$300 Hydraulic Groupset!!! Sensah Empire Pro HRD
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- The Chinese groupset manufacturer Sensah is about to release their first hydraulic groupset. It may be the best one I've ever tried!
SIROKO CLOTHING - 10% off (automatically applied via link below):
srko.co/tracevelo
Hydraulic groupsets from the big brands like Shimano, SRAM, and Campagnolo, have historically been very expensive, but last year a Chinese company L-TWOO shook up the cycle industry by releasing the first Hydraulic groupset for road bikes. Now Sensah, another Chinese groupset manufacturer has joined in with their Empire Pro HRD groupset.
It is a 12 speed mechanical groupset, but offers fully hydraulic disc braking, and is only set to cost around $300!
I have been riding a pre-release version for the last few weeks, and I have been INCREDIBLY impressed. The braking performance is absolutely fantastic, and the gear shifting is smooth, accurate, and precise.
However there are a few things to be aware of before jumping in to buy this groupset. Namely the shifters/brifters are quite large, and the lever throw to change gear is quite long. But regardless, this could be my favourite Chinese groupset to date!
So in this episode, I’ll give you a rundown of the groupset, demonstrate you what to look out for, compare it to the L-TWOO RX, and show you why it has impressed me so much!
Sensah Store: www.aliexpress.com/store/5888062
Sensah HRD: s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dm6...
Timestamps:
00:00 - Start
00:23 - Context - Why should I care?
01:43 - Sensah HRD overview
03:02 - Weight
03:28 - Install
06:15 - Sponsor segment
07:40 - Install continued
10:24 - Install and shifting problems
12:25 - Brakes and bleeding
15:50 - 150 miles later
20:20 - Comfort
21:25 - Sensah vs L-TWOO
22:46 - Wrap-up
25:21 - Bonus bike weigh-in
Intro roll:
Created by Dev Joshi - www.go2dev.co.uk
Instagram: / tracevelo
Email: tracevelouk@gmail.com
Please note:
With the exception of Siroko and Sensah, all products demonstrated in this video have been purchased by me, and I have no affiliation to any of the sellers or vendors shown.
In addition, I am not a professionally trained bike mechanic. There can be risks associated with using products that are unbranded, untested, or come from sources where the provenance is unknown. Please talk to a qualified bike mechanic if you are in any doubt.
In essence, be careful, do your research, and cycle safe!!! 
Спорт
Got the pre release in a box here and this video has made me very excited to test!
Can't wait to get your feedback too, Francis! :)
Why bother? All you do is talk trash when it comes to chinese companies. Then you'll make a video comparing it to sram or shimano's electric groupset 😂
Can you also please check the brake if it is compatible with Shimano Hydraulic STI? Thanks!
Just need to get Vieri to like it !
@@markoedu3688 very high chance it is compatible. Even the fittings are the same
yes, this company is getting better every year
In the past, you've convinced me to get the old Empire. Now, you've sold me yet again. Big thanks on being the best source on these Chinese groupsets.
Except it's not a groupset.
@stevewilliams5428 Enlighten me, what is it then?
@@bsbbernal The 105 groupset from wiggle for £430 includes the following2x Shimano ST-R7020 Levers (gear and brake cables included)
2x Shimano BR-R7020 Disc brake calipers
2x 140mm Shimano SM-RT70 Centrelock disc brake rotors
1x Shimano FC-R7000 Chainset, 50/34T
1x Shimano FD-R7000-L Front Derailleur (Braze-on type, downswing
1x Shimano RD-R7000 Short Cage Rear Derailleur
1x Shimano R7000 11-Speed Cassette, 11-30T (Shimano 9-11-Speed freehub compatibility)
1x Shimano HG601 Siltec chain, 11-Speed, 116 links, Quicklink included
1x Shimano BB-R60 Threaded (English Thread) Bottom Bracket
Includes all outer cables, brake inner cables and gear cables The Chinese 'groupsets' this creator promotes don't include rear cassette, chainset, chain. rotors or BB. So the 105 is a groupset and better value.
@@bsbbernal Pedantic, but yeah, it is a "partial" groupset without a chainset and chain. This is important because once you factor in all the additional cost you are left thinking, shall I just pay an extra £100 for a Shimano GRX. Which is exactly what I'm going to do.
@@stevewilliams5428 It has a groupset option, with cranks, cassette, chain and bottom bracket
Loved the honest totally evaluated and compared this new group set by Sensah thank you Luke nothing left to chance as with all your videos your close now to 100,000 subscribers great stuff Sir another month then bingo .
I used Sensah myself for a 2500km, and I got what I paid for. Was happy to replace it with 105. I am glad they exist and hope they keep improving
What was bad about it?
Which Sensah?
@@DanikoLP brake levers felt like they would break of I pulled them hard... The shifters rattled a lot, sound/felt cheap like they would fall apart soon... The shifting needed to be done with a specific motion/timing to work well... Shifting Needed to be adjusted 100% perfect in order to work well (though once it was set perfectly, it did stay in place well and work well)... brakes (mechanical cable discs) were too weak. In order to have good braking power, they needed to be set so there was brake rub (I ended up adjusting them while riding. At the start of a big climb I'd loosen the cable so there was zero rub. At the top, I'd tighten them so they rub a little and had good stopping power)... the brakes squealed a lot, which I didn't mind personally but some people would hate. That's everything I can remember now.
@@laurentsmohr1803 I'm not sure now. It was an 11 speed road groupset with cable disc brakes
This man just puts out banger content.
Hi Luke. Stumbled across your channel yesterday. This was the first video I watched, and I subscribed today. First off, well done on what you have achieved in 2 years with your channel. (As a fellow Siroko Ambassador who hasn't done anywhere near as much I am impressed with your very professional product placement and videos). For me, it's a hobby and will Never ever replace my day job. Anyway, back to topic, it's interesting to hear about this new groups from a smaller company than the likes of Sram or Shimano etc. I will certainly stay tuned. Thanks Luke for your content. 🥖🥖🥖🥖
Hi Luke. Another fantastic, in depth, and informative video. Well done.
Agree about competition being a good thing. Can't wait to see your review of the electronic groupset!
🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐
I can't wait! I currently have and use SRAM mechanical, Shimano hydraulic and mechanical, LTWOO mechanical and Sensah mechanical groupsets on my various bikes and I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the Sensah Hydraulic groupset, mostly for my gravel bike if and when they release one.
Amazing review of Hydraulic Group set. Always love to see your videos.
Thanks as always for your great investigative videos!
Fantastic content as always - my favorite cycing YT channel! I have been running Sensah shifters for a couple of. years and I really like how they work - the "upshifts" are better than Shimano and downshifts work fine with practice. As a reference I also have a bike with Ultegra 8000 so I compare both on a regular basis. I like the one lever of the Sensah - seems to make sense.... (sorry)
wow i'm surprised your new groupset treated you proper posh @15:45 i saw the extra cable length at the back and thought that looks excessive well i don't have the built repertoire that someone like yourself has built. looks great and thanks for makingg time for us!
Ive been using the Sensah Empire 12S mechanical for about 1.5yrs.
Absolutely nothing to complain about on my end - even with sub-optimal internal routing. Then again, i am part of the big hand club.
Great content, as always. 🥖🥐
Looking stylish there Luke, and keep the great videos coming 🥖
Always grateful for your reports, Luke. Thanks. 🥖🥖
I just used your rubberized plastic hack for my seatpost on my Trifox X16 build. It seems to work so far, but I haven't finished the build yet. Also I found that if you want to run 12 speed on an X16, you will need a thin washer between the drop out and drive side rear axle, otherwise the cassette binds against the frame when you torque the axle down. I'm still documenting my build on my channel. Looking forward to the X18 build. Thank you Luke.
really happy these china groupsets are showing promise and adding some needed competition to the market
🥖🥖🥖 I love your content Trace. Keep them coming, and congrats on becoming a full time influencer!! Cant wait for the trifox frameset review, There were some negative reviews on Trifox so im curious to see your take.
Luke! Just ordered. Crossing my fingers of the quality. So far I've been using Sensah Empire Shifters for 2 years, matched it with Sram Force 22 RD and FD, no issues at all. I will match the HRD with these. Wish me luck!
Nice video dude , look forward to the trifox build 🥖🥖🥖🥖 feel you need to so cross country mtb build 👌
Excellent review as ever, very entertaining also 👌
Another great video Luke. You know what they say, 'big hands. . . . .Sensah group set it is'.
I'm seeing entry level kids' and adult sports store mountain bikes coming with LTWOO groupsets here in Norway these days, so I'm guessing it's only a matter of time before Sensah shows up as well. Exciting times for sure.
🥖🥖🥖🥖 for an awesome review ! Thank you Luke
Great to see these lower cost options coming out and improving quickly. Keep cycling accessible for everyone! Have some 🧀with your 🥖
Hugely entertaining and informative Luke thanks for opening up a new world. 🥖🥖🥖
Always good to see a TraceVelo vid! 🥖🥖🥖
I remember how excited you were for the first time you were sponsored by siroko, If i recall right they were your first? maybe second, nice that they are still working with you.
IIIPro brakes sure are great. Used the Cable Actuated Hydraulic Brake calipers with two 140 discs for 3-4k kms and they work just fine. If i'll ever go with fully hydraulic disc brakes, i sure will get one of these.
The issues with Sensah regarding shifting are endless but the best thing to do is forget about it because it gets better by the use.
I like the solution for the front derailleur using spacers but to be honest I changed my FD from Sensah to Shimano because of the trimming and now it is perfect.
I feel it's time to jump to hydraulics so I'm going to try a Chinese frame for the first time and this new Sensah group makes some sense of course if the price is right 😂
Thanks for the video Luke.🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖
They said the Sensah group took a very small amount of inspiration (nothing copied just inspired lol), but if you've used Sram Red 22 before, you wouldn't be surprised with the Sensah's shifting lol. Weirdly enough I've gotten mine to shift perfectly, so good in fact I'm afraid to change anything up.
The issue with FD can also be found on Shimano FD, it's just isn't as obvious due to additional plastic layer on the inner cage. Have seen many plastic layers suffer from heavy wear.
@@hkchew03 I haven't experienced issues with the 105 FD buh to be honest probably you're right.
@@dan_lazaro we're in the same spot. I'm satisfied with the way my Sensah Empire group does the job . I'll experiment with a new group probably the one in the video but for the price Sensah is totally reliable
@@eLpELoNdeJaPoN I guess its largely dependent on the frame especially with blaze on FD
Thank you for all your hard work. Sounds like a great group set. I love my Empire set. I have never missed a shift, front or rear. Took awhile to get the front perfect, but now it works a good as my Dura Ace 9000. Only thing I would like to see changed ,is a shorter up shift throw. Short rides it is not a problem , but after 3 hrs it gets annoying.🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐
Luke, you are doing gods work.
Your statement nailed it. Competition is good for consumers. I am not sure I would put this on my best bikes but the headline item is that it is $300. I have a feeling that spares would be hard to come by (replacement hoods, new rear derailleur only in case you crash)
Hoods and derailleurs for their other models are listed on the Sensah Ali store, these will surely follow. After experience with Ultegra/105 (good), L-twoo GRT (meh) and Sensah Phi (good), Sensah/Sentyeh is already a quality brand, let's hope they keep on getting it right.
[Make sure that shifters match the gears they'll be shifting the chain on]
[The only criteria to consider when selecting derailleurs is their capacity and their mounting style. Rear derailleurs especially are dumb and will always obey the shifters running them unless the Derailleur is not mechanically sound.]
These two golden rules of putting bicycle drivetrains together is one I've established for myself after numerous in-depth studies and have grown to live by.
Thanks again for your efforts on these expository topics!
I work in the bicycle industry, I've become tired of the prices of modern road parts, even at wholesale the prices are insane. I really want to try this group.
You get a lot more for your money now. I'd much rather have new 105 than $2300 Dura Ace from 2010
Looks promising, hopefully it competes the market anytime soon
I would love to see a video of you riding with the group sets a little more. Basically talking while riding and describing the group sets as you roll around the countryside.🥖🥖🥖
Only thing I don’t understand is why don’t they make 11 speed versions? Easier to index and chains are cheaper.
Good review as always.
Cheers 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐
It's pre-release, if they wanted they could easily make it 11 speed, they most likely are just trying out their 12 speed to make sure it works well.
Great vid as usual Luke, that poor bike has had more identity changes than ive had hot dinners! Groupset looks good so far! When are we going to see "Mrs Luke" assisting with video presentation? Would add another dimension to your productions! Seen it done on another channel. 😁😁😁 best wishes 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖😂
Great video as ever Luke! Love the insight and the detail you go to. What's that bling-a-de-bling chain you're running? 🥖🥖🥖😁
best youtuber out there!
so close to 100k subs luke. advance congratulations ! 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖
I love your videos, saludos desde México 🌮
Waiting fot a review of the electronic L-twoo!
It seems to be available on the Sensah official store now. I asked them if the hydraulic shifters work with their 1x12 (G12) gravel derailleur. They said yes! Perhaps you could review a 1x12 Sensah/Sentyah setup on a gravel bike Luke? That could be a game changer for new home gravel builds, and a compelling upgrade. 🥖x🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖
I concur
Great video
Sensah needs to also convert their Shimano compatible shifters into hydraulic. I got so used to using the Team Pro carbon shifters on my spare road bike, I ended up replacing my Shimano shifters on my main road bike as well! The carbon Team Pro shifters work like butter on my Shimano front/rear derailleurs. At least for mechanical shifting, Sensah one lever shifting/braking is much slicker than LTwoo, not to mention accessing the LTwoo shifter clamp bolt is a big PITA. It's near impossible to take off the Ltwoo rubber hoods.
Anyways, Great video as usual! 🥖🥖🥖
I am definitely interested. Ever since Shimano made the 105 Di2, I have expanded my horizons.
Hi Luke! Thank you very much for your great content - entertaining, informative and well researched. Crispy stuff 🥖 One question: how tall are you? I'm thinking about buying the ICAN Gravel frame and saw, that you were provided with the 58cm version. Thank you for a quick answer, it's much appreciated!
I think he said in a previous vid that he's around six foot, three inches. So pretty tall.
Have a 🥖 sir. My aging Force 22 HRD is on the lethal DOT fluid descent, and I've been eyeing up the LTwoo stuff. But this looks solid as well.
It's also interesting to see how your LBS now reacts to this new wave of Chinese brands.
I bet most of the people watching this stuff on youTube and buying Chinese groupsets off Ali won't bother with an LBS... nothing against them just the way it is.
Great vid! Please keep us updated how it is performing in the long term - if it is solid I'm gonna put that into my gravel 😄
I actually prefer sensah rear shifting over Shimano, but the front one is just not nearly as good. Single blade lever also feel nicer overall. Just wish the hood is a little smaller for the HRD.
I swapped out the Sensah FD with a long armed Tiagra one...super smooth and works fine with the Senash shifter.
@@belverticale by long armed Tiagra which one do you mean? I believe different gens of Tiagra have different cable pull even for the FD if I'm not mistaken.
@@charliewhiskey8440 the most recent version - 4700 series. Or you could use a 105 7000 series front derailleur with the different toggle design. front derailleurs are cheap compared with rear derailleurs, shifters or cranks so I'd really recommend switching out the Sensah one.
Looking forward with their gravel groupset😊
I love the Sensah shifting with just a single lever for everything...for me it's a better system than LTwoo but also better than Shimano and SRAM. As for having to push the lever a long way for a double shift, just get into the habit of pushing the lever blade further up towards the hoods for less hand reach. A smart move for Sensah might be to bring out hydraulic versions of their Shimano-compatible Team Pro (105) and Quantum (Tiagra) levers and ship them with calipers.
They have i've just ordered the Team pro 105 compatible hydraulics
@@sfasto1 Ooo really? On Ali Express?
Great content as always, Luke.👌🥐🥖
Another great video Luke, enjoy the 🥖🥖🥖
Yet another great vid Luke. Quick question though when are you going to paint your garage for a nicer filming environmen?? 🥖🥖🥖
yeah, the top cap really looks like 'cheap plastic' and it kinda differs from the rest of the sti's, which looks good. I don't think it'd be a high cost to Sensah to use a better-looking plastic, and could definitely change the perception.
Nevertheless, not the main point, which is that Sensah is coming strong with a nice hydro groupset, affordable AND light! That's really good.
I'm studying for a build next year, so will keep that on my radar.
The Shimano bleed cup comes with an extender. Lots of Shimano brake levers have the same issue.
Waiting patiently for their electronic offering
Cheers, Luke ;-)
I wouldn't use anything else other than a Chinese groupset. More than good enough for the budget. Job done.
I use the "Team Pro" shifters on my Turbo bike- shift flawlessly!
It's funny, I mentioned this group in my video released today 😅
Too bad it's not on sale yet otherwise it might have ended up on my next bike.
Awesome as usual Luke :) ... Love my Sensah SRX pro on the gravel bike, almost as much as my Shimano GRX on the other gravel bike ! ..... any idea if they plan to do a 1x group set for gravel etc ? ... cheers and keep em coming
I’m in the same boat as you. I understand they are coming out with the 1x gravel groupset at the same time as the road 2x
I was always somewhat suspicious about Luke’s opinions but I spied the sneaky box of gochujang in the corner which has now totally convinced me he is a man of great tastes.
Can only imagine when Sensah released their own electronic grupo
Caliper cap: I wonder if the caliper cap is reverse threaded? Or are they maybe like Hope, where you have to get the piston out first, and then the cap screws down and through, and then out of the pad area?
Also, regarding the previous calipers 'blocking' when the hose threading is inserted too far; I think there's meant to be a washer or spacer around the end of the threaded section. This would stop the hard metal hex end from crushing up against the softer caliper body inadvertently.
Hi Luke! Will you test the lower end of ltwoo hydraulic groupsets (gr7, r9, etc.)?
Hoping for a 11 speed version. Definitely cheaper and less finicky in indexing
Agreed, 11 speeds is the sweet spot at the moment
I'll even take 10 over 12.
Converted my Red22 shifters to 12sp and it's actually better than stock. About 12,000 miles and I've barely touched my barrel adjusters
2x11 with a super compact crank say 44/28 and 11/36 in the rear with hydraulic braking is my bikepacking wet dream. 👍
Good news, you got it now.
I love your videos, informing as always... One question tough: what is it you put on the end of your shift cables? Looks really nice... Like a little black 🥖
Love the new groupset! 🥖🥖
Happy new year Luke,any review on Sensah 1 x HRD groupset for gravel / CX purposes? how does the price compare to shimano/sram hrd mechanical? Thanks
I have completely given up on frames, wheels, handlebars, etc from established brands, but so far I have at least kept the groupsets on my bikes genuine Shimano (105 R7020 and Ultegra Di2 R8170). I still don't feel that the mechanical Chinese groupsets are polished enough to invest some money, time and efford in, but I am seriously considering the L-Twoo eRX as a replacement for my 105 R7020...
🥖🥖🥖
AWESOME video as usual! Wonder if you had thought of making a "Luke recommends!" video of a whole setup for say $500, $1000, $1500 and $2000.....thoughts?!?! 🥖🥖🥖🥖
Luke, I watch your videos regularly and love your entertaining and informative style. Recently I was hit by a car while out on my bike. I sustained fairly minor injuries but my bike is a bit worse for wear. While the frame seems intact my rear derailer and left side gear/brake levers are not servicable. I have a 2003 Trek 5500 w/Dura Ace 10 speed groupset and was wondering if you had a budget friendly alternative you could recommend.
If you're looking for a new option, the Sensah Phi shifters are a direct replacement for the old Shimano 10-speed levers. However, if you live in an area with an active second hand bicycle parts market, it's generally pretty easy to find the Shimano 10-speed levers pretty cheaply. For rear derailleurs, if you're not going second-hand then the Sora shifter is the highest level replacement that is compatible (the current level rear derailleurs for Tiagra and up have a different pull ratio - meaning that they'll move a different distance per mm of cable pulled through the shifter). Alternatively, if you want to use a wide-range cassette (11-32 and up), you can use a Shimano 8 or 9 speed MTB rear derailleur like Shimano Alivio.
Two thumbs fresh video ! Sending french pastries...
The piece of shift cable going I to the rear mech looks like it might be a compression cable, similar to normal brake cable. If so, that could be causing your shifting issues as it is taking some of the shifting force in order to compress the cable. Try switching it out for a piece of Shimano outer shift cable and it might help.
We need more banjos and even more of them detachable from the housing! Yee-haw!
How is the braking since and groupset overall,would you recommend it,also could it be a 1* option for gravel/CX?
with my previous build when using sensah empire pro,I fount I had the same issues, and wasn't shifting correctly and skipping gears but I figured it out. when you in the highest gear smallest on the cassette gear you only need to click it once to to go up a gear, then once the gear goes up you swing/ click it up twice to go up the next gear's. took me a while to figure that out as couldn't properly fine tune my gears for ages and wounded why it wasn't indexing and shifting properly. also sensah should include some instructions on how the gears work. once I figured this out your able to index and fine tune the gears.
When you say the shifters are large, how do they conpare to the larger 1st generation of shimano hydraulic levers (the non-groupset versions)? Bigger than those?
Did they make any progress on the front deraileur? compared to empire pro
Mine still works great since September last year, almost 10,000 kilometers. You have to have the right conversion plug to bleed flawlessly. Paired this with Sram 22 RD ang FD, running on the 11 speed version. Any update, Luke?
sensah hydraulic shifters! wow i've been waiting for this so long!
anyway do you think this shifters are compatible with shimano brakes? honestly i love that kind of mixture 😊
Not a bad groupset. If it works. I like that
Question: Why are you running your brakes backwards (left=front / US style) considering your Britishness? For me, I would end up over the bars more often than ideal. Cheers :)
My tandem works really well with those ipro calipers, i had to cnc a piece to use ltwoo calipers then just wasnt enought so i had changed to ipro. Not sure that "braking performace" is really about the sensah groupset.
any ETA on the launch date ? is it worth the wait or should I go with "LTWOO GR9-Disc 1x11s Hydraulic Disc Brake Gravel Groupset" . I am basically looking for a gravel hydraulic disc brake
If you angle your hoods inwards then it makes the down shifts significantly easier.
Great video as always!
Can I ask an unrelated question? Which camera do you use for the 360 view riding clips? Cheers mate! I can't find a baguette so I'll have to up the game with some loaves. 🍞🍞🍞
Hi Luke, 105 hydraulic groupset with crank, BB and casette is £430 on Wiggle now.
Discontinuing movement for its new 12speed.
430gbp is 550usd. That's 83pc more than 300usd.
@@kleeo83doesn't mean what he said isn't true
@@pierrex3226tax
@@pierrex3226 But the 105 is a groupset, the sensah/ltwoo are not.
Oh yes 🤩
You've hit 100k,so what's the plans to celebrated lol,celebrity guest or a surprise new bike lol
Impressive. I'd like to see the full throw downshift 3x not 2x. Is an electronic version in the pipeline?
Any idea if this shifter its compatible with the srx derraileur? I have the first gen empire and never managed to make it work with any one except the stock one
Are the pulls compatible with sensah srx rd? Looking to upgrade my srx brifters and brakes to this
Does it have a triathlon version? Or can I mix it with a different TRI shifters?