Sensah Empire
- familyguy
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby familyguy » Tue Apr 13, 2021 10:21 am
So I got some slack at lunch time and unboxed this gear. I have started an image thread here:
https://imgur.com/a/0BICpkd
First comment is 'I like the separate crank spider idea'. Makes them MUCH easier to post, if nothing else!
Will chuck the spider and rings on later and get some parts photos tomorrow in the sunlight if I get some time.
Jim
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby AUbicycles » Tue Apr 13, 2021 4:22 pm
- familyguy
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- familyguy
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby familyguy » Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:03 am
Cranks, BB, RD, FD, brakes, shifters:
As above with chain and cassette added:
Comparative chart of actual weighed groupsets (not manuf. claimed weights):
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby familyguy » Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:59 am
Shifters:
Weighty enough to not feel carbon/plastic. Finish seems smooth and consistent, no burrs or mis-moulded edges. Lever throw is large, but I have big hands so this may be an issue for some. Very much like SRAM double tap, but more than one upshifts feels like it is all but impossible due to the length of the throw in the system. Lever bodies feel a good size. Unsure how much metal v plastic is in the mechanism. Brake return spring seems a bit flimsy.
Brakes:
These feel like they might be a bit flexible. Springs seems a little more relaxed than 4700/5700. Build quality seems ok, but using them will be much more of a reliable test. Finish not as good as the Tiagra stuff I just sold, feels like the edges are a little lost. Pics after the weekend will show this a bit more I think.
RD:
Very SRAM in looks and feel. Actually seems to be a really nicely made unit. Feels nice but a little stiff in the spring action when pushed by hand. Might ease up as it works for the first time. Haven't had a detailed look at the joints/pins/springs.
FD:
As for RD. Having springs on the limit adjuster screws is odd, that sort of stuff is usually reserved for BSO gear.
Cranks:
The crank finish and quality actually surprised me. The forging seems good. The spider and rings bolted on without any movement. Very Rotor-esque. Haven't threaded a pedal on yet, and am yet to figure out just how the spindle/LH crank junction operates (seems bolted, not welded?) to see what adjustment can be made for different sized shells, but I'm not looking at them thinking "these are going to bend when I ride them".
BB:
This is a bit of an unknown quantity as yet but fits neatly on the spindle and has spacers for 68/73mm and a crank spacer included.
Jim
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby familyguy » Mon Apr 19, 2021 12:01 pm
https://imgur.com/a/0BICpkd
Jim
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby dcolum23 » Fri Apr 23, 2021 4:21 pm
I am currently riding a much older Shimano 105 groupset and I'm tempted to "upgrade" to the Sensah Empire ... but like everyone, I'm hesitant. Will it actually be an upgrade? If so, how?
Can't wait to hear more about this @familyguy
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby familyguy » Fri Apr 23, 2021 7:59 pm
Might not be a super-quick fit, gotta move in a couple of months so may not build the bike intended until after that.
But, that said, if I was riding 5600 105 (last one with the side-output gear cables I think), it would tempt me. Not so much if I was riding 5700 105 or current Tiagra. But for the price, seems sharp as an upgrade. The unknown is longevity and spares availability.
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby blizzard » Fri Apr 23, 2021 9:55 pm
If you haven't already, you should check out Trace Velo's videos on YouTube about Sensah Empire.
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby dcolum23 » Sat Apr 24, 2021 2:00 am
Yeah, I've watched and read absolutely everything possibly consumable about the Sensah groupsets, which is why I'm not going to the people who have actually bought them ... I would love to know more. It seems as though it might just be best to be one of those ginea pigs for the community
- baabaa
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby baabaa » Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:18 am
I have been weaning off shim stuff for a while now as consider they now just designed for looks and they have been testing stuff in terms of quality on the market since the 5600/6600 era.
Once you get microshift parts or to a lesser degree sunrace in your hands you will see it is simple, well made and just works - well.
The price from sensah is just bike parts without a huge marketing cost added on, like most things from Main Land China the quantity, end product finish quality and maybe the design will improve rapidly once they understand that they could export in volume.
My call is they wont bother and just focus on the domestic market and near by countries such as Laos, India, VietNam and Thai markets which are having huge growth in faster but maybe not racing cycling.
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby dcolum23 » Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:54 am
I'm definitely leaning that very same direction. I'll keep you guys posted.baabaa wrote: ↑Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:18 am"Guinea" and not "ginea" and be it both pig or fowl just do it, why wait, try and buy, bet unless you race, it will be fine.
I have been weaning off shim stuff for a while now as consider they now just designed for looks and they have been testing stuff in terms of quality on the market since the 5600/6600 era.
Once you get microshift parts or to a lesser degree sunrace in your hands you will see it is simple, well made and just works - well.
The price from sensah is just bike parts without a huge marketing cost added on, like most things from Main Land China the quantity, end product finish quality and maybe the design will improve rapidly once they understand that they could export in volume.
My call is they wont bother and just focus on the domestic market and near by countries such as Laos, India, VietNam and Thai markets which are having huge growth in faster but maybe not racing cycling.
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby familyguy » Sat Apr 24, 2021 12:07 pm
I've had some Microshift shifters come past me before, which felt and worked well. Ditto for Sunrace cassettes. Some of this Sensah stuff is a level above in terms of quality*, but still not at Big 3 levels. It will come if they want to spend a little more money and/or time to get QC and processes. They may even manage this without breaking some magical figure that people would be wiling to spend on it. For me, at less than 50% of the price of a new R7000 105 groupset (via an Aus. supplier, now that geoblocking is at work), this should be a no-brainer as far as value for money is concerned. The cost/life sums are yet to happen though.baabaa wrote: ↑Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:18 amOnce you get microshift parts or to a lesser degree sunrace in your hands you will see it is simple, well made and just works - well.
The price from sensah is just bike parts without a huge marketing cost added on, like most things from Main Land China the quantity, end product finish quality and maybe the design will improve rapidly once they understand that they could export in volume.
* See the pics and comments about some of the finishes, brakes in particular, and bad assembly of RD.
Jim
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby find_bruce » Sat Apr 24, 2021 1:23 pm
And this where is the arrogance of Shimano leads. Thinking they can charge higher prices in countries like Aus simply opens the door for competitors. Only a matter of time before someone disrupts quasi-monopoly pricing
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby familyguy » Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:33 pm
Those are good. I did like the video about the update from V2 to V3 with the shifting lever. It did catch my eye as something that was a little exposed and perhaps prone to over-stressing it. Will be looking at mine later but I think I may have the V3 shifters with the metal lever.
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby BradL » Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:47 pm
I did have to soak both derailleurs in lanox before installing as the knuckles were pretty stiff out of the box. After doing this everything worked fine, apart from an occasional slow upshift in the lower range of the cassette. Felt like the mechanism in the shifter wasn't quite releasing properly. New cables/outers so likely not that. Again I resorted to spraying plenty of lanox into the shifter mechanism, and it's worked perfectly ever since. Fingers crossed...
What I've gleaned from this is that the design itself is fine, but the assembly/qc leaves a little too be desired. I guess this is reflected in the price.
My point of comparison is 5800 on my ti bike. The Empire has a very different shift feel, which took some getting used to, but post lanox treatment the shifts are efficient and reliable. Front and rear. It is clearly less well finished in places than the Shimano gear, but it looks good on the bike still. Longevity is the real test though. The 5800 has been flawless over 6500 hilly km. Well see..
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby familyguy » Thu Apr 29, 2021 9:32 am
Thanks for the notes. That ties with my initial thought about the deraillerus feeling tight/stiff. Will give the levers more of a look soon, based on these comments.BradL wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:47 pmI did have to soak both derailleurs in lanox before installing as the knuckles were pretty stiff out of the box. After doing this everything worked fine, apart from an occasional slow upshift in the lower range of the cassette. Felt like the mechanism in the shifter wasn't quite releasing properly. New cables/outers so likely not that. Again I resorted to spraying plenty of lanox into the shifter mechanism, and it's worked perfectly ever since. Fingers crossed...
BradL wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 10:47 pmMy point of comparison is 5800 on my ti bike. The Empire has a very different shift feel, which took some getting used to, but post lanox treatment the shifts are efficient and reliable. Front and rear. It is clearly less well finished in places than the Shimano gear, but it looks good on the bike still. Longevity is the real test though. The 5800 has been flawless over 6500 hilly km. Well see..
For test purposes (when I can get to it, I need to move house soon so this project has been put on the backburner somewhat!) I will get comparisons to:
SRAM
Force 10s carbon (c.2010)
Rival 10s
Shimano
Ultegra 6700
105 5700
Tiagra 4700
600 Tricolour with downtube shifting (yes, it's worth a bit of a comparison as this stuff shifts *chefs kiss*)
Campagnolo
Centaur V2 ergo/10s
Maybe even by the time I get to all this I can even get the Athena V3 ergo/11s onto something as well.
Many of these are on steel bikes, which will probably be what the Empire gets put onto, at this stage unless something else comes up.
Jim
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Re: Sensah Empire
- baabaa
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby baabaa » Mon May 03, 2021 11:58 am
so....
https://open.spotify.com/track/65aZDJQw ... mBj1nQWjNg
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby familyguy » Sat May 14, 2022 5:21 pm
Semi compact gives off real 1:1 vibes in 1st gear, but I think its 36/25.
More work next week, hoping to even ride it next weekend!
Jim
- uart
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby uart » Sat May 14, 2022 9:11 pm
Interesting looking groupset Jim, I'm keen to know how it goes.
BTW. I like the look of most of it, but those cranks arms kinda look a bit like a Soviet cold war era design. You know, something like "People's main service crank arms #1".
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby familyguy » Sat May 14, 2022 10:33 pm
Utilitarian. Also very much like Rotor cranks from 10 years ago. Felt very similar!
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby warthog1 » Sun May 15, 2022 8:45 am
Also interested to hear how it rides.
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Re: Sensah Empire
Postby foo on patrol » Sun May 15, 2022 10:49 am
A mate of mine has the full group set and it works very nicely.
Foo
Goal 6000km
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