Take this review for what it is: initial impressions after building up and riding the first few km’s. The group came packed in a nice box with adapters and bolts needed for installation all included. If you’re familiar with Shimano groupsets, the installation of the group should be not too difficult. I was very curious to see how the build quality and performance of the group was as a bike mechanic, so I’m glad I got the chance to finally check it out. About the build quality: The materials and finish is very good for the price, not a whole lot that can be said about it actually. I would say that it’s on par with Shimano 105 or therebouts. The ergonomics of the shifters is good, but I guess this is allways something personal. I’m not to sure about the rubber of the hoods, as they seem comfortable but slightly lack a bit of grip I would say. The seem a tiny bit on the slippery side. The derailleur is well made, but has some plastic parts (nothing wrong with plastic!) in a few odd places where they could damage easily. Especially the cable guide seems a bit on the fragile side, but maybe this is just the way it looks. Clutch is strong, but cannot be turned off. The brake calipers are nice but require the special adapter for installation. This was a big problem for me, as the fork I was using had a recessed flatmount mounting area (LightCarbon FK-G071-D), which made the installation of these calipers impossible. Granted: you don’t see alot of these kind of recessed mounting area’s on frames or forks, but the larger width of the L-Twoo calipers is definitely something to take into account. I went with Shimano 105 calipers instead, using the hoses that came with the calipers. It all works nicely together. As far as performance or durability goes, I can’t say that much about it yet. The group shifts very well, and it’s also great to be able to shift multiple gears at the same time. I’ve had one minor problem with the derailleur though. When it is in the highest gear (smallest sprocket), I am used to pull the derailleur back to be able to get the wheel out. This also works here ofcourse, but you should be very careful, as a protruding part of the inner part of the derailleur made a deep scratch on the derailleur cage. I don’t think it’s a structural problem but it took away some clear coat. Be aware of this when taking the wheel out! Sadly I cannot say anything about the braking performance, as I used shimano calipers for reasons meantioned earlier. I am not a fan of recommending items that I haven’t used thoroughly, but it seems to be well reasonably well made (especially for the price) and performs well. 8,5 / 10
