Re:
First ride on the updated bike was a resounding success today
No issues at all.
I'd heard of a few issues with the front mech being flimsy, and a plastic part inside the left shifter breaking, but the mech seems fine to me, and the part inside the shifter seems to be made of metal, not plastic, so perhaps Sensah have made a few changes?
I may just try a different front mech though, just for curiosities sake.
The brakes that came with the groupset work just fine, the finish is perhaps a little substandard, it's not quite up to the level of Shimano, but for the price I can't complain.
The chainset is actually really nice, reminds me of the Rotor chainset. Both rings are a single unit, and it seems to be Sram compatible, so when the time comes to replace (both) rings there should be other options available.
The cassette and chain look OK, I'm keeping them as spares as I already had an Ultegra cassette and Kmc SL chain.
The Empire groupset is purported to be somewhere above 105 but below Ultegra.
Weight wise its closer to Ultegra.
In use it certainly feels every bit as slick as 105 at least (the last modern 105 Groupset I used was 5700).
The Shifters have just one lever, to shift up you long push the brake lever inwards, like Shimano. To shift down you push the brake lever inwards slightly, similar to Sram Double Tap, but without the separate lever.
I'll see how the components fare over the coming months, in the meantime I've ordered a newer slightly shorter stem to fit the Headshock, it'll take modern 31.8 bars, so gives me options for aero bars etc.
).
