L-TWOO GR7 1x10 shifters and derailleur review.

LTWoo GR7 1x10 gravel shifters and derailleur - ~$75. 

If you spend any time on cycling forums (I frequent forum.trainerroad.com and Reddit) then you'll have seen conversation about inexpensive Chinese frames, bikes, and components. I'll confess I went down this rabbit hole. And after a few months of seeking out videos about it like this and this, I figured I'd take a risk and give it a try. I figured with it being so inexpensive, if it's terrible I'm not out that much. 

And I was pleasantly surprised. The LTWoo (pronounced, it seems, "L two") 1x10 Gr7 shifters have turned out to be great. My gravel bike came with Microshift and it worked ok. But it didn't feel great, and the shift cable was not concealed under that bar tape with the brake cable. It looked totally 90's and I wanted to upgrade it. 

I bought the shifters and derailleur and had to wait a few weeks to install it due to kid's sports and a busy work schedule. When the day came I was like a kid on Christmas morning. It went on easy, if you've ever worked on Shimano shifters on a road or other drop-bar bike, it's pretty par for the course. Adjustments were quick and easy. It looks great and works great. It's clearly modeled after Campagnolo shifters. Shifting is clean and crisp and the brake lever seems to work well with my brakes (which I'll be upgrading also at some point). I got these on AliExpress for about $75. 

After a few months of riding it now I'm quite pleased. The derailleur does not come with a barrel adjuster but they do send an inline one. That's easy enough to install between the bars and the frame and, honestly, I prefer it as you can adjust on the fly. It took a few rides to iron out the kinks but I finally got it to where I want it and it's been great. 

If you need a 10 speed cassette to go with it I like the Z-Race Alpha cassette in an 11-50. I'm running a 1x with a 42 in front. I've got all the gears I need for the riding I do. The rear derailleur does not have a clutch which I was concerned about. The clutch prevents the derailleur and chain from jumping around when the bike is bouncing. I was relieved to discover that, despite putting the bike through some pretty tough and varied conditions, this does not seem to be a problem with this derailleur. A long push gets you 2 gears. But, you can only go down one at a time. For my pretty simple needs this is just fine. 

Overall I'm pretty pleased with this product. It was inexpensive but still an upgrade on my gravel bike. It improved my experience and the appearance of the bike. It's not ultegra or dura ace, but I'd put it up against Shimano 105 or Tiagra any day. 

You can find it here: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DF0YYZb. 

I'll be doing a review of the Z-Race cable actuated hydraulic brakes in the near future as well. 

Enjoy!