I've tried to like Cadence a few times in order to avoid having to buy a cycling computer, but sadly it's just not very good. Navigation in it is frankly garbage, the map and the route is just hard to read. For example Komoot or even Google Maps is 10x better for navigation, and I actually ended up cancelling my Cadence subscription and replaced it with a splitscreen of the free SuperCycle app for data and Komoot for navigation. Cadence does have a pretty nice UI that's customizable, but that's about it, and it costs a lot of money whereas SuperCycle (or something similar) and Komoot are free. Cadence also drains my phone battery quite fast and also makes taking photos/videos harder when you have to switch apps to camera and back. Maybe it's good for someone that doesn't need the map, doesn't care about subscription prices and only does short rides, but I'm going to use the superior free alternatives until I get a proper cycling computer.
Sorry to hear you didn't have a better experience with Cadence. The Navigation is handled entirely by Mapbox, and I think for some areas, their dataset isn't as robust as something like Komoot. I have plans to build it out further but it'll take time. Cadence is still technically a side project for me (that takes as much time as a second full time job 😅), so working on new features, support, marketing, and fixing bugs is a balance.
I am using the elite version of the app find it fantastic for gravel rides gives me all info i need. Pairs great with garmin watch & HR sensors. One downside maybe you could take to them is the ability to lock the screen within the app but still display. Reason being im a sweaty F**ker and i am finding that when sweat drops on the phone screen it runs down the screen and sits on the hold to pause button and it can pause a ride not ideal when climbing up a mountain path. Otherwise love the app and of course your vlogs keep up the great work,👍
Thanks for the kind words! There's a Rain Lock already: tap the Hold to Pause button and then hold on the water icon that shows up until Rain Lock activates.
i put my phone on my handlebars a few years ago just for gravel ride round the new forest, by the time i got back my phone had the same level of dementia as Joe Biden, the cpu got rattled loose, if you ride off road never put your phone on your handlebars, or next time you try to navigate you'll have Biden at the helm "well you know, you know, the thing"
I just tried this and it’s pretty good but the GPS navigation is horrible. I missed my turn and it kept on trying to tell me to do a U-turn to start from the beginning to get back on track eventually closed and my phone GPS.
Ignoring the fact I’m overweight, strapping a massive iPhone to bars just isn’t aero 😂 Probably lose 5 seconds over 40km, difference between getting to cafe first and the last sausage roll and going wanting…….
I used to use my phone, mounted on a quad lock, up until I was in an accident(unsecured kayak at 50mph). Phone was basically fine after the crash screen was still mint. But I have a newish 1040 Solar, and I dont think I would go back. Partly because I am doing much longer rides, and partly because saving my phone battery just incase something goes real bad is important to me.
For me a phone is just too big to be attached to the bars. Battery life is the main problem. I'll stick to the computer. I guess if you haven't got a computer and do short rides a phone would be okay.
wow Dave I never wanted an ap until now. The most important point you neglected is does it list convenient sausage roll and fish n chips shoppes when you use the navigation feature????
Interesting review. On the navigation side, how does it fair with off-road routing? I’m guessing you can get it to import routes from Komoot for example. On the Zwift side, I cancelled my subscription and have been using MyWhoosh which is free at the moment.
I just recently bought a 2023 Kona Dew Deluxe 650B with a Cassette Shimano Deore 11-51t, 11spd and Chainring 38t. How many teeth are on your chainring Dave?
Thanks Dave, I appreciate the review. It's great to have more affordable alternatives in the marketplace. With time presumably, any quality, tech and customer service issues will be addressed or the brand won't be around for very long. My questions surround the battery - how long it maintains its charge under real world use, whether the battery is replaceable by a home mechanic and if not replaceable, when would the entire rear derailleur unit reach end of life? Long term test report in three, six and twelve months time? 👍
Loved this, but for the wrong reasons. The music and the bike reminded me of the classic film BMX Bandits 😂. Who knows what goes on in my head. Great vlog as ever
I'm a big fan of Chinese products for my bike, and I was initially excited by this until I saw that the road shifters are not compatible with the MTB rear derailleur. This was the reason I chose SRAM over all the other brands, even Shimano. I don't understand how companies struggle to make these gear systems inter compatible, do they use different signals between the shifters and derailleurs.
Been searching for this shifter review. Not much avaliable. Does it have a turbo mode or something? Its super slow on a video. And what about the trim function?
It doesn’t have a turbo/faster mode. Although the road one does have a race mode so maybe will see this in a future firmware update. I also thought it was a bit slow…but…ok so maybe I’m now used to the speed. It feels really nice, there’s not a delay from when you press the button to the shift. All works really well. The you can trim using the app on or flip a switch on the shifter and the buttons control the trim. You can also adjust the individual gear values in the app. I’ve done a more indepth look at this on the channel.
I have a question, I really like the look of this groupset. I run a wide range 2x, I have a derailluer extension and larger jockey wheels which I should be able to swap out, but can you remove the cage for the rear derailluer? Would it for example, fit any shimano cages? Like in cheaper shimano stuff the bit that stops the cage twisting back is riveted in, but screws in for higher level groupsets.
So you can run a derailleur extender to use wider range cassettes. although you can’t swap out the cage, I have a large pulley wheel one on my gravel bike…it fits the 11 speed GRX but won’t fit the 12 speed GRX. The shimano cages have different fixtures to each other it’s not a standard size. I’ve not tried to fit one to Wheeltop but as shimano are not cross compatible I’d assume they wouldn’t work.
It's the app that puts me off, especially as at this moment in time it has issues with the android platform being able to download it. GC Performance sums it up in one of his vids.
I’m definitely interested in Wheeltop, all the reports I’ve heard are good so far but with any Chinese brands the backup worries me. Be interested to see what the Gravel version is like. Another (wheel)top video Dave.
Hi! I am not sure if I should buy because I do not understand “fine Tunes” … how I know de values? I am so lost… can someone help ? I am considering this option because I have rim brake and looks like shimano 105 di2 just are available to disc
People (Westerners) hate on it just because it’s from China. Here’s the thing and it’s a fact that my former Prime Minister used to say “we traded with China for more than 2000 years and they never invaded us. In 1509 we welcomed the Portugese and two years later they invaded us.” 😂 Colonisation from 1511 till 1957. -Who’s the real villain here? I know it’s definitely not China LOL
All the RnD to create products like an electronic groupset costs massive amount of time and money. These Chinese companies just basically dissect and copy Western brands to avoid the investment in RnD. Then they release a product which undercuts the western stuff, the western brands start having to fire employees, cut back quality, go out of business. There seems to be no interest in Western countries of protecting their domestic businesses, especially when it comes to China which is a bit odd, since they are so quick to pounce on intracountry competition/patent conflicts. Competition is often great for us consumers, but some of it isn't in the long run as people will eventually run out of money to buy this stuff because of the destruction of businesses/decent employment wages that comes with these companies. As far as the product itself, I'm not interested in it because a Sram group of equal level is only a little bit more money. and potentially even cheaper if you buy grey market. I have no problem with generic Chinese stuff and have a ton of it FWIW (but I avoid potential IP infringements or straight up counterfeit).
I get what your saying, but have they really copied/dissected shimano, sram or campagnolo here? They all have similar products that are slightly similar. I think mainstream brands do have quite a large mark up on their products and often use R&D as an excuse. Take the new sram red for example…what have they changed? The hoods are smaller…this is something that all companies have been working towards since the introduction of disc brakes on road levers. So maybe the initial r&d for the first sram groupset was costly but there’s no way that they put the same work or money into developing the newest version. When you say sram is a little bit more money…yes if you buy discounted or on the grey market but the new red groupset is over 4x the price of this. Can we really put that down to r&d? I have scram red etap on my road bike and love it, it’s also easier to set up. Although it doesn’t allow for the changing of gears, it’s limited to disc only and seems to go up in price each year for a product with very few changes. I’m not a fan of the straight off knock off products but I don’t think this is one of them. If you looks at other industries there’s a lot more options available. In cycling we have 3 main ones when it comes to groupsets. Any new brands are seen as knock offs. Think about how many brands make running shoes…they are all similar but offer a different product and nobody is screaming about knockoffs.
Generally speaking, "premium" brand products are expensive to cover marketing costs, that's where these types of Chinese products shine as production costs should be similar but they don't have to inflate prices to pay GCN and co. for fluff PR pieces. As pointed out by others, the fire test will be the long term quality of their customer support.
Certainly going to look at the gravel version, i can't believe people doubt your opinion, you certainly put it to test in those Devon hills, a warranty issue could be their only fault, but that's to be seen, or hopefully never 😊👍
Thank you, I’m excited about the gravel one too. The warranty and customer service seems to be peoples biggest concern. I’m about to test that out with some anonymous emailing
Brill, I have installed the EDS TX (rim version) and, after 200 miles, I have to say that I love it. I had to go through the fine tuning for a couple of gears. Thanks for your videos, cheers!
I know there’s a few videos online of people talking about LTWOO and the auto trim and patents. But I’ve not actually been able to find anything concrete about that patent online. The only thing that I found was something saying the Shimano Auto Trim patent allegedly finished at the end of 2023. So maybe this is why LWTOO turned it off 🤷🏻♂️ As far as I’m aware this is the only alleged one. The previous version of the OX had a removable battery, though it’s now not. So I assume that was down to patents and sram. That said…I find it crazy as there’s so many products with removable batteries. Take cameras for example…canon are not moaning or trying to sue Sony for removable batteries. I think that’s more to do with wanting to protect their market. Which is understandable but from a consumer/real world perspective it’s just stupid.
Please do an unboxing. I've seen reviews that show two batteries come in the package, but the website only mentions one. Also is the battery removable?
