Have you ever tried modern groupsets outside of the big three? (Shimano, Campag, SRAM)

[otherself]

I had Microshift Centos 10 speed and was impressed with it. No cranks or brake calipers though - they were aftermarket made by Fulcrum and Tektro.

Currently have Sensah Empire on my Chinese Carbon bike but don;t have enough miles yet to judge, but it shifts well enough and is a bit lighter than 105 and over half the price.

 

[d8mok]

My wife has Microshift on her Topstone 4. It’s the worst groupset I’ve used in the last 25 years of riding.

 

[Polkey]

I've used Microshift Bona in the past and it was excellent although the front shifting was tricky to set up right, I've also used Sensah for a couple of years now and like it although I'm now trying out Ltwoo which works well so far, although I prefer the Sensah shifting so far.

 

[Canuk]

I've got the Microshift 9 speed on a commuter and they're excellent

 

[Canuk]

If one thing I'd say, the shift is a bit light compared to Shimano, but you soon get used to it

 

[M_Chavez]

I've had 2 sets of 9-speed Micronew (budget line of Microshift? ) brifters, they worked very well with shimano mech and brakes. One set was on a commuter bike and they've done several thousand miles in all-weather conditions and survived a few acciddents. Never skipped a beat. I prefer them to Shimmies

I've bought Sensah in the past and returned them, as I thought they were a step down from the humble microshifts.

I've then switched to 9-speed shimergo (Campy 10x speed shifters with shimmy 9 speed mech & SRAM cassette) and that's my preferred set-up. I've installed a Micronew rear mech in the shimergo set-up on one of my bikes, and it works just as well as Dura-ace shimmy, as long as you do the wraparound cable trick (which, admittedly, is a bit easier to do on some shimmies).

On a related note, the Chinese "noname" (mine are "Deckas", but usually there's a new name invented every 6 months) narrow-wide front alloy chainrings are fantastic by the way, but I don't think that Microshift ever put their name on them.

I thought that Micronew 7 & 9 speed flat bar shifters were uninspiring.

 

[Jonny69]

On a related note, the Chinese "noname" (mine are "Deckas", but usually there's a new name invented every 6 months) narrow-wide front alloy chainrings are fantastic by the way

100% agree with this, performance-wise they’re excellent. I just wish they wouldn’t plaster the things with giant Deckas logos. If they were plain, I’d be a lot more inclined to buy them.

“Fouriers” branded ones are identical to the Deckas ones, but with a much smaller text-only logo. But for some reason more expensive…

 

[Canuk]

The Fouriers is a weird brand set up, I think they started off with chainrings and rebranding no name lightweight Chinese brakes. Which were about 40 quid more expensive than exactly the same no name! Branding is still king in cycling!

 

[bikeworkshop]

I used mavic mektronic for a few years on my early 90s litespeed, riding chepstow to Bristol.

Brakes are good.
Never found the chainset. Rumour has it it never went into full production.
Fantastic rear shifting, although iirc 27 max rear.
Front mech operated by a crude lever on the lh brake - a bit horrible, especially if your hands were cold.

After a few winters it became a little unreliable, I suspect the micro switches had corrosion in them.

 

[jimo746]

Had Sensah Empire 2x11 on a retro Specialized road bike a few years back, very impressed with the performance, although the finish was maybe not up to the same standard of the "Big 3", but then it was much less £££.
Since then I've used LTwoo on a MTB (no issues at all).
And currently using Sensah SRX Pro 1x12 on a "Gravel" bike (old hybrid frame with modern components), shifts like a dream!
I can say that the shifting is superb, but they don't seem to do complete groupsets, rather they use other brands brake calipers, cranksets, cassettes etc which can be a bit hit & miss in my experience
I've Been tempted by the recent Wheeltop electronic shifters/mechs, it's only a matter of time before one of these brands makes a really sorted electronic groupset, at which point I'll probably make the leap from mechanical.