Does anyone have any experience with the knockoff groupsets from Amazon? Are they a decent budget option or a bit of a scam? Any input is appreciated!
by Open-Trash3108
Does anyone have any experience with the knockoff groupsets from Amazon? Are they a decent budget option or a bit of a scam? Any input is appreciated!
by Open-Trash3108
8 Comments
Idk any Amazon brand but Microshift is the known budget brand for me.
L-Twoo is said to be OK. Cade media did a piece on it a while back. https://youtu.be/x2Y21HCQFEU
If time is not an issue, you should be able to get a cheaper price from AliExpress, I bet…that’s where this probably comes from.
I think State specs these on a few of their bikes; you might find some indirect reviews that way.
Personally I’d be inclined to go with Microshift Sword instead, or a takeoff/used groupset from eBay, pinkbike, etc.
I put 5000+ miles on a Sensah Empire groupset. Overall it was fairly solid, but corners were definitely cut to hit the price point.
The small ‘paddles’ which the brake levers touch to change gears were quite worn after 5000 miles, which resulted in the actuation distance increasing over time and made shifting feel a little sloppier. The amount of rust inside the shifters was a little concerning although it never caused any issues. The big one is the rear derailleur was basically made out of cheese and snapped in half within 1000 miles.
That said, I’ve also heard quite a lot of good things about Sensah groupsets, and 5000 miles isn’t too bad for a groupset which costs the same as my current derailleur.
The Sensah Groups are mostly pretty solid although not quite as refined as something from Shimano. It will probably be fine if not very good but a used lower tier Shimano group like Sora will feel higher quality
I put a Sensah Empire Pro group on an old aluminum frame that I used on my indoor trainer. It was fine, and I really had no issues with it since I paid $110 for shifters and derailleurs. Ended up gifting the bike to someone else who has since put in another 2,000 miles on it, and since I’m the de-facto mechanic, I’ve not had to do much in the way of maintenance other than a little adjusting as the group has settled. PS: unsurprisinlgy it doesn’t shift as smoothly as well maintained Ultegra, Dura-Ace, Record, or Super Record from the last 15 years. I don’t know if it shifts like 105 or anything SRAM as I’ve never used them.
Microshift, Box Components are both decent for the money. And a lot of Shimano gear is surprisingly nice for the money.