Wanted to share my Velobuild GF-002 build and experiences with the community.
Ordered the frameset in winter, during cross season as you can tell, asked for a custom paintjob on the fork.
As noted in quite a few comments, the paint job is okay but not spectacular. In fact I pointed out many times to Chris, that I want the fork to appear red from the front – with the result being a clearly visible yellow-red when looking at the bike from the front. Considering the 50US$ for the paintjob, this is okay – but it just is not a perfect result that I originally was looking for.
Frameset was missing some hardware, after discussing with Chris they sent the hardware but without instruction – so I am not clear what the hardware is for. Since my final setup is 1 x electrical I did not have to bother, but this is inline with the entire Velobuild experience (I already own a VB-R-099).
Frameset was shipped with the v2 compression C ring and like I commented here
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,3499.msg44919.html#msg44919, this left me with a huge gap between top cap and steerer tube. No comment from Chris or Velobuild and since I already lost confidence in the Velobuild stem (opted for the separate stem and bar due to flexibility for bar flare) I went for my own construction as described here
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,3499.msg45210.html#msg45210: Bought a FSA SMR stem and an AliExpress spacer set and with some tools and jigs created an adapter from C ring v2 to the FSA spacer set. Cut the fork to length, assembly and integrated Di2, hydraulic cable routing worked without an issue. No headset play since then.
Not many rides, yet, but I am very positive, so far: The 130mm stem gives me a sporty geometry, but not too aggressive. Drop from saddle to bar is good enough for endurance rides without being too relaxed. Agile steering behavior without being nervous, very stiff bottom bracket area but the long seatpost (1.95m height, 96cm inseam, 90kg) and the 45mm tires just create enough compliance.
Overall a frame I can recommend since I believe it can be tuned quite a lot with different stem options. My Velobuild verdict also remains the same: nice frames at a very good price point, just do not expect perfection in support and be prepared and skilled enough for assembly and fixing issues. Having users figuring out the compression C ring version, multiple tolerances on various frames and the separate stem design is annoying – even if there’s progress I can not consider this a fix that works for the mass market out there.
- Velobuild GF-002 size XL
- DT Swiss G 1800 spline 650b DB 25 wheels, Ratchet LN freehub
- Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H 45-584, Butyl tubes
- FSA SMR stem 130mm
- Zipp Service Course SL-70 XPLR bar 420mm
- Velobuild seatpost
- Selle Italia SLR team edition flow Ti-rail
- Shimano ST-R785 Di2, hydraulic brifters
- Shimano GRX RD-RX815 rear derailleur
- SRAM Rival PG-1130 11-36, 11-speed cassette
- Easton EC90SL crank 175mm, Garbaruk 42T chainring
- ZTTO BB386 PF30 ceramic bearing bottom bracket
- Shimano PD-ES600 SPD pedal
- KMC X11SL chain
- ZRACE XG flat mount disc brake
- Shimano SM-RT64 brake disc 160mm