groupset experiment

 Shimano is coming out with electronic shifting for the 105 component range. Rumor has it that availability of mechanical 105 will end; Shimano may expect entry-level bikes to be fitted with Tiagra (10-speed) or Sora (9-speed) road components. 

There's been a certain amount of angst on the bike websites and Youtube channels I frequent about whether this will drive people to SRAM Apex or Rival, or even Campagnolo Chorus, which are available as mechanical groupsets. Others are moving towards Microshift (a Taiwanese company) or Micronew (which basically robs Microshift technology and builds products in China).

I'm a fan of mechanical groupsets. First, they're cheaper, and the price of entry into road cycling is already high. Second, I love watching the levers pull the cables and do the mechanical stuff on the bike frame; I think internally-routed cables eliminate some of the wonder of the mechanically-shifted bike (I like to say that Leonardo could have figured it out). Third, I don't want to have to mess around with charging the bike. You can theoretically go a year or two without charging, and for me, that's even worse than the need for frequent charging. How am I supposed to remember the last time I charged the bike? Is that another thing I've got to track?

I've been following Luke over at Trace Velo, who's got a series of videos where he buys cheap Chinese components on Ali Express, and builds them up on his bikes (or into new bikes). He's been pretty happy with this 11-speed Sensah group, so I decided to give it a try. (Rumor is that a number of SRAM engineers were unhappy, and started Sensah; I've heard that Sensah shifters are compatible with SRAM derailleurs, but I cannot confirm, or find a citation right now.)

Ali Express is a bit of a wild-west of shopping, and I know there have been improvements to the Sensah setup (which may not have filtered out to all the other vendors), so I decided to go straight to the Sensah Store and buy from them.

I plan to try it out on the Krakow Monster, my monstercross bike (I am NOT messing with the friction-shifting Gevenalle set on the Yellow Maserati, my titanium bike). The Monster is currently set up with 9-speed, so, in addition to the shifters, I'll need rear derailleur, cassette, and chain (I could use the current front derailleur, as the chainrings are 11-speed-compatible, but I'll probably change that out too, to be complete and consistent). I ordered this six-component kit (I don't need brakes, and Sensah doesn't make them - the brakes in the groupsets that include them are from other vendors, with inconsistent levels of quality). At the time I ordered, it was about $175 US including shipping. (You can get carbon levers, for about $70 more, but nobody who knows me will be surprised that I didn't go with the carbon fiber - plastic bikes; hrmph.)

I expect it in about two weeks. When I build it up, I'll do another post, and when I've given it a reasonable trial, I'll do another (and I'll probably cross-post on the Ramblin' Wrench blog).