When it works. He is one of the 3 whose RD died, so basically half the season, he had to use his old bike.

So, me and my friends riding the er9 have mixed feelings about it. When it works, it works. But it tends to not work, when it stops working, it's for no reason, and it requires much more baby sitting than sram or shimano.

And dont get me started on warranty claims.

Your mileage may vary.

[Sebastian]

So, I replaced my batteries. I ran about three charging cycles. I made sure that the batteries are at 100%. (But then again, if the groupset doesn't charge properly it's just as bad as when it drains the battery. I'm surely not going to pull the seatpost and get the batteries out every time I need to  charge them). Every time, the battery level is down to less than 20% after roughly 48 hours. In that time, I did not touch the bike except checking for the battery level. And this is despite putting in new batteries with considerably more capacity and capable of much higher discharge currents.

I contacted 80 Designer Store to see what they say.

Edit: I disconnected the RD for several hours. It stopped the draining issues. The battery level remained stable. So I reckon the problem lies within the RD.

[rockerplates.de]

if you have several bikes to jump back to, go for the er9, or if you use it on your indoor trainer bike...otherwise, it is not reliable. you may end up in the middle of nowwhere. the only place you can buy is aliexpress, therefore you need to buy 2 groupsets or wait for the parts to be returned by the seller. If ltwoo treats the aliexpress seller the same way like us, they compensate the defectives on their site, (Ltwoo did not change any of the broken er9 products we have had (rds, burned battery trayS) even sending them videos, pictures etc..they would cover them, but we would need to order again, without a follow up order, they are not willing to compensate) this may end pretty fast, if margins drop, defective rates go down, of if the seller just does not want to sponsor the sales on his own...
I think, they also have issue with the battery holder draining voltage in some cases, otherwise the burned one which fired up the seatpost of our client is not explanable.
Long things short: shimano for the win, if oyu only have one bike, it is not worth the hassle.....

[klindsey00]

I think as this will be my only bike I should get something more reliable. Thanks for all the input guys.

I'll still be eyeballing this and the wheeltop group, If the price was more competitive from wheeltop I'd go for it the thing that scares me with that one is the battery. Having the ability to fine tune each gear sounds like it would help keep the chain/cassette noise down and probably wear out parts slower. My claris group sucked and would be loud no matter how much I adjusted it.

Has there been any announcements of the next gen for eRX? I know the blue version kind of got scrapped but they had a TT group and some stuff at one of the bike shows.

[jonathanf2]

I think as this will be my only bike I should get something more reliable. Thanks for all the input guys.

I'll still be eyeballing this and the wheeltop group, If the price was more competitive from wheeltop I'd go for it the thing that scares me with that one is the battery. Having the ability to fine tune each gear sounds like it would help keep the chain/cassette noise down and probably wear out parts slower. My claris group sucked and would be loud no matter how much I adjusted it.

Has there been any announcements of the next gen for eRX? I know the blue version kind of got scrapped but they had a TT group and some stuff at one of the bike shows.

ER9 is great if you have a backup bike and a few spare replacement parts. At this point it's more for the DIY crowd. When it works it's awesome. One of my ER9 RDs was totally dead and I had to hard reset it like 30 times until it woke up. Though the EGR sounds like it's been quite solid with less problems.

I think many of us are sadists for using sketchy bike components!