Right quick correction, turns out the calipers may look similar to post mount, but actually aren't. The spacing for post mount is 74mm, and these are actually 70mm... Close but no cigar 😎 Once again the comments section keeping me on the straight and narrow! Big shout out to Bikey McBeardface for pointing it out in the comments!!!
Kudos to the folks at L-Twoo for updating their shifter design and front derailleur. It shows they are listening and are willing to act on constructive criticism. I’m looking for to the full review. Merry Christmas and all the best in 2023 Luke!
Hi Luke, good video. We are a Bikeshop in Berlin and already built some Roadbikes with the new LTWOO Groupsets. R9 and RX Version, they perform really Well! One big note to the shifting feel you mentioned in the end: when you built the Bike and the tension on the cables is there the shifting will feel not that stiff as if you try to shift with the shifters not been mounted on the bike. Also after a couple of shiftings the shifters get smoother. I believe this is caused by very precise ratchet systems inside the shifters. Braking is a real deal now, really good performance. Enjoy your built, Best Regards
Ok great, thanks for the comment Kevin! I've got high hopes for this groupset, so hopefully once I get it on the bike, the shifting will sort itself out!
@@jakobbossmann Hallo Jakob, der Laden heißt "Velogetz" in Friedrichshain, falls du Fragen hast melde dich gerne - wir haben die LTWOO Gruppen vorrätig
wow. this is a big one. i've been waiting for it on here for maybe 4 months. i've only first seen it on ali last week, i can't believe you got it this fast. this is a huge step
Hi Luke, love your channel! I have ridden my bike with this groupset in my Mainsepeda channel from Indonesia. I have no issues whatsoever with the stiffness of the shifter. So tactile but smooth and nice. My mineral oil from the L-Twoo was shipped separately and late, so I was using Shimano mineral oil and it works just fine! It works like Campy, you can shift single gears or multiple gears! Can't wait to see how your experience is with this thing! Big three better watchout, the world is changing!
Ok amazing, I'm really excited to get it on the bike, so good to hear from someone that's already got some miles on it. I'm slightly concerned about that left hand shifter, but I'll have to wait and see.
By the way, for the stiffness, there is a screw perpendicular to the ratchet that you can screw/unscrew and it seems to change stiffness. I tested it all the way from very stiff yo very very soft (to the point I would barely notice the clicks and could not hold the largest 3-4 cog. positions.
Mireia, you NAILED it. Just had a little play around, unscrewed it half a turn, and bingo, solved the problem. Much lighter shifting now, but i do wonder if it will loosten over time.... Guess we will have to wait and see. But massive thankyou for the tip!!!! Will def shout you out in the next video!
@@TraceVelo you're welcome. Also, if you play around with the grub screw that @chinacycling mentions to change the feeling of the brake pads and remove the spounginess ... be super careful not to push it too much. I managed to pop out the one of my right lever and I struggled to put it back in for a good 3 hours. Totally desperating !!!
Hey! I just got their Gravel groupset yesterday! My right shifter had the same issue out of the box where it felt super stiff, I could barely shift it with my dummy weak hands. Once it was installed and I'd cycled through the gears a bunch it loosened right up and has been working fantastically since :)
Excellent news! I hope Sensah come out with their own hydraulic setup soon as I really like their shifters. These look really high quality close up here and are undoubtedly gonna sell like hot cakes. Look forward to the full review Sir.
Always good to see more competition with any product. It would be nice for L-Twoo to update the rim break version with the improvements they've made. Your videos are the best as always!
I agree with you. I live in Florida and it's very flat here, so no need for disc brakes, so I prefer to save the extra money and weight and just stick with rim brakes. Waiting for a good Chinese 12 speed rim brake group set.
Look forward to your build...been a fan of Ali Express Carbon bike bits,frames,wheels for past 10 years now. Enjoy your content. Before moving to Co Donegal 20 years ago lived in your neck of the woods- North Aston. Happy Christmas.
It really is Christmas now! I'm excited to see this one! I already gave myself a gift and oredered the last missing piece of my build, the frame :D Can't wait to put it all together!
I hope it's been said before, but thank you ever so much for all the videos you do where you test out these Chinese components so we can either buy or not. As I'm sure you're aware, it's more or less a crap shoot when it comes to buying Chinese bike parts, and having to wait weeks if not months to get something only to have it not work properly is a huge waste of time and money. I rely heavily on you and a few others to let me know which products are worth the wait and money, so again, thank you so much. Riding slowly it doesn't matter so much, but going 20+ mph, or even over 40 bombing downhill, you really want to know that your bike is going to be safe and things aren't going to break apart and put you in danger. Looking forward to seeing the build on this one. Happy New Year and have a great day.
I can't wait for their gravel group set . It supports up to a a 52 tooth cassette, which eliminates the need for hacky mullet setups for bike packing/touring setups with hydraulic brakes. The 180mm caliper compatibility will be great too, which I had no idea was even possible with flat mount brakes.
@@TraceVelo Please test it with a wide range cassette (up to 50 or 52 tooth). There are a lot of people out there crossing their fingers that that is more than a rumor.
Also, as for the casette, chainring and chain... I am using a cheap 11-34 12s casette, a 34-50 integrated DUB chainring from senics and a sram eagle chain I had somewhere with still some life ahead. The combo seems to work fine.
They ARE flat mount and NOT post, I think a lot of people are being confused by this because the design of the calipers and the mounts. Basically they have done the opposite to Shimano/SRAM. Because the mounting hole spacing is different on fork than it is on the frame if you want to use the same design of caliper front and rear (like Shimano/SRAM do) one caliper will always need a mount/adapter plate, With Shimano/SRAM no matter what size rotor you use you ALWAYS need an adapter/mount on the fork but NOT always on the frame (depending on what size rotor you are using and what the frame was designed for). LT-Woo have done the opposite so with these calipers you will ALWAYS need an adapter/mount on the rear but NOT always on the front.
Ok nice, thanks for the comment Bikey!! Once I get a second I'm gonna re-measure the caliper spacing and double check this! Once again the comments are keeping me on my toes!!!
@@TraceVelo No worries, I think the only advantage to this is it might allow you to run 140 rotors on SOME gravel frame-sets (depending on the frame design). Merry Christmas, have a good one. 🎄🥖🥖
The shifters click better once they are attached to the handlebars. The rubber on the hoods likes to pinch on the thumb levelers and I needed to trim it to release properly. Every so often the rubber tabs on the brake lever causes the shifter not to release as well. make sure you run a cable backwards on those clamp hooks w/ the brake lines during install to save you time.
Mine is on the way, should arrive in the next few days. Thanks for the early real-world review. My seller arranged to send the mineral oil separately, for no add'l cost.
Nice to see that they appear to be using standard Shimano style hydraulic olives and pins, although would have been nice to have at least two rather than one in with the kit. Also a shame about that hose. Generic hose isnt too expensive but still a pain that it came from the factory like that and little care was used packaging it. Means at least a trip to the LBS or a wait for online spares to arrive at extra expense.
Yeah although I'm not too bothered about the kink in the hose, you are right tbh. It shouldn't really have been sent out from the factory in that condition...
Yeah looks like LTWOO have started to stock them on their own AliExpress store in the last day or two. The prices are still quite high, so hopefully they will come down!
I'm taking notes on parts for now, not purchasing anything. I'm going to be moving to Norway from the USA in the next few months, and I'm planning on building a bike once I get there, as opposed to bringing my current bike. Your channel has been a huge help in upgrading my current setup, and it's going to be even more helpful once I make the move. Thanks for all of of your effort, my guy.
No probs Raccoon! Yeah I would maybe wait until someone has put some decent miles on one of these groupsets before taking the plunge... Plus tbh the price is a bit high right now. Hopefully it will come down in the next month or two, because it is a little too close to Shimano 105 R7020 money in my opinion.
@@TraceVelo I'm likely not moving until March. So I've got time. I was actually looking at the sensah mechanical 12 speed groupset initially. But now I'm kind of leaning toward the LTWOO mechanical? Not sure yet
Ordered mine the moment the came up on AliExpress. Mine still hasn't shipped but the price went from 400 CAD to 540 CAD..... Looking forward to getting mine and putting it on the gravel bike.
Yeah the price is a little too high atm if you ask me... Hopefully it will come down in the next few weeks as distribution is sorted out. Time will tell I guess!
@Trace Velo Just a couple of points. 1. The RX 12 speed RD shown in the video by Joe @Chinacycling isn't the RX series but rather the GRT series. Misleading> 2. The FD from the normal RX 2x12 and the FD from the Hydraulic version of RX 2x12 k actually different even through they are named the same. . The newer one has a sort of cable guide at the rear where as the older one don't. Unfortunately it's not possible to buy the newer FD as a standalone. 3. It's nowhere near $200 , more like double the price.
Never have I clicked so fast. 🥖!! Edit: just finished the video. The groupset looks really good. But the left shifter is concerning. Maybe it’s a defect?
@@TraceVelo Cant find it for now, Im afraid. Was I confused by his Velobuild references? Surely not! Anyway, rejoice meanwhile in the China Cycling piece. I think its more complementary and mutually reinforcing than a competitive threat to you. 🤞
super exicted and looking really forward for your first road expressions. Especially on shifting in the drops because thats the crucial point on my list for my upcomming bike build and if it will be sensah or L-Twoo.
I'll be buying as soon as i can find a seller with the 2x11 aluminium version However I see the ltwoo store has the 2x12 carbon version so hopefully the alu one will be available soon.
Hi, I am going to use L-TWOO RX on my first gravel build probably, so I will see how they perform. Original plan was Sensah (Empirer/pro, srx/pro), but lets try hydraulic. Thx for quick look
Hey Luke, for next video, would you mind going into a bit of detail if any shimano or sram pads etc are comparable and similar with the cassette? Would be good to know if any parts can be grabbed locally should they need replacing !
Wohoo! Perfect timing .. i was So desperately waiting for this video! TV delivered as usual:) Thanks for this Nice Present today and frohe Weihnachten 🎁🎄
I saw the group on Ali but was a little surprised at the price with tax to my country. I hope they prove to be good and uncertainly I'd consider a set for a gravel touring build if they prove to be worthy.
Yeah I really hope the price drops. If you can get this set for £270, it's a bargain. For £360, it becomes more difficult to justify. Anyway thanks for the comment glenn!
Very interested in this Groupset actually. Glad to finally see another person on the internet showing more information(coming soon) on it. That video you mentioned from China Cycling, I did see it as well and it was mentioned that the RD can handle up to 50T(or was it 52T, I forget) cassettes out of the box. That's one of the things that interests me about this group and I hope you can shed some insights about it in the review video. Thank you.
I was pleasantly surprised when i saw an aliexpress listing of their 2x9 road shifters for like $65 with shipping. The cheapest local option are shimano sora and they cost like $180 which is insane .
So… 10/10 for looks, but functionally… is this mini group no more than an ornament? I look forward to a functional review. Beautiful presentation, love the use of a purple backlight effect and the muck-off gloves. Nice!
One of my local bike mechanics says L-Twoo is good however in his experience they require more frequent derailleur adjustments to keep shifting properly. Still great that L-Twoo and Sensah are viable alternatives.
@@sepg5084 Shimano have a better shifter cables* compared to generic ones if you use Shimano shifter cables on ltwoo derailleur they don't need to adjust them as often Barrel adjuster can take the slack *shifter cables not shifter
afaik, calipers are flat mounts. Spacing is based on a flat mount fork(not on a fm frame, like everyone does) which has a spacing of 70mm. Post mounts are spaced at 74.2mm. Can you confirm that?
Looks nice quality and obviously they have watched and listened to criticism from you and other UA-camr's.........I just hope they have put effort into quality control, something which Sensah seriously needs to do, I have gone from being a fan to losing faith because of derailleur failures caused purely through them firing everything they produce out of the door without even looking at it. My daughter got me a Harry Potter wand for Christmas, she said wand in French is baguette, can't find a wand emoji so will a magicians hat do?🎩 Las baguette magic ✨🤪 Merry Christmas Luke
Yeah this has always been a bit of an issue with the cheaper Chinese groupsets. To save on costs, QC is clearly quite rushed in some instances... But I should be getting my hands on an additional groupset soon, so it will be good to see if there are any major differences between the two. Hopefully LYWOO have stepped up, but that kink in the brake hose tells me otherwise tbh...
@@TraceVelo as yours is from a third party seller and they've opened it up to take the oil out, maybe it uncoiled and someone with sausage fingers just bent it getting it back in the box rather that it being done at the L Twoo factory?
I don't need a new bike now but when I do get one I'm tempted to make a China special now. Nothing knock off or no-name but a Winspace SLC with Hypers and an L-Twoo groupset sounds great. Maybe I'll wait to see if L-Twoo releases an electronic groupset before I decide
🥖 and a bonus 🥯. Great video as ever - interesting to see that there is now a hydraulic option, I am glad I watched to the end and will be fascinated to see how they are when installed and operated. A touch disappointed by the look of that front shifter but there is always more tension on a front shift, so maybe that will explain it when working. Hope it works out for you - I'm seriously considering one of these next year if they are half decent to upgrade my disc brakes bike. Thanks for getting a last little Christmas video out, Merry Christmas! 🎁🌲🎅
I can confirm that shipping oil seems to be an issue. I've had a UPS shipment from China rejected because of that. Not sure the exact definition of what is restricted though
Great video as always. Keen on buying these bad boys for my next build. I’ve been thinking, maybe in the future you’d build mtb instead. That will be a blast!
Hi Luke, thanks for the review. The only thing I would like to point out with this groupset, and it's valid with Campa as well, is that it's almost impossible to bike pack with a front bag. You would not have access to the downshifting lever. Great to see Chinese are pushing on these groupsets.
I just installed my GR9 hydraulic groupset and I am disappointed. The shifting resistance is appauling. I used ltwoo's supplied cable and a jagwire housing. The cable looks good quality. Copper-colored so maybe it's coated with something. It's definitely polished and smooth so maybe it's the cheap housing or the fact that I routed it on the front side of the handlebar where the horizontal bent is bigger forcing the housing to bent more. The levers have another groove to route the housing on the back side of the handle bar for a less bent of the housing so I must give it a try. But the worst thing is that the left lever bleed port screw is tightened so hard that it won't budge. I stripped and rounded its head trying to loosen it and now it's stuck forever. Suprisingly I was able to bleed the system using just one syringe plugged into the caliper so from top to bottom. But anyway I am waiting for the seller's response and his solution becasue this lever qualifies for a replacement. Other drawbacks: 1. Rubber of the hoods is slippery although it has a matte feel to it and has a texture. Shimano's hoods are way more grippy. 2. To save manufacturing costs, for the left lever they use a lever from a 2x groupset (maybe rx) because it has guiding groves for the shifter housing under the hood. They simply just don't put the cable ratchet pulley and shifitng paddle and trigger. That's ok but without this ratchert, there's a gaping hole underneath the lever where all the gunk and dust may build up. Also while on the hoods having your index and middle fingers wrapped around the hood, you can feel that hole and it's edges under the fingers tips which is uncomfortable. Especially when you grasp firmly while pedalling hard out of the saddle uphill. How much would it cost them to desing a simple plate cover with an i.e. elastic latch similar to those of battery compartments in tv remote controllers? 3. Downshift trigger is in awkward position. Its position and overall lever shape is heavily inspired by Campagnolo Ekar levers which apparently have the same problem which Paul from Mapdec Cycles reported in one of his reels. On the hoods to reach it you have to sort of lift your hand and twist it inwards. also when pressing down the trigger, if you have your fingers wrapped underneath the lever, they are right under the trigger and obstruct its downward travel so you also have to move them away. I would expect the trigger to be place more towards the front of the lever just like it is in ltwoo's mechanical road levers like r9, r7, r5... Also, it offers up to 3-4 downshift with single push. I think this is unnecessary, because it causes excessive unwanted downshifts. It could be justified in the road RX groupset in finish line sprint situations, but this is a gravel groupset so I think it's pointless and useless. On the plus side, the trigger is ergonomic and right were you'd look for it while on the drops. 4. Lever instllation is troublesome. The bolt clamp is located in the center of the lever body so the vertical part with the master cylinder obstructs access to it to an extent. Also, the bolt is very hard to reach becuse the rubber of the hood is very tight and does not peel off enough to expose the bolt. You need to have an extended hex wrench with a ball-head end and prefferably with an attachable handle. With a standard-sized wrench it will be very hard to reach the bolt. For comparison, in Shimano levers the bolt is on the outer side of the lever body and it only takes to slide the wrench under the hood to reach it. 5. The rear derailleur isa bit too big. I've installed it on an Accent Furious Pro frame and noticed that if I loosen the b-tention screw too much, the front of the derailleur where the clutch is located touches the chainstay and wedges on it preventing normal operation. Also, the part of the derailleur with this clutch is visibally made out of some kind of composite material, probably based on nylon. It's definitely not metal. The rest of the parts, like the pantograph, pulley cage are indeed metal. Unless you buy a version with a carbon pulley cage of course. Pros: 1. Overall quality is good. The logo imprints are good. They are thick and have a nice sort of brushed aluminum texture. 2. The shape of the hoods and lever blades is ergonomic. They feel good under the fingers both on the hoods and on the drops. A this point I honestly do not recommend GR9. It's not worth the risk. I can recommend R5 because I have had these levers for two years now and they have not failed so far although the shifting resistance is also quite strong but not as strong as with these GR9 eventough I have the shifting cable routes along the front of the handlebar as well . The overall build quality and shifting is comparable to Shimano Sora..
Maybe the left shifter mechanism needs some lithium grease? I doubt it will get easier with cable tension - from experience, that will make it worse rather than better. Looking forward to the results of this test - I want to go 12-speed but not electronic.
So the internal mechanism is actually well greased from the factory... So hopefully it will ease up over the first few rides. Alot of the comments from people who have had an oppotrunity to ride it have said this is the case, so fingers crossed it might sort itself out...
Great video! I have several questions for the upcoming video: Are the pads L-TWOO specific? Are they difficult to find or by luck are they compatible with some Shimano models? Any sintered models? Are the olives/barbs/hoses the same as Shimano? How many upshifts/downshifts can you do at once? Do the calipers/disc pads have safety pins in case of a bolt coming loose or anything (like the Shimano ones). This is actually a road derailleur right? So no clutch? Can't wait for your next video about this! Cheers!
Right quick correction, turns out the calipers may look similar to post mount, but actually aren't. The spacing for post mount is 74mm, and these are actually 70mm... Close but no cigar 😎 Once again the comments section keeping me on the straight and narrow! Big shout out to Bikey McBeardface for pointing it out in the comments!!!
70 is the spacing of the fork adapter, so presumably this will directly mount onto a fork (like Campagnolo flat mount) but how do the rear mount?
Does it have a postmount mounting hardware? Thanks!
The reason why the calipers design like post mount is because they want to avoid the patent from shimano and sram
They are not post mount but can you call them flat mount calipers?
@@chienjerry4237 Oh come on. They are breaking all the campagnolo patents blatantly in plain sight. They dont seem to be worried about that at all.
Kudos to the folks at L-Twoo for updating their shifter design and front derailleur. It shows they are listening and are willing to act on constructive criticism. I’m looking for to the full review. Merry Christmas and all the best in 2023 Luke!
Yeah definitely good to see the little design updates, but definitely going to reserve judgement until I get it on the bike!
Hi Luke,
good video. We are a Bikeshop in Berlin and already built some Roadbikes with the new LTWOO Groupsets. R9 and RX Version, they perform really Well!
One big note to the shifting feel you mentioned in the end: when you built the Bike and the tension on the cables is there the shifting will feel not that stiff as if you try to shift with the shifters not been mounted on the bike.
Also after a couple of shiftings the shifters get smoother. I believe this is caused by very precise ratchet systems inside the shifters.
Braking is a real deal now, really good performance.
Enjoy your built,
Best Regards
Ok great, thanks for the comment Kevin! I've got high hopes for this groupset, so hopefully once I get it on the bike, the shifting will sort itself out!
Vielen Dank für die Referenz!
Hallo Kevin wie heißt euer Laden?
LG
@@jakobbossmann Hallo Jakob,
der Laden heißt "Velogetz" in Friedrichshain, falls du Fragen hast melde dich gerne - wir haben die LTWOO Gruppen vorrätig
Ltwoo is very popular here in the Philippines, and they work well and pro riders use ltwoo in pro races, so yeah they're pretty good.
Ok awesome, good to know bernard!!
I really appreciate your work Luke! UA-camr for the people! Of the people and by the people!
Cheers Wasabe!
wow. this is a big one. i've been waiting for it on here for maybe 4 months. i've only first seen it on ali last week, i can't believe you got it this fast. this is a huge step
Yeah really excited to get it on the upcoming build, so stay tuned!
Been waiting for your take on this! A Christmas miracle!
Hi Luke, love your channel! I have ridden my bike with this groupset in my Mainsepeda channel from Indonesia. I have no issues whatsoever with the stiffness of the shifter. So tactile but smooth and nice. My mineral oil from the L-Twoo was shipped separately and late, so I was using Shimano mineral oil and it works just fine! It works like Campy, you can shift single gears or multiple gears! Can't wait to see how your experience is with this thing! Big three better watchout, the world is changing!
Waiting for your braking review at Mount Bromo too. Kudos!
Ok amazing, I'm really excited to get it on the bike, so good to hear from someone that's already got some miles on it. I'm slightly concerned about that left hand shifter, but I'll have to wait and see.
@@TraceVelo can you get to the shifter mechanism with some lithium grease?
Wow another big name from Indonesia already using this groupset 😂 hopefully this Groupset can live to its expectations
By the way, for the stiffness, there is a screw perpendicular to the ratchet that you can screw/unscrew and it seems to change stiffness. I tested it all the way from very stiff yo very very soft (to the point I would barely notice the clicks and could not hold the largest 3-4 cog. positions.
Mireia, you NAILED it. Just had a little play around, unscrewed it half a turn, and bingo, solved the problem. Much lighter shifting now, but i do wonder if it will loosten over time.... Guess we will have to wait and see. But massive thankyou for the tip!!!! Will def shout you out in the next video!
@@TraceVelo you're welcome. Also, if you play around with the grub screw that @chinacycling mentions to change the feeling of the brake pads and remove the spounginess ... be super careful not to push it too much. I managed to pop out the one of my right lever and I struggled to put it back in for a good 3 hours. Totally desperating !!!
Where is this screw, does it have a torx or hex head?
Hey! I just got their Gravel groupset yesterday! My right shifter had the same issue out of the box where it felt super stiff, I could barely shift it with my dummy weak hands. Once it was installed and I'd cycled through the gears a bunch it loosened right up and has been working fantastically since :)
Where did you buy it from?
Ok awesome good to hear! Thanks for the comment Vixxen!
Excellent news! I hope Sensah come out with their own hydraulic setup soon as I really like their shifters. These look really high quality close up here and are undoubtedly gonna sell like hot cakes. Look forward to the full review Sir.
Yeah I get the feeling Sensah won't be far behind!!!
@@TraceVelo I heard it still testing
@@TraceVelo sensah told me they will launch their hydraulic group set in March
Always good to see more competition with any product. It would be nice for L-Twoo to update the rim break version with the improvements they've made. Your videos are the best as always!
Thanks Anaxa! Yeah hopefully the updated thumb trigger design will make its way to the mechanical groupset!
A chinese rim brake ??? Are you serious ??? hahahahha So ignorant this generation, r.i.p
I agree with you. I live in Florida and it's very flat here, so no need for disc brakes, so I prefer to save the extra money and weight and just stick with rim brakes. Waiting for a good Chinese 12 speed rim brake group set.
Finally I've been waiting for you to try this ltwoo Rx 🔥🔥
Look forward to your build...been a fan of Ali Express Carbon bike bits,frames,wheels for past 10 years now. Enjoy your content. Before moving to Co Donegal 20 years ago lived in your neck of the woods- North Aston. Happy Christmas.
It really is Christmas now! I'm excited to see this one! I already gave myself a gift and oredered the last missing piece of my build, the frame :D Can't wait to put it all together!
🥖 looking forward to the build and testing video! Well-done, Luke!
Cheers Emmet, build coming soon!
YES!YES!YES! THANK YOU LUKE,can't wait for the whole set up and the test outcome👍
Coming soon!
I hope it's been said before, but thank you ever so much for all the videos you do where you test out these Chinese components so we can either buy or not. As I'm sure you're aware, it's more or less a crap shoot when it comes to buying Chinese bike parts, and having to wait weeks if not months to get something only to have it not work properly is a huge waste of time and money. I rely heavily on you and a few others to let me know which products are worth the wait and money, so again, thank you so much. Riding slowly it doesn't matter so much, but going 20+ mph, or even over 40 bombing downhill, you really want to know that your bike is going to be safe and things aren't going to break apart and put you in danger. Looking forward to seeing the build on this one. Happy New Year and have a great day.
I can't wait for their gravel group set . It supports up to a a 52 tooth cassette, which eliminates the need for hacky mullet setups for bike packing/touring setups with hydraulic brakes. The 180mm caliper compatibility will be great too, which I had no idea was even possible with flat mount brakes.
A few companies sell 189 disc adaptors for flat mount now. Peak torque does a front adaptor not sure about the back
I have the gravel groupset on the way actually, so stay tuned for that review!
@@TraceVelo Please test it with a wide range cassette (up to 50 or 52 tooth). There are a lot of people out there crossing their fingers that that is more than a rumor.
Also, as for the casette, chainring and chain... I am using a cheap 11-34 12s casette, a 34-50 integrated DUB chainring from senics and a sram eagle chain I had somewhere with still some life ahead. The combo seems to work fine.
Yes, the group set we have been waiting for
The review, no, the REVIEW, the world has been waiting for
I have their manual stuff on my bike and absolutely love it. Never had an issue.
Yeah the LTWOO mechanical gropusets I've tried in the past have been fantastic, so hopefully the shifting on this set will hold up too!
They ARE flat mount and NOT post, I think a lot of people are being confused by this because the design of the calipers and the mounts. Basically they have done the opposite to Shimano/SRAM. Because the mounting hole spacing is different on fork than it is on the frame if you want to use the same design of caliper front and rear (like Shimano/SRAM do) one caliper will always need a mount/adapter plate, With Shimano/SRAM no matter what size rotor you use you ALWAYS need an adapter/mount on the fork but NOT always on the frame (depending on what size rotor you are using and what the frame was designed for). LT-Woo have done the opposite so with these calipers you will ALWAYS need an adapter/mount on the rear but NOT always on the front.
Agree. I saw one product photo and it states that hole spacing is 70mm. PM are 74.2.
Ok nice, thanks for the comment Bikey!! Once I get a second I'm gonna re-measure the caliper spacing and double check this! Once again the comments are keeping me on my toes!!!
@@TraceVelo No worries, I think the only advantage to this is it might allow you to run 140 rotors on SOME gravel frame-sets (depending on the frame design). Merry Christmas, have a good one. 🎄🥖🥖
Yea seems they like way campy did the front flat mount calliper so it natively fits the fork
Very encouraging and great to see. Looking forward to the build, Luke!
You and me both!
New Trace Velo video day is the best day of the week? month? year? whatever, let's see some cheap shifters! Also, Happy Christmas!
Can't wait for a build! Been thinking of getting these for my build over the winter.
Wow this group set seems really impressive at first glance. Can't wait for the installation video and the proper review. Merry Christmas, Luke! 🥖
Cheers Sotir!!!
Long wait for this video. We definitely needed a hydrolic groupset of the people. Regards.
Very much looking forward to the build and ride video. This could change the game
It definitely looks good and I can’t wait for the build/review. Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖
I reallyyy love what you did. thanks for reviewing Ltwoo RX
The shifters click better once they are attached to the handlebars. The rubber on the hoods likes to pinch on the thumb levelers and I needed to trim it to release properly. Every so often the rubber tabs on the brake lever causes the shifter not to release as well. make sure you run a cable backwards on those clamp hooks w/ the brake lines during install to save you time.
Mine is on the way, should arrive in the next few days. Thanks for the early real-world review. My seller arranged to send the mineral oil separately, for no add'l cost.
Nice to see that they appear to be using standard Shimano style hydraulic olives and pins, although would have been nice to have at least two rather than one in with the kit. Also a shame about that hose. Generic hose isnt too expensive but still a pain that it came from the factory like that and little care was used packaging it. Means at least a trip to the LBS or a wait for online spares to arrive at extra expense.
Yeah although I'm not too bothered about the kink in the hose, you are right tbh. It shouldn't really have been sent out from the factory in that condition...
OMG Trace Velo you're one of a kind. can't wait to see how it goes.
🥖🥖🥖 I was waiting for this video since the L-TWOO announcement. You never disappoint, TOP NOTCH
Thanks Tom!!!
TV really making me want to build up a Chinese bike...these shifters look amazing
Honestly, that's the best looking chinese brand group set
Can't wait for these to be available from L Two officially on AliExpress, all the sellers seem to be slightly random stores
Yeah looks like LTWOO have started to stock them on their own AliExpress store in the last day or two. The prices are still quite high, so hopefully they will come down!
I'm taking notes on parts for now, not purchasing anything. I'm going to be moving to Norway from the USA in the next few months, and I'm planning on building a bike once I get there, as opposed to bringing my current bike. Your channel has been a huge help in upgrading my current setup, and it's going to be even more helpful once I make the move. Thanks for all of of your effort, my guy.
No probs Raccoon! Yeah I would maybe wait until someone has put some decent miles on one of these groupsets before taking the plunge... Plus tbh the price is a bit high right now. Hopefully it will come down in the next month or two, because it is a little too close to Shimano 105 R7020 money in my opinion.
@@TraceVelo I'm likely not moving until March. So I've got time. I was actually looking at the sensah mechanical 12 speed groupset initially. But now I'm kind of leaning toward the LTWOO mechanical? Not sure yet
Ordered mine the moment the came up on AliExpress. Mine still hasn't shipped but the price went from 400 CAD to 540 CAD..... Looking forward to getting mine and putting it on the gravel bike.
Yeah the price is a little too high atm if you ask me... Hopefully it will come down in the next few weeks as distribution is sorted out. Time will tell I guess!
Been waiting for this!!
Early Christmas gift
this is just the most complete reviewer
Great kit, look forward to the test!
Can’t wait for the build. Looks great! Except for that sticky left shifter. Look forward to hear how the brakes work.
Yeah hopefully the sticky shifter sorts itself out once it's on the bike!
@Trace Velo
Just a couple of points.
1. The RX 12 speed RD shown in the video by Joe @Chinacycling isn't the RX series but rather the GRT series. Misleading>
2. The FD from the normal RX 2x12 and the FD from the Hydraulic version of RX 2x12 k actually different even through they are named the same. . The newer one has a sort of cable guide at the rear where as the older one don't. Unfortunately it's not possible to buy the newer FD as a standalone.
3. It's nowhere near $200 , more like double the price.
Never have I clicked so fast. 🥖!!
Edit: just finished the video. The groupset looks really good. But the left shifter is concerning. Maybe it’s a defect?
🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖 before the request
I am really looking forward to this build super excited to see how the group set holds up!
Cheers Ian!
Nice one Luke. Heard you getting a (positive!) shout out from Hambini the other day. Baguette would have been better, but well done anyway. 🥖🥖🥖
Ohh really, that awesome. Which video was it on?
@@TraceVelo Cant find it for now, Im afraid. Was I confused by his Velobuild references? Surely not! Anyway, rejoice meanwhile in the China Cycling piece. I think its more complementary and mutually reinforcing than a competitive threat to you. 🤞
Best present for Christmas! Havnt been able to afford it, so been waiting for your review.
super exicted and looking really forward for your first road expressions. Especially on shifting in the drops because thats the crucial point on my list for my upcomming bike build and if it will be sensah or L-Twoo.
Yeah I'm desperate to get it on the bike and try it out!
I find there's a huge difference between operating the lever when off the bars compared to when it's fixed to the bars.
Yeah hopefully on the bike things will sort themselves out!
Super excited to see how this turns out!
I'll be buying as soon as i can find a seller with the 2x11 aluminium version
However I see the ltwoo store has the 2x12 carbon version so hopefully the alu one will be available soon.
Ltwoo 11speed hydraulic already available on aliexpress
Looks really good, hopefully it performs as well! Excellent video as always.
I hope so too!
Hi, I am going to use L-TWOO RX on my first gravel build probably, so I will see how they perform. Original plan was Sensah (Empirer/pro, srx/pro), but lets try hydraulic. Thx for quick look
Hey Luke, for next video, would you mind going into a bit of detail if any shimano or sram pads etc are comparable and similar with the cassette? Would be good to know if any parts can be grabbed locally should they need replacing !
Yeah good shout! I am pretty confident the pads will be a standard Shimano variety, but I'll def check!
Very tempted to order one of these can’t wait for the build to see how it works great vid as usual Luke
Wohoo! Perfect timing .. i was So desperately waiting for this video! TV delivered as usual:) Thanks for this Nice Present today and frohe Weihnachten 🎁🎄
really looking forward to this! thank you luke! 👍🏼
I saw the group on Ali but was a little surprised at the price with tax to my country. I hope they prove to be good and uncertainly I'd consider a set for a gravel touring build if they prove to be worthy.
Yeah I really hope the price drops. If you can get this set for £270, it's a bargain. For £360, it becomes more difficult to justify. Anyway thanks for the comment glenn!
5:00 as a italian I can say that the second version of Campagnolo's pronunciation is way better that the first one, not right, but better ahahaha
I'm so stocked, really looking forward for the full review!
Looking forward to the build,Luke. Those look decent. Loving the gold on black. Merry Christmas!
Yeah, I've gotta say, they do look pretty tasty. Hopefully the perform well on the bike... Time will tell
L twoo eRX geoupset is released.
The first Chinese electronic groupset with the same shifting logic as shimano di2.
Very interested in this Groupset actually. Glad to finally see another person on the internet showing more information(coming soon) on it. That video you mentioned from China Cycling, I did see it as well and it was mentioned that the RD can handle up to 50T(or was it 52T, I forget) cassettes out of the box. That's one of the things that interests me about this group and I hope you can shed some insights about it in the review video.
Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Looking forward to the long term review on this one. And some insight on the post mounting measurement.
🥖🥖🥖🥖 always look forward to these reviews. Also happy to see competing affordable products now that 105 is stupidly priced.
I was pleasantly surprised when i saw an aliexpress listing of their 2x9 road shifters for like $65 with shipping.
The cheapest local option are shimano sora and they cost like $180 which is insane .
Yeah LTWOO stuff is good value for sure!
So… 10/10 for looks, but functionally… is this mini group no more than an ornament?
I look forward to a functional review.
Beautiful presentation, love the use of a purple backlight effect and the muck-off gloves. Nice!
Yeah I really hope it performs when it's installed on the bike!!!
One of my local bike mechanics says L-Twoo is good however in his experience they require more frequent derailleur adjustments to keep shifting properly. Still great that L-Twoo and Sensah are viable alternatives.
That's because of the derailleur tension stretching the shifter cable
@@KXSWORKS i guess Shimano have better cables if the mechanics only noticed it on Ltwoo?
@@sepg5084 Shimano have a better shifter cables* compared to generic ones if you use Shimano shifter cables on ltwoo derailleur they don't need to adjust them as often
Barrel adjuster can take the slack
*shifter cables not shifter
@@KXSWORKS Thanks. I'll let him know.
afaik, calipers are flat mounts. Spacing is based on a flat mount fork(not on a fm frame, like everyone does) which has a spacing of 70mm. Post mounts are spaced at 74.2mm. Can you confirm that?
Looks nice quality and obviously they have watched and listened to criticism from you and other UA-camr's.........I just hope they have put effort into quality control, something which Sensah seriously needs to do, I have gone from being a fan to losing faith because of derailleur failures caused purely through them firing everything they produce out of the door without even looking at it.
My daughter got me a Harry Potter wand for Christmas, she said wand in French is baguette, can't find a wand emoji so will a magicians hat do?🎩 Las baguette magic ✨🤪
Merry Christmas Luke
Yeah this has always been a bit of an issue with the cheaper Chinese groupsets. To save on costs, QC is clearly quite rushed in some instances... But I should be getting my hands on an additional groupset soon, so it will be good to see if there are any major differences between the two. Hopefully LYWOO have stepped up, but that kink in the brake hose tells me otherwise tbh...
@@TraceVelo as yours is from a third party seller and they've opened it up to take the oil out, maybe it uncoiled and someone with sausage fingers just bent it getting it back in the box rather that it being done at the L Twoo factory?
I don't need a new bike now but when I do get one I'm tempted to make a China special now. Nothing knock off or no-name but a Winspace SLC with Hypers and an L-Twoo groupset sounds great. Maybe I'll wait to see if L-Twoo releases an electronic groupset before I decide
"Those were my knees popping" I can't 🤣🤣🤣 Love your videos!
Looking forward to the next build. Happy Christmas. Have a baguette 🥖🥖
🥖 Good first impression, looking forward to seeing how it fairs when in use, especially that left shifter
Yeah really hope the left shifter sorts itself out!
Merry Christmas Luke, and a Happy New Year with lots of 🥖
Finally i was waiting for this video 😂👌
🥖🥖🥖 I can’t wait to see the groupset being tested by you. Merry Christmas 🎄
Good video Luke happy Christmas.
Come on Luke I was just about to sleep. Guess I gotta watch this first.
This ltwoo groupset is frikin amazing
Ita so good, that its already quite hard to get one in Indonesia
Its gone off the shelf in a second
🥖 and a bonus 🥯.
Great video as ever - interesting to see that there is now a hydraulic option, I am glad I watched to the end and will be fascinated to see how they are when installed and operated. A touch disappointed by the look of that front shifter but there is always more tension on a front shift, so maybe that will explain it when working. Hope it works out for you - I'm seriously considering one of these next year if they are half decent to upgrade my disc brakes bike.
Thanks for getting a last little Christmas video out, Merry Christmas! 🎁🌲🎅
Combining the best of sram and shimano. Ltwoo has his a home run!
Design of the shifter is from Compagnolo
@@卡臣-c2f agree that the high gear shift inside lever is campy but the overall look is sram. So the best of Campy, Sram and shimano.
I can confirm that shipping oil seems to be an issue. I've had a UPS shipment from China rejected because of that.
Not sure the exact definition of what is restricted though
Great video as always. Keen on buying these bad boys for my next build. I’ve been thinking, maybe in the future you’d build mtb instead. That will be a blast!
Merry Christmas Luke! I wish you also good health and many miles in2023. I like your videos.
Well done. Next time we get electronic shifting... looking forward!!!!
Thanks for sharing🥖 can’t wait to see the full review! Merry X-Mas
Great review Luke. Wishing you a Merry Christmas 🎄 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖
Thanks, TV.......just tweeking the algorithm with the power of commenting.
I want see the long rang test but it looks promising. The big three need to pay attention!
Yeah for sure! I'm desperate to get it on the next build, so stay tuned!!
I'm glad you finally got this! I sent a message on your Instagram thinking you'll see it, but happy to see your review.
You shall never deny a man of his baguette!!
Can't wait to see how you get on with this grouoset, it's about time the big name brands had some competition 🥖🥖🥖
Hi Luke, thanks for the review. The only thing I would like to point out with this groupset, and it's valid with Campa as well, is that it's almost impossible to bike pack with a front bag. You would not have access to the downshifting lever.
Great to see Chinese are pushing on these groupsets.
You may try the blackburn outpost. The mount separates the bag fron the handlebar.
I just installed my GR9 hydraulic groupset and I am disappointed. The shifting resistance is appauling. I used ltwoo's supplied cable and a jagwire housing. The cable looks good quality. Copper-colored so maybe it's coated with something. It's definitely polished and smooth so maybe it's the cheap housing or the fact that I routed it on the front side of the handlebar where the horizontal bent is bigger forcing the housing to bent more. The levers have another groove to route the housing on the back side of the handle bar for a less bent of the housing so I must give it a try.
But the worst thing is that the left lever bleed port screw is tightened so hard that it won't budge. I stripped and rounded its head trying to loosen it and now it's stuck forever. Suprisingly I was able to bleed the system using just one syringe plugged into the caliper so from top to bottom. But anyway I am waiting for the seller's response and his solution becasue this lever qualifies for a replacement.
Other drawbacks:
1. Rubber of the hoods is slippery although it has a matte feel to it and has a texture. Shimano's hoods are way more grippy.
2. To save manufacturing costs, for the left lever they use a lever from a 2x groupset (maybe rx) because it has guiding groves for the shifter housing under the hood. They simply just don't put the cable ratchet pulley and shifitng paddle and trigger. That's ok but without this ratchert, there's a gaping hole underneath the lever where all the gunk and dust may build up. Also while on the hoods having your index and middle fingers wrapped around the hood, you can feel that hole and it's edges under the fingers tips which is uncomfortable. Especially when you grasp firmly while pedalling hard out of the saddle uphill. How much would it cost them to desing a simple plate cover with an i.e. elastic latch similar to those of battery compartments in tv remote controllers?
3. Downshift trigger is in awkward position. Its position and overall lever shape is heavily inspired by Campagnolo Ekar levers which apparently have the same problem which Paul from Mapdec Cycles reported in one of his reels. On the hoods to reach it you have to sort of lift your hand and twist it inwards. also when pressing down the trigger, if you have your fingers wrapped underneath the lever, they are right under the trigger and obstruct its downward travel so you also have to move them away. I would expect the trigger to be place more towards the front of the lever just like it is in ltwoo's mechanical road levers like r9, r7, r5... Also, it offers up to 3-4 downshift with single push. I think this is unnecessary, because it causes excessive unwanted downshifts. It could be justified in the road RX groupset in finish line sprint situations, but this is a gravel groupset so I think it's pointless and useless. On the plus side, the trigger is ergonomic and right were you'd look for it while on the drops.
4. Lever instllation is troublesome. The bolt clamp is located in the center of the lever body so the vertical part with the master cylinder obstructs access to it to an extent. Also, the bolt is very hard to reach becuse the rubber of the hood is very tight and does not peel off enough to expose the bolt. You need to have an extended hex wrench with a ball-head end and prefferably with an attachable handle. With a standard-sized wrench it will be very hard to reach the bolt. For comparison, in Shimano levers the bolt is on the outer side of the lever body and it only takes to slide the wrench under the hood to reach it.
5. The rear derailleur isa bit too big. I've installed it on an Accent Furious Pro frame and noticed that if I loosen the b-tention screw too much, the front of the derailleur where the clutch is located touches the chainstay and wedges on it preventing normal operation. Also, the part of the derailleur with this clutch is visibally made out of some kind of composite material, probably based on nylon. It's definitely not metal. The rest of the parts, like the pantograph, pulley cage are indeed metal. Unless you buy a version with a carbon pulley cage of course.
Pros:
1. Overall quality is good. The logo imprints are good. They are thick and have a nice sort of brushed aluminum texture.
2. The shape of the hoods and lever blades is ergonomic. They feel good under the fingers both on the hoods and on the drops.
A this point I honestly do not recommend GR9. It's not worth the risk. I can recommend R5 because I have had these levers for two years now and they have not failed so far although the shifting resistance is also quite strong but not as strong as with these GR9 eventough I have the shifting cable routes along the front of the handlebar as well . The overall build quality and shifting is comparable to Shimano Sora..
I hope they make a rim brake version with the same color schemes and the same material for the shifter.
Maybe the left shifter mechanism needs some lithium grease? I doubt it will get easier with cable tension - from experience, that will make it worse rather than better. Looking forward to the results of this test - I want to go 12-speed but not electronic.
So the internal mechanism is actually well greased from the factory... So hopefully it will ease up over the first few rides. Alot of the comments from people who have had an oppotrunity to ride it have said this is the case, so fingers crossed it might sort itself out...
Great video! I have several questions for the upcoming video:
Are the pads L-TWOO specific? Are they difficult to find or by luck are they compatible with some Shimano models? Any sintered models? Are the olives/barbs/hoses the same as Shimano?
How many upshifts/downshifts can you do at once?
Do the calipers/disc pads have safety pins in case of a bolt coming loose or anything (like the Shimano ones).
This is actually a road derailleur right? So no clutch?
Can't wait for your next video about this! Cheers!
They have a 1x GRT model with a clutch derailleur coming too in 11 and 12 speed