LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets

[Phoeteus]

Hi!

I have the Magene 34-50 crankset. Will the FD of the erx V3 be able to shift between those? It says capacity 16 but also min chain ring size 40...

Thanks!

[Lotnik]

Hi!

I have the Magene 34-50 crankset. Will the FD of the erx V3 be able to shift between those? It says capacity 16 but also min chain ring size 40...

Thanks!

It's standard chainrings size, it will work.

[Adrianpol]

I have been struggling to index gears properly. Even on single gear adjustment the chain will not shift as smoothly as I would want on some parts of cassette. I'm using Chinese 12 speed cassette named JSHOUBIKE. (I got it because I really like that it has single teeth transitions starting from 17T). Has anyone of you changed cassette to genuine shimano and noticed improved shifting? As of now my old Sora 9 speed that was even routed internally had better shifting.

[alfiomotrambo]

Yes, these cassettes aren't great; you'll always struggle to adjust the gearing as much as possible. With an original Shimano cassette (Ultegra is fine), you'll definitely have no problems.

I know some users report an improvement with KMC chains. https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005009943731280.html

I recommend changing your cassette or switching to better-known brands like Goldix or Ztto https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005009145670643.htm

[mashiro2004]

I've tried cassettes and even some cheap Chinese cranksets. The only solution that worked flawlessly was with the original Shimano cassette and chainrings (I used a 105 crankset and Ultegra sprockets) with a Shimano chain (CN-M7100). With other combinations, I always had some "hesitation," especially under stress, as well as excessive noise.
Goldix or Ztto cassettes costing €80 or more will probably be fine, but at that price, I'd rather buy an Ultegra and have it the next day, as it's a guarantee in case of problems with the teeth rather than saving a few grams.

[jonathanf2]

Original Shimano chain and cassette work great. If using aftermarket cassettes, Shimano chains don't shift as well with non-hyperglide cassettes.

As mentioned, I found using KMC chains to work very well on my Goldix and ZTTO road cassettes. Also you should also check your RD hanger alignment which can effect shifting as well.

[jonathanf2]

I just saw this! LTwoo is releasing a fully wireless ER9 groupset for folding/compact bikes. I'm wondering if the upcoming ER7/9/X will also go full wireless like the recently announced 13 speed EGR? LTwoo might be trying to get the jump on Shimano before they go 13 speed wireless? 

[mashiro2004]

New Reply from Ltwoo:

If it is working normally now, the previous malfunction was most likely caused by a loose seatpost mounting bracket (on the frame) or a loose lithium battery mounting bracket inside the seatpost battery. Simply tighten the battery again.

My reply:

As I said in my previous email, I didn't touch the cables, brackets, etc.

I simply connected the USB-C charger and it worked again. As soon as I connected and disconnected the USB-C cable, the rear derailleur light came back on and it resumed communicating with both the Geoid CC700 Pro and the Ltwoo app on my phone.

If it were a wiring or connection issue, it shouldn't have worked without first reconnecting them correctly or just connecting a USB-C charging cable, I think. Is that correct?

Or are you telling me that there's a cable that's not connected properly or and that the derailleur control unit goes into protection mode, and to exit protection I have to connect the USB-C cable?

Just to understand where the problem lies, I like to understand things....

@pavlo.k have you had no more problems?

[pavlo.k]

New Reply from Ltwoo:

If it is working normally now, the previous malfunction was most likely caused by a loose seatpost mounting bracket (on the frame) or a loose lithium battery mounting bracket inside the seatpost battery. Simply tighten the battery again.

My reply:

As I said in my previous email, I didn't touch the cables, brackets, etc.

I simply connected the USB-C charger and it worked again. As soon as I connected and disconnected the USB-C cable, the rear derailleur light came back on and it resumed communicating with both the Geoid CC700 Pro and the Ltwoo app on my phone.

If it were a wiring or connection issue, it shouldn't have worked without first reconnecting them correctly or just connecting a USB-C charging cable, I think. Is that correct?

Or are you telling me that there's a cable that's not connected properly or and that the derailleur control unit goes into protection mode, and to exit protection I have to connect the USB-C cable?

Just to understand where the problem lies, I like to understand things....

@pavlo.k have you had no more problems?

I didn't have a chance to ride the bike since. I will report back if it happens again. I ordered a spare battery holder just in case

[CoffeeNbikes]

i have noticed there is quite a lot of play in the fd when its on the lower chainring, is anyone elses like that? on the outer the cage is solid but on the inner position you can wiggle it around and worse even at its most inner position there is a tiny bit of chain rub on the 2 largest sprockets but you can manually move the cage in by pressing it enough to remove any rub

Yup same issue here. Did not solve the problem yet. I will swap for a grx with wider chainline to cheat this... Some peole on forum also noted that issue. No idea why other people sont face this issue though

[mashiro2004]

Yup same issue here. Did not solve the problem yet. I will swap for a grx with wider chainline to cheat this... Some peole on forum also noted that issue. No idea why other people sont face this issue though

I think it also depends on the frame at this point. I use a Shimano crankset with a 43.5 chainline, not even the new 12-speed ones with a 44.5 chainline, and I don't have any problems...

[jonathanf2]

I think LTwoo FDs work best when you use Shimano chainrings. Even using different cranksets with adapters, the shifting tends to remain similar with very minor inboard/outboard adjustments.

[nick82]

Yup same issue here. Did not solve the problem yet. I will swap for a grx with wider chainline to cheat this... Some peole on forum also noted that issue. No idea why other people sont face this issue though

i think it wasnt parallel i backed the grub screw off a bit and have been able to adjust it so there is no rub but there is still some play in the cage in the low position.

i wouldnt buy any future chinese electronic groupset unless the pricing is more agressive, with current prices of erx + shimano cassette, rings, chain you can squeeze in a power meter and itl cost roughly what 105 Di2 would but your stuck dealing with ltwoo if you have problems and a local shop wont have any experience or wont even want to help you

[mashiro2004]

Something strange happened to me today. While I was riding, the gear shifter suddenly died. I thought I'd try plugging it into a charger. Luckily, there was a house along the road with some guys who had power and a charger. Given the bad experience, I bought a mini power bank to leave in my underseat bag.



The only thing I can think of is that I hit a big pothole shortly beforehand. Did the gear shifter go into "protection mode"?

It happened again today after about 70km, but I have two pieces of good news:
1) Found the root cause: I checked the seatpost and found that the battery cradle had actually fallen out of its position and was just dangling inside the frame. This movement clearly caused the micro-disconnection that triggered the BMS protection. I reinserted it as firmly as possible and managed to ride another 150km without a single issue, even on rough roads.
2) Emergency fix confirmed: The 'defibrillator' method works! I used a mini powerbank to give it a 1-second 'wake up' charge, and the system came back to life instantly.

Now I've just bought rubber ribbed Di2-style mounts. They should provide the necessary friction and damping to keep the battery cradle from sliding down the D-shaped seatpost.

To solve the mechanical issue, I decided to purchase ribbed rubber/silicone adapters instead of the rigid plastic ones.

The reason is simple: with my new, stiffer wheels and D-shaped seatpost, I believe the rigid plastic created excessive vibrations, causing the battery to slip. These silicone mounts act as a vibration dampener, absorbing the strongest impacts caused by potholes. This should hopefully also prevent the micro-disconnections that trigger the BMS's protection mode.

Another recommended step is to carefully place heat-shrink tubing around the 14500 batteries to prevent them from moving excessively.

Anyway, now that I think about it, the battery holder started giving me problems when I put the stiffer, higher profile wheels on the bike. Perhaps the increased vibrations caused the battery holder to fall off the seat post.

[jonathanf2]

I just use bubble wrap with rubber bands attached to each end and tie a piece of string to pull it out. This has been an effective and cheap way to keep the battery holder from slipping.