Wheeltop GeX Gravel Wireless Groupset

[@davidkirkby5218]

Got wheeltop on my disc road bike, will hopefully get the gravel set up at some point on my Topstone and just bought a rim brake trek so maybe get a setup on that soon too

[@spoodsnstuff]

I love the versatility of that groupset. Having the option to program it to whatever speed cassette you want to run is an amazing feature.

[@DaveNoakes]

Its a great feature and it really calls out larger brands for not making their products backwards compatible

[@cb6866]

Thanks Dave , someday ? Be well

[@DaveNoakes]

Thanks mate

[@kobakakhidze-x4g]

Thanks for video. Its amazing when new company is beginning to produce such kind of interesting product, and in such cheap price. No reason to not try it. Currently i use few groupsets by Sensah and all of them working just fine. Now chinese companies are very good in electronic industry and then this product should be also fine. Soon I will also try to use it.

[@qwertyazerty2137]

@@kobakakhidze-x4g sure the gex is half the price of grx di2, but if search good enough you can find sram apex axs brifters, brakes and the rd for the same or almost similar price of gex

[@DaveNoakes]

You’re welcome. Let me know how you get on if you get this.

[@kobakakhidze-x4g]

@@DaveNoakes I just looked at it, it costs about USD360 with brakes here. I think it's a great price. I'm going to build a full carbon gravel bike for a friend soon and I'm thinking of putting this groupset on it. I will also try to use small 1x chainring instead most popular 40 or 42T, maybe 34T.

[@moobaz8675]

Nice. Great to see more quality mechs coming to the market. I'm sure the mainstream guys are getting a bit squeaky about there being more completion. Great for us though. 👍 One thing though, I presume this works with Sram and Shimano cassettes.

[@DaveNoakes]

I agree, I think it’s great. Yes they work with shimano and sram cassettes but in theory you could use any as you can adjust the individual gear values.

[@ChrisParkes-cs9zu]

I have the road Tx version brilliant once setup, the one thing I found from wheeltop is if you change from 11 speed to 12 you loose the settings of the 11 speed, do its worth doing a screenshot of your previous settings just in case to revert back to 1st previous cassette. I believe the gx version is able to add a front derailer, I presume from the road addition. (Only heard from a Chinese guy)

[@DaveNoakes]

Ah thanks for the tip.

[@ChrisParkes-cs9zu]

@@DaveNoakes Hi Dave, you have the MTB version also what's your thoughts on it? I have a yeti asr carbon 26 inch xtr triple chainring but as is with everything xtr or dura ace it's very buttery and the parts are wearing out I was thinking of putting the wheeltop system on there but realize it single speed chainring.

[@markjthomson]

Very cool, especially the cable pull option, there are plenty of good cable pull brakes available as well in both rim and disc. I guess the road shifter is the same shape so if you wanted to run a 2x gravel set up you could use the road left shifter as well?

[@DaveNoakes]

I think you could run 2x especially as the buttons are on the shifters. I think they are just the road shifters paired with a new rear derailleur.

[@wufler28]

It's nice with more options. Hopefully it can be seen on the prices. I miss a 2x gravel version, like shimano grx.

[@DaveNoakes]

I have a feeling you could run it as a 2x as there are enough buttons on the levers to do this.

[@qwertyazerty2137]

@@DaveNoakes on wheeltops webiste in faq about the gex they say 2x version is in development so I guess it's a matter of time when they roll out a firmware update and a dedicated front fd for gex which may be just a rebranded tx fd just like gex brifters. But it jusr shows that they rush underdeveloped product to the market and fund further r&d from money earned on these beta products. Ltwoo does the same with their stuff

[@paulepilz100]

they are working on a 2x gravel "extension" as it is stated in the GEx FAQ on their website

[@DaveNoakes]

@@paulepilz100 ahhh I really should probably know that

[@malcontent_1]

I'd be very curious to hear how this works with other "highly affordable" parts, e.g. non-name brand cranks, cassette & chain eBay or AliExpress. I'm looking for budget build options.

[@DaveNoakes]

My road bike rides like a dream, that has “highly affordable” parts on it. The only big branded thing (with the exception of the frame) is the cassette. Shimano cassettes always seem to shift flawlessly

[@hansschotterradler3772]

The shorter cage is intended for a cassette up to 11-46 teeth. I wonder how this will work on an 11-36 cassette?

[@DaveNoakes]

Not sure either but I’m sure they have thought of this and there’s a solution.

[@aleksiumshanov]

Hi Dave and big thanks for review. Looking forward to use it with 12s cassette on my gravel with 3mm offset chainring + rival 1x12s crank, but worry about chain line. Or maybe better to use usual 6 mm offset chainring?

[@DaveNoakes]

I’m using it with a 12 speed cassette and the chain line is a bit…well not perfect but it’s not giving me any issues. The problem is the more gears your run the more chain angle you might get.

[@Nick-cs5yc]

👍👍

[@DaveNoakes]

👍🏼👍🏼

[@nurkov]

hi, looking forward to review, is it from 11 teeth cog only or will work with 10 as well? For how long battery lasts? and what happens when it is off, does stay in one position? can it be moved manually?

[@DaveNoakes]

3-14 speed. So yes to 10 speed. Not 100% how long…ages. Longer than sram. If it’s off it’s stays in the position…I don’t believe it can be moved manually as it would probably break the motor.

[@qwertyazerty2137]

@@nurkovwheeltop say the battery lasts for 20 000 shifts on one charge and Jon from ribble valley cyclist says the battery can hold 800 charging cycles

[@Devlin-b8x]

👍

[@DaveNoakes]

👌🏼

[@nurkov]

and can it be used with shimano brake calipers? Currently running grx 800

[@DaveNoakes]

Ok so don’t hold me to this…I believe it’s a yes…I remember seeing a video about the road groupset and someone used it.

[@qwertyazerty2137]

@@nurkov lookup their website. Thr brake calipers use bh-59 fittings and run on mineral oil. They also use shimano brake pads like L05A, so 26.4 mm wide

[@qwertyazerty2137]

No poweroff in race mode? Why? This looks like a big overlook. I also wonder if they made the signal transmisson encrypted/paired to prevent changing gears in someone else's gex derailleur with your brifter as this is apparently an issue with tx.

[@DaveNoakes]

No idea why not in race more. There is a secure setting so only you can change gears or adjust the set up

[@stevenr5149]

Google says that electronic groups are $400-$1000 more. What are the 5 most important benefits to wireless cables that make it worth the $$$.

[@DaveNoakes]

Google is wrong…it depends what you’re comparing. If you compare this to a shimano GRX it’s cheaper. The benefits are… 1. No wires…so looks cleaner and easier to set up 2. No cable stretch 3. No need to ever readjust gears when set up 4. Customisable from 3-14 speed 5. Sounds cool 😂

[@johnnyboy4711]

warranty and customer support as this gruppo is not to far away from apex axs in terms of price

[@josevicente-garcia8874]

So far warranty and customer support for my EDS TX has been excellent. My right lever started to fail and they responded within 24 hours asking for a video to show the problem. After evaluation they sent me a pre-paid airway-bill to return the faulty lever and they are sending me a new one. It gives me enough confidence to buy the GeX, but I first need to decide whether the cost is justified for the few months of the cyclocross session. The mechanic GRX works perfectly fine as long as I keep the drivetrain well maintained.

[@DaveNoakes]

Good to hear this

[@maxpetification]

battery is gonna last longer than SRAM, at least for the OX the battery is twice as large

[@qwertyazerty2137]

@@maxpetification it's suposed to hold 20k shifts on one charge and 800 charging cycles

[@DaveNoakes]

Batteries are meant to last ages!

[@bubblesezblonde]

GOOD to see some feline supervision!!! I worry when you mechanic unsupervised.

[@DaveNoakes]

Hahaha this one is a trainee supervisor

[@Andy-co6pn]

Surely chain and cassette has the biggest influence on shift quality ?

[@DaveNoakes]

Cassette definitely makes a difference, chain less so. Can’t do anything without a good shifter/derailleur…chains and cassettes don’t shift themselves

[@qwertyazerty2137]

@@DaveNoakes for comparison I have ltwoo gr9 groupset and did over 5k km so far. I achieved fairly good shifting only when I paired the brifters with grx 812 rd. It's not perfect, the cable resistance is still big compared to road shifters/derailleurs with no clutch, but it works compared to ltwoo gr9 derailleur. I suppose I could get it to shift even better if I used e.g. a shimano cassette rather than sunshine.