LTWOO ER9 & ERX - Electronic groepsets

[Sebastian]

I am not trying to add negative publicity, rather add a simple piece of truth, and a way to deal with it. Again, now that I used the tape, the groupset is working like magic.

Did yours stop working because of moisture? Mine got plenty of rain and various bike washes. No issues. I keep my fingers crossed.

[hubertus]

Did yours stop working because of moisture? Mine got plenty of rain and various bike washes. No issues. I keep my fingers crossed.

Yes, 1 minute into my first ride it stopped working because of the wet environment (rainy Netherlands). Repeated this a couple of times before I realized it was due to moisture getting into the system, more specifically the connections to the cables on both derailleurs.

[toxin]

When I saw that tracevelo was having was having water ingress issues with the gravel groupset I lost all faith in them fixing this. If wheeltop group is good I'll buy that, they say it's rated for ip67.

[Dark17]

When I saw that tracevelo was having was having water ingress issues with the gravel groupset I lost all faith in them fixing this. If wheeltop group is good I'll buy that, they say it's rated for ip67.

Or just buy something from Shimano or SRAM. My Shimano 105 Di2 groupset is on the way and I only paid for $711 for the upgrade kit. While er9 is good, I still have some doubts about it's longetivity. On my yesterday's ride, I thought my FD was failing because it won't function after a couple of presses. But it got fixed without needing any fixes and I don't know why it was acting like that.

[toxin]

Yeah shimano is my current plan, but wheeltop is very competitive on weight and fully wireless. Not buying sram

[Pedaldancer]

@Hubertus if you google you will see persons also complaining about issues with Shimano products eg their 105 di2, Thing is it would not be posted in these forums. Ltwoo is newer to the space and will have more bugs. Thing is I see them working on solutions. Their disadvantage is unlike Shimano, you need to wait longer for the fixes since there is no nearby outlet/dealer. Pretty much knew from day one, before jumping in, I was going to give them time to fix the major bugs

My di2 never showed any sign of water issues since 5 years. Some heavy rain rides included..The plugs are the same as for the 12x di2. For the ltwoo this seems to be more critical. Not a lot riders out there but quite a few reports about water problems.
So far: this looks very appealing, but they must improve the water protection.

[lavistaa]

I am having issues with my Erx- randomly working/not working and being slow to respond (it's been very wet here) while working fine with the app but not the brifters (which have new batteries in them and the system is fully charged).  Would you be able to describe in more detail what you did with the duct tape? Did you wrap a small piece around where it plugs into the mech or ?? I'm not quite sure how to follow your suggestion and I would LOVE to have a working set!

[hubertus]

I am having issues with my Erx- randomly working/not working and being slow to respond (it's been very wet here) while working fine with the app but not the brifters (which have new batteries in them and the system is fully charged).  Would you be able to describe in more detail what you did with the duct tape? Did you wrap a small piece around where it plugs into the mech or ?? I'm not quite sure how to follow your suggestion and I would LOVE to have a working set!

Step 1:
Disconnect the cables from both derailleurs
Step 2:
Be absolutely sure there is no moisture in the cable or port on the derailleurs. Thoroughly inspect with a flashlight, and let it dry overnight if you want to be absolutely sure.
Step 3:
Rear derailleur: create a strip of ductape (2cm x 5cm), connect the cable and wrap it around the derailleur + cable to make a tight fit. Press down on the ductape to ensure no moisture will get in. Make sure the tape surpasses the "cup" (poor design) which fits the cable.
Front derailleur: unmount the whole unit so you have better access to the port. And repeat the process for the FD. This one of more finicky, but just try to make sure you have a reasonable connection. The FD is less likely to ingress water as the port is downward facing, whereas the RD is essentially a convex shape, waiting to pick up rain.
Step 4:
Ride!

[TidyDinosaur]

Step 1:
Disconnect the cables from both derailleurs
Step 2:
Be absolutely sure there is no moisture in the cable or port on the derailleurs. Thoroughly inspect with a flashlight, and let it dry overnight if you want to be absolutely sure.
Step 3:
Rear derailleur: create a strip of ductape (2cm x 5cm), connect the cable and wrap it around the derailleur + cable to make a tight fit. Press down on the ductape to ensure no moisture will get in. Make sure the tape surpasses the "cup" (poor design) which fits the cable.
Front derailleur: unmount the whole unit so you have better access to the port. And repeat the process for the FD. This one of more finicky, but just try to make sure you have a reasonable connection. The FD is less likely to ingress water as the port is downward facing, whereas the RD is essentially a convex shape, waiting to pick up rain.
Step 4:
Ride!

Can't you use some dielectric grease?

It amazes me how people keep defending Ltwoo and these groupsets with all these problems... It's not like we're talking about a 125USD Sensah mechanical groupset...
It's like buying a frame, seeing it has a crack when it arrives and saying: "I'll just put some epoxy on there and ride it, it's the cost of being an early-adopter"

[hubertus]

Can't you use some dielectric grease?

Never knew of its existence, but yes, you can definitely use that. I went with what I had.

[TidyDinosaur]

Never knew of its existence, but yes, you can definitely use that. I went with what I had.

Yeah, I discovered it because I had to use it when replacing an SD-card in my front door camera. So it is definitely fit for this purpose.

[jonathanf2]

So doe the ER9/X issues only happen to those who ride in the rain?

[Dark17]

So doe the ER9/X issues only happen to those who ride in the rain?

I got caught in rain once. No issues after the ride..

[Sebastian]

Anecdotal evidence, really. But I rode my er9 again today in rain on wet roads. The bike got covered in grime. I hosed it down after the ride. Groupset keeps working. This time of the year, pretty much all my rides are wet and dirty. No issues. All these reports do make me wonder if I should take precautionary measures.

[Ludo]

Can't you use some dielectric grease?

It amazes me how people keep defending Ltwoo and these groupsets with all these problems... It's not like we're talking about a 125USD Sensah mechanical groupset...
It's like buying a frame, seeing it has a crack when it arrives and saying: "I'll just put some epoxy on there and ride it, it's the cost of being an early-adopter"

It’s just show the desire from many to see a viable third option behind the big two.