Velobuild VB-R-218

[Queen of Skulls]

The elite wheels on Amazon are $300-$500

The same brand (I think) on their website for the Elite Drive 40 V (rim brakes) is $1069

https://www.elite-wheels.com/product/drive-40mm-rim-brake-carbon-spoke-wheelsetceramic-bearing/

Are these 2 the same company & just different products ?

Same company... these are the ones I got. they were like 420ish with all the deals and what not. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803582395869.html Anyways I am still wondering about the taxes/tarffs in the US and how to pay them.

Bought the low end x weaves because I dont need the super lightweight ones. I need as sturdy as wheels as I can get. thats why I like the 218. its stout. I am just under 100kg and 184cm. I am XL lady.  So basic carbon is fine.  but X weave is pretty. so I splurged a bit.

[Camachosr12]

Hi everyone, just finished my build and a
Im happy to report 32s fit with room in the front and just enough in the back.

[Sebastian]

Hi everyone.
I’m happy to report that I received my replacement frame from VB the other week.
The finish on the inside does actually look considerably cleaner, especially in the headtube area and at  the seat tube clamping area where my first frame broke.
The rear brake exit port on the top tube again is too small despite Chris promising that they’d take care of it. But we’ll, that’s a minor problem to deal with.

I found another surprise in the BB area:
In contrast to my first frame, the BB thread inserts are connected by a sort of carbon bracing. Neither the disc frame I was accidentally sent nor the rim brake frame I got after this had this feature. I asked Chris whether this is a design update but haven’t heard back.

[Sebastian]

Now as for the frame that broke on me. I actually did a DIY repair that turned out to be pretty successful. I grew pretty tired of waiting as each of these frames takes at least three weeks to get to me so I decided to give it a try.

I attached pics from before and after the repair. I haven’t sanded and painted it yet as I wanted to wait and see if it holds up. What can I say? I’ve ridden around 400k and gave it some pretty hard abuse on well used cobbled roads in my area. And it held up fine. No seatpost slipping. No cracks. Nothing.

I would have never attempted this on more critical parts of the bike like handlebar or headtube. But it’s good to have learnt this skill for the future. I actually repaired a broken carbon bottle cage since. And that works fine, too.

[Queen of Skulls]

Hi everyone.
I’m happy to report that I received my replacement frame from VB the other week.
The finish on the inside does actually look considerably cleaner, especially in the headtube area and at  the seat tube clamping area where my first frame broke.
The rear brake exit port on the top tube again is too small despite Chris promising that they’d take care of it. But we’ll, that’s a minor problem to deal with.

I found another surprise in the BB area:
In contrast to my first frame, the BB thread inserts are connected by a sort of carbon bracing. Neither the disc frame I was accidentally sent nor the rim brake frame I got after this had this feature. I asked Chris whether this is a design update but haven’t heard back.

SO its not a one piece aluminum? Which is something I would hope for there is still the chance of misalignment and shifting. Less so. If its not one piece there is always a chance of misalignment.

[Sebastian]

SO its not a one piece aluminum? Which is something I would hope for there is still the chance of misalignment and shifting. Less so. If its not one piece there is always a chance of misalignment.

No it’s not. It’s two individual aluminium thread inserts molded into the carbon. Though I would think that the threading is being cut last. I dunno. There is a chance of misalignment. My cranks however are spinning smoothly. Not as smooth as the one piece pressfit unit I had in my other frame but good enough.
Only difference between the replacement frame I got and the first unit is that on the replacement, there’s carbon bracing between the two BB shells. It looks like it’s intentionally been manufactured this way. Not sure what the logic behind this is.

[Sebastian]

For reference: This is what the first frames looked like in the BB area. You can clearly see the difference. Maybe the additional carbon helps with the initial alignment of the thread inserts? Maybe it’s there for reinforcement? I dunno.

[madmax]

@Sebastian
   Are you experiencing any seat tube flex on corners ?

I read a long term (1 year) review on the Dogma F & apparently their design changes causes the seat tube to flex under load on corners & checking if this frame has a similar issue.

[RDY]

For reference: This is what the first frames looked like in the BB area. You can clearly see the difference. Maybe the additional carbon helps with the initial alignment of the thread inserts? Maybe it’s there for reinforcement? I dunno.

That's extremely odd, to put it mildly ... I can't think of a good reason why this would ever be done, though several bad ones.

Re: the paint cracking around the seat clamp area like that.  I'm sure you know that it usually happens when the carbon itself is flexing in a way it's not designed to do (which ultimately leads to cracking).  If I were you I'd make the clamp area a 'feature' and have it naked with clear over the top.  That way you can better keep an eye on the carbon itself.

[Sebastian]

That's extremely odd, to put it mildly ... I can't think of a good reason why this would ever be done, though several bad ones.

Re: the paint cracking around the seat clamp area like that.  I'm sure you know that it usually happens when the carbon itself is flexing in a way it's not designed to do (which ultimately leads to cracking).  If I were you I'd make the clamp area a 'feature' and have it naked with clear over the top.  That way you can better keep an eye on the carbon itself.

Care to elaborate on what you mean?
About the paint on the repair job: Yeah I thought about that but I won’t be able to sand off and smooth the edges without damaging the neighbouring paint. So that’s not gonna look good without painting over it with something.

[Sebastian]

@Sebastian
   Are you experiencing any seat tube flex on corners ?

I read a long term (1 year) review on the Dogma F & apparently their design changes causes the seat tube to flex under load on corners & checking if this frame has a similar issue.

I read that review, too. Didn’t really have that problem, no. I even put it on the Trainer to try and recreate that sort of behaviour. I do notice that the seatpost flexes from side to side noticeably more than a round one. Which is to be expected I guess, particularly with as much of it showing as on my bike. But I don’t notice any negative influence on the handling.

[madmax]

I read that review, too. Didn’t really have that problem, no. I even put it on the Trainer to try and recreate that sort of behaviour. I do notice that the seatpost flexes from side to side noticeably more than a round one. Which is to be expected I guess, particularly with as much of it showing as on my bike. But I don’t notice any negative influence on the handling.

Perfect ... thanks

Yes, it was the side to side movement that I was talking about. I don't see that on my Madone probably due to the isospeed dampener, so I was curious about bikes that are fixed like this frame.

Also, thanks for replying in detail to my email as I now have a lot of good info from you & others on here on what I would like to build
Waiting on component availability & will probably start the project in Dec.

[Sebastian]

Heard back from Chris about the difference in BB design on my newer frame. This is what he said:

"Hello

Yes ,we use one complete BB instead of two separate one .Both works

Chris"

I asked him if that is a general design update on this frame. But no reply, yet. Judging from my experience so far with VB, I have no reason to doubt him.
Frame weight on the new frame is identical to the old one. 1260g for a size XXL, painted.

My take on this is this: We all know these cheap frames are not monocoque but rather several pieces joined in a tube to tube construction. This and the usual lower grade carbon (T700/800 instead of High Mod T1000/1100 stuff) makes for the higher weight. I think, they just used a different BB on this one. Be it, because it was all they had lying around at the time or be it because they changed the design to avoid misalignment issues. I dunno.

[Benbenben]

Hi VBR218 owners. On the edge of ordering a XXL frame. The geometry would be good for me. In fact, the dogma F is a relatively relaxed superbike geometry from my POV. The only thing that bothers me is the GC performance review on the fact that the frame would be stiff "vertically". I don't really care about the sluggish critic.

What do you think about that "vertically" stiff claim? Is it truly a back breaker?

How would you rate the comfort of the frame? Of course, wheel/tire setup affects that. What do you run for wheel/tires?

[Sebastian]

This guy thinks it rides super comfy, for what it’s worth.
Also, GC Performance by his own admission pumps his tires up super hard.

I think it rides as firm as expected for an aero frame. Not as comfy as a traditional round tubed frame anyway. But by no means exceptionally harsh. I use Vittoria Corsa tubulars and Clinchers depending on the wheelset. Measured 28mm wide (25c labelled tires). It did not beat me up any more than my other bikes on longish 100km+ rides.