I'm fine with the LTwoo electronic groupsets. I'd actually pass on the LTwoo mechanical stuff. Better off using Shimano mechanical. Easier to adjust and tune.

Shimano mechanical is great. But the shifters just look awful. And looks are important with bikes IMO. Also the LTWOO stuff is dirt cheap and at least the Campy style levers seem absolutely bulletproof. On one gravel bike, I‘ve paired the 1x11 LTWOO brifters with a used GRX RD and the lightweight Zrace calipers from Aliexpress. That might just be my favourite combination yet.

As for electronic. In Europe, the earlier generation Sram AXS stuff is now ubiquitous and dirt cheap used. I got an entire Force AXS groupset (sans cranks) for something like 350 EUR on my latest build. I got a Rival AXS mini groupset for even less. Sure it’s used and not the latest. But not a scratch on it and working like new. At this point I really don’t see the point of Ltwoo.

Im curious to see where this goes for you. As I wrote earlier, I got one of those. I‘m riding it a lot less at the moment and it’s my sort of beater bike for races or stuff that I don’t want to do to my „good bike“. It’s held up surprisingly well. The only gripe I have with this and many other cheap frames: The headset does come loose every now and then and needs retightening. Clearly a sign of bad tolerances. It never happens on my better frames like ever.

Is this customisable in the individual gear spacing in the way that LTWOO works? I’m contemplating the idea of converting my 1x13 Ekar gravel bike to this and keep the 13sp cassette, chain and cranks.

Got a set of 50s with 21 carbon spokes and 23internal/34external on the way. I got the same rims already with CY-Rays in 60mm depth and those wheels are awesome in how comfy and yet fast they are. The new wheels will go onto a climbing bike. Hoping they not too harsh.

Iv'e orderd an XXL mid december with estimated production in 2.5months, it's delayed (Claimed to be caused by CNY, and testing took longer than expected).
After a bit of nagging i got an update from LongTeng/Alisa where they estimated that it should be ready for shipping this week.

/Håkan

You and me are going to be the test mules then. Alisa confirmed to me that they have a few XXLs in stock now and that they would be ready to ship. I'm ordering one to build up a lightweight climbing bike. I'm no good at climbing at over 80kg but it's still the kind of riding that I like the most.
I am slightly concerned whether or not this frame will be stiff enough. I guess we shall find out.

Hey everyone. Sorry for the late response. I haven't been paying much attention to the forum over the winter in Europe.
I got a Qilefu Chinarello. I got the Velobuild Chinarello (218) initially when I wanted one last cool direct mount rim brake frame. I liked the geo so much that I thought I'd try the Qilefu to build up an equivalent disc bike. I wrote about both bikes extensively in other threads (the VB R218 thread for example) so I suggest you use the search function if you want to know more.

I've done around 13k km on the rim brake bike and around 5k km on the Qilefu disc version. They're both fine and going strong.

As for Qilefu: Communication with the seller was ok. Not stellar and they didn't seem to be able to give me a ton of information which would be a red flag usually. Since they reluctantly confirmed that I would be able to return it under the Aliexpress policy, I took a leap of faith.
The frame looks well made. All additional parts are fine as well. Building it was no issue. I had the usual problems with the brake mounts that needed a bit of sanding. It's not shiny smooth on the inside so no EPS moulding and the weight is nothing to impress your friends with. But none of that concerns me.
I've done alpine descents on this bike and I've ridden it in all kinds of conditions. It works fine. Throw away the headset bearings and get proper ones unless you're planning on tearing the bike apart again once they fail. And they will. Also: Literally all steel bolts on this bike will rust. So apply grease or some form of anti corrosion treatment or replace them with something better. Seatpost needed attention. I applied some grip tape to make the fit tighter. Otherwise it would rock from side to side ever so slightly and slip, no matter how hard you tighten the clamping bolts. And you shouldn't over tighten them as this is a definite weak spot (see the VB R218 thread for more details). But for me grip tape solved the issue. That's about all the problems I had.

Still: I'm not gonna tell you that your frame will definitely be great and safe. I guess it's safe to say that the cheaper you go, the less guarantees there are probably. And I have no experience with the other Qilefu frames or how they handle any issues, should they arise. With Velobuild I can safely say that my frame did have issues but they addressed them without hesitation and sent me a replacement frame.

Bottomline, I wouldn't get ER9/X wet if possible. From day 1, I minimized washing my bike

Yeah, that might work for you in California, mate. Where I live, that would pretty much mean indoor cycling only. Honestly, I don’t get why people still bother using these groupsets. Sure, they’re cheaper than others and you might just get lucky enough to get a decent amount of use out of it before it randomly fails on you. But you sure do pay by being an involuntary beta tester.

I can answer my own question. In contrast to original DT Swiss hubs, the ratchet ring in the Serenade hubs doesn’t have to come out in order to replace the bearing. Haven’t tried it yet but that’s what Marya told me. So no special tools needed.

Now I have another proprietary tool I rarely use in my ever growing collection.