Velobuild VB-R-177

[patliean1]

I am 6' with a 6'6" wingspan. I guess I could remove some spacers as well??

Yikes! Only one way to find out!

[VeloBuild.Bikes]

Posting a reply we just published in the dedicated thread below in case any miss it.

http://chinertown.com/index.php?topic=3683.msg36291#msg36291

I have finally found an easy yet permanent fix for the headset play issue when using the separate handlebar/stem combo. Please bare with me as I'll do my best to be clear and concise. You do not need an FSA ACR setup, nor disconnect any hydraulic or shift cables.

Thank you Patliean1 for all the troubleshooting and your detailed assessment.

We have been working on resolving the headset play issue some customers with the separate bar/stem combo have experienced and are happy to announce that the issue has been resolved by increasing the thickness of the C shaped bearing press by 0.5mm.

All shipments since April have been sent with the new bearing press and we have also sent it to existing customers that have been affected and it has resolved their issues.

If you have the separate handlebar/stem and are experiencing this issue please contact us for a new C shaped bearing press by email at info@velobuild.com

New customer orders of the separate handlebar/stem will also include split spacers.

[Liter]

Hi@Liter, isn't the top cap just for coverage and the headset nut is responsible for the compression/firmness?

You need some compression for the play not to show up, just the clamp force won't work. Using a metal top cap cut to fit the stem actually solved this, that is why I decided to buy the Deda

[s3si1u]

Hello,
last year I built my first gravel bike velobuild GF-002, had some issues, most of them were due to my lack of enough experience and very easy to solve, and some were known velobuild issues, still relatively easy to solve.

I rode my bike over 3500 km.
My friends, after seeing me riding with confidence, also wanted to have a gravel bike like that, so I built another 7 GF-002 for friends, with integrated bar and separated bar and stem combinations, during that process, I learned lots of tricks, and made my tools better and collect a good amount of experience for building bikes.

I thought now it's time to build a proper road bike for myself again, and here it is, my new VB-R-177, and I absolutely love it.

The classic headset play problem can be solved (at least in my cases) with a sand paper, you should sand the steerer tube until the headcap sits perfectly on the compression plug, and yes, it should be straight, so take your time and try to have a clean cut, it helps.
If you still have problem, micro shims are your friend, cut one and put it between compression ring and headset cover.
For another classic problem, rubbing brakes, you should use M5 bolts that comes usually with break rotors(for 6 bolt rotors) as they are a bit shorter than regular bolts, they may help a lot to adjust the breaks properly.
Other than that, I don't see any major issue on velobuild side.

If you are considering some semi-hydraulic solution like juin-techs, you should not, yes, they can stop you, but the difference is like day and night, now I feel much much safer on descends, and have much better control overall.

For internal cable routing in handlebars, after testing the new method on a friends bike and saw the results, I did it for myself too, so here is how: just escape it, as easy as that you save yourself a good amount of time, and it gives you the possibility to change, bar or stem in future if you want to, I will post a picture so you can see what I did.

After about 200 km on this, I can say the ride quality is very good, the bike is very responsive, climbing and descending is very fun, the bike is fast and comfortable.

I did not build a weight weenie bike, so my setup with pedals, bottle cages, garmin mount and velobuild gravel wheels (which I used on my gravel bike) is 7.9, so you can cut some good amount of weight if you go for a lighter wheelset.

Agreed on the Juin Tech/cable hydro option. Don't do it! This frame/bar combo is not a good candidate for mechanical/cable hydraulic brakes of any brand, things can get rather dicey in descents and tight corners. When I first built up my 177 I used a full mechanical group with Juin Tech F1s and while they did the job, braking power and reliability was just not good enough regardless of cable housing/pad switches/adjusting/etc. I did. Everything I tried made the brakes slightly better, but still nowhere near the ease and power of the SRAM hydraulic brakes I promptly switched to. I mainly tried them out because red anodized calipers look really, really cool. Still trying to figure out a way to make my SRAM calipers red

[s3si1u]

Just dropping a quick pic/build blurb of my 177 for y'all to see

-Frame size M, 420x100 one piece bar and stem
-Total weight is about 8kg/18 lb. as you see it with pedals, cages, mount, etc (without bottles).
-Delivered as an og black frame. Custom paint and decals done by me.
-Groupset: Sram hydro mechanical mashup with Shimano crankset and chain and Deckas lightweight rotors. Centerline XR rotors are sitting on my desk. I'll switch them out eventually, I just have no issue with the performance of the Deckas rotors and they're significantly lighter as well.
-Wheel/tires: 38mm depth/25mm inner width Chinese carbon wheels sourced from OfferUp for a good deal, I think they're Superteam. Matched up with 29mm Enve SES tires. Tubeless setup.
-Saddle: Prologo NDR 143. I miss my carbon Velobuild saddle  the VB saddle pooped out and Chris has sent a replacement. Can't wait for it to arrive.
-Photos show the VB seatpost. I'm now running a 0 offset carbon seatpost.
-Time ATAC XC4 Pedals (yes, mtb pedals)

May do a longer review/video/photoshoot later on if time permits, detailing the build specs, issues, build and ride experiences, paint/decal process, etc.

[pearl]

Should be picking this up in the next 48 hours! I just need to put on a rear mount, I assumed I could bolt the sram one right to the frame like my old bike!

[hazzer19]

Should be picking this up in the next 48 hours! I just need to put on a rear mount, I assumed I could bolt the sram one right to the frame like my old bike!

Looks great! The FSA ACR set up looks super clean as well.

[patliean1]

Should be picking this up in the next 48 hours! I just need to put on a rear mount, I assumed I could bolt the sram one right to the frame like my old bike!

Tell me why it took you local bike shop over a month to complete ? LoL

[pearl]

Tell me why it took you local bike shop over a month to complete ? LoL

part of it was my fault, I was hoping the hoses I had on my groupset were long enough, had to source them, then the owner got COVID (two man shop) and ended up shutting down for a week... Took twice as long as I expected but I had other bikes to ride

[pearl]

any torque specs on the seatpost clamp in frame? slipping at 6nm...

[Irideslowly]

Torque specs won't make a difference. Try carbon paste or make a shim using a can of Coca-Cola.

[pearl]

forgot about the carbon paste, we are golden now!

[Velovelo]

any torque specs on the seatpost clamp in frame? slipping at 6nm...

You can see which or combination of these tips for solving slipping seatpost. Thread was created because of frustration from a 177 slipping seatpost.

https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,3705.0.html

[pearl]

Seat may need to go up a tad, but otherwise it's super comfy. Going to head out for a lunch ride and throw some bar tape on it this afternoon if it feels good!

[pearl]

Kinda bummed that this Rubino pro 30mm measures 32mm on the calipers and pretty much rubs: