Ltwoo or Shimano?

[Guilherme_]

Hello everyone, I am new here and I have a question, I'm building my own bike but as we all know some parts are a bit expensive, for groupset I had the Shimano 105 R7170 Di2 Disc Groupset for around 1000€/866£/1167$ but I saw a very interesting one from Ltwoo, which is the "L-TWOO 2025 eRX Road Electronic Hydraulic Disc Groupset" which is around 684$/587€/508£. I wanted to know if anyone has had some experience with this groupset and if i should go for it or not, thank you so much and whish you all a blessed day.

[Dan S.]

Stick with Shimano if you want reliability.

[crazyravr]

If you want set it and forget it, Shimano. If you want to experiment, tinker and do troubleshooting for a company, L2.

[Ludo]

I don’t think it’s that straight forward. I haven’t compared the erx and 105di2 in great depth but I think:
Ltwoo lighter than 105
Ltwoo offers more flexibility for different cassette specs (#of cogs)
Shimano has more proven offering, better name recognition
Shimano may be more reliable (based on latest Ltwoo version feedback, most of early links have been worked out)

Ltwoo with coupon can be purchased for 550-600$, it’s a pretty substantial margin. Spend that money on cassette and carbon crank and the gap between the groupset becomes more significant. After it’s down to risk appreciation, that’s a personal thing, but on paper it a not just “get shimano if you can afford it”

[Super_davo]

I really want to be able to say LTwoo but by the time you have factored in chain set, chain, cassette, there is hardly any difference in price Vs 105 Di2 (best prices I can get from UK retailers). There isn't much difference in weight either (LTwoo between Ultegra and 105 weight).
Shimano just works, and also holds it's value should you want to sell it down the line.
IMO the price difference needs to be much greater before LTwoo becomes anything more than a niche 'early adopter' type of product

[jonathanf2]

If you want to set and forget, buy Shimano. You get Shimano reliability, ample support and spare parts availability. My buddy bought a used Ultegra Di2 groupset, accidentally bricked his RD during a firmware upgrade and Shimano still sent him a replacement part no questions asked. Also for US customers, the tariffs have lessened Ltwoo's value, so I'd definitely lean towards Di2 if found for a good price.

If you like to tinker and experiment, LTwoo has been great for me. Plus you can do hybrid setups like Shimano chainrings and XDR cassettes and fine tune the shifting to be exact. I also like the battery flexibility of using 14500 batteries. If you go LTwoo, I'd wait for the new V4 groupsets that will come with the upgraded 100g flat mount calipers. Only issue is that you won't get much direct after sales support (only so-so vendor support), so I'd at least stock up on spare components if possible.

[Guilherme_]

I don’t think it’s that straight forward. I haven’t compared the erx and 105di2 in great depth but I think:
Ltwoo lighter than 105
Ltwoo offers more flexibility for different cassette specs (#of cogs)
Shimano has more proven offering, better name recognition
Shimano may be more reliable (based on latest Ltwoo version feedback, most of early links have been worked out)

Ltwoo with coupon can be purchased for 550-600$, it’s a pretty substantial margin. Spend that money on cassette and carbon crank and the gap between the groupset becomes more significant. After it’s down to risk appreciation, that’s a personal thing, but on paper it a not just “get shimano if you can afford it”

And what about sensah?

[lidation]

I think the LTWOO and Wheeltops capability to fine tune the position of each cog is a very useful feature if you are going with the aftermarket cassettes.  Shimano/SRAM can't do that.  I have a ZTTO 12 speed 11-46T SLR3 cassette that is very lightweight only 281grams. But the spacing between the cogs are slightly different in the larger cogs compared to the smaller cogs. So I was able to fine-tune my Wheeltop GeX derailleur to make it work flawlessly.   

Also, it's very flexible that I can use my Wheeltop with other speed cassettes.

[nick82]

in term of cost its probably worth considering if you want a powermeter, i paid £830 for erx v3, magene pes515, r7100 cassette and chainrings and m7100 chain. the cheapest 105di2 is exactly the same price. if you want to just take it to a local bike shop if anything goes wrong you should buy shimano.

[ryan zhang]

And what about sensah?

SENSAH presented their electronic groupset at Eurobike last year. I’ve heard they’re sending out samples to OE partners for testing right now — end users will probably have to wait a while longer for it to hit the market.

[Ludo]

in term of cost its probably worth considering if you want a powermeter, i paid £830 for erx v3, magene pes515, r7100 cassette and chainrings and m7100 chain. the cheapest 105di2 is exactly the same price. if you want to just take it to a local bike shop if anything goes wrong you should buy shimano.

That was my point. There is definitely a risk reward element and if you are budget constraint, value capabilities and flexibility, ltwoo offering can be competitive, especially once you account for Ali coupons.

[rockerplates.de]

shimano....hassle free, works and many shops can help, if you run into trouble..

[pavlo.k]

One more important point to consider against ltwoo (and i'm an er9 owner myself) is the availability of parts especially when travelling. You might be able to tolerate 2-3weeks wait for part from China when you have a spare bike at home but in a case when you travel with your bike you really want reliability or at a very least have the parts easily available. I was so concern about it that I actually bought a spare 105 di2 upgrade kit to replace the ltwoo if needed and it's at home ready to ship in case anything goes wrong while I'm on a cycling holiday.

[debaser]

I would also add the re-sellability is an issue to consider. Shimano groupsets have a set hierarchy and a measurable aftermarket price. You know exactly what you can charge for a used, good condition carbon (chiner!) frame with a 6800, 7020 or 8120 groupset. With a chiner groupset: much less so. It would also be inviting lowball offers, struggle for value retention and not least it would help cast your frame or wheels in a "cheaper" light.

[cramy]

shimano all day long. I was in the same situation last year and I opted for Shimano, especially for the reliability, it is a set and forget.
Price wise it was almost similar but shimano still hold his value the day you want to resell it, which Ltwoo does not.