My experience with Velobuild wheels and requesting after sales support.

[slosada]

Due to the popular request, I'm opening a new thread on my experience with Velobuild wheels

I bought the frame VB-R-177 and they offered to customize the wheels as per my liking: Sapim CX Ray and Bitex 312, for extra $$$
The offered wheels were 50/27 tubeless, and the only 27mm are the gravel/CX.
Chris told me:  "we suggest 25-32 tires"

That was a bad idea that ended delaying the delivery of the frame and wheels: 80 days from payment to reception
The LBS assembled the bike and put the tires on (GP5000 TL with butyl tubes)

After 350Kms, in 7 short rides, all in paved roads, a catastrophic failure in the rear rim happened:
On a 10% downhill, at ~55KPH aprox, we heard like gunshot, and my rear wheel started navigating.  I was able to save it because it's a straight line descent and I was already on the brakes.

I was lucky it was the rear wheel, not the front, I was lucky it was a straight road, that I was somehow prepared to handle, and that someone with a van gave a 15km lift to the parking lot where we started the ride (otherwise, I had to wait from my clubmates to finish their ride, change  clothes, load the bikes and come in my rescue).
With a reborn feeling, I paid for the beers.

WHEEL INSPECTION
The rim blew open
You can see 2 cracks starting at the spoke nipple, one rides straight on the edge of the deep profile
The tire is in perfect condition
The rim edges in the cracked spot are scratched were probably the spot that was skidding when I was braking

WARRANTY PROCESS
Now it comes the second point: Warranty from Velobuild.  I wanted to do this privately, friendly and honestly.
I sent the first pictures taken on the parking lot to Chris and explained.

He asked for more pictures.
I sent 10 more: Both sides of the bike, with the broken wheel. A close up of the wheel with the tire. Both sides of the wheel. Removed the tire and pictures of the barcode and more closeups of the broken section.

Chris said looks like and accident, can I have the pictures of the bike as of today.
I replied, check the pictures, the bike has the broken wheel and is in mint condition, not even one scratch... not even one in the paint, handlbar, levers, saddle or pedals.
I also told him, check the photo metadata... All pictures taken in ~20 minutes

SILENCE for one week.
I followed up and Chris said "our engineer said it's accident or big impact". He offered a rim at half price.
EXCUSE ME... WHAT?  I could have died and you are asking me to pay more for a rim and then have the wheel built? That is insulting, and I have no trust on the quality of the rims

Right now I'm at paypal dispute... They said a car run over the wheel (yeah, right, and no broken or bent spokes!)

LESSONS
Couple of lessons for me, and for whoever wants to learn:
1. Check your carbon rims as often as you can. Don't take the quality for granted
2. After sales support and warranty claims with Velobuild are not smooth processes.

3. What would have happened if, for different circumstances, you had some scratches on the paint or marks on the saddle?  Doesn't the warranty count anymore?

My best guess, due to the cracks from the spoke nipple: Bad wheel construction, which is fairly probable as they don't usually work with these Sapim spokes nor Bitex hubs. That or the carbon rim is very weak

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

ehhhh your wheel does look like it's got a huge dent in it, and that crack all the way across. Not that I've seen any other carbon wheel failures to compare with. At least you made it back ok.

Why do you have tubeless tires with tubes? I guess it probably doesn't matter.

[GilardiRT]

Velobuild it's demonstrating to have the dumbest customer service.
To avoid paying a single wheel I'm sure they're loosing many future customers
No one will buy velobuild after reading your experience and the 168 thread

(I've got a 168 as well, really not satisfied)

[Irideslowly]

At this point, there's no reason to order with velobuild.

[kbike]

Interesting I saw this video show up on YouTube. I'd say rim failed due to heat from braking in this guys case. You can hear gunshot sound then thumbing. The thumbing is the brakes going over the blown carbon wheel. No car accident and just 100m of travel to a safe stop.

Your bike is disc brake but this video seems very similar.

https://youtube.com/shorts/nt_EwZozPPo?feature=share

[Kirkspants]

I have an order with VB and I have really not been happy about their inability to directly answer questions. They deflect and delay. I was given a tracking number for my order but no matter what I try, after a week it still does not work. No item found. Velo Build insists the frame has been shipped and the number is correct.

I have purchased from Workswell before and Light Bicycle. They are far, far better to deal with.

[slosada]

ehhhh your wheel does look like it's got a huge dent in it, and that crack all the way across. Not that I've seen any other carbon wheel failures to compare with. At least you made it back ok.

Why do you have tubeless tires with tubes? I guess it probably doesn't matter.

I don't see it like that: The crack starts at the spoke nipple and extends one immediately up, the other rides the deep profile edge towards the other spoke before turning up on the same side. Those cracks cannot be explained by a hit
Don't forget, after the explosion I rode on the rim, for 150 meters, while braking, so it was one flat spot in the back skidding and bouncing.

And the tube was also a surprise for me, I didn't provide it to the LBS

[BobRider]

One time I commented on a YT video that velo is sketchy with their after sales service and pointed to this Chris guy and the countless mentions on Weight weenies. I was told I was making defamatory statements and that I should rather look on Chinertown. How the wheel turns... Velo is not a great company to support!

If that went any more wrong than it already has, who knows the permanent damage! Crazy stuff...

Glad you made it home in one piece!

[braincore]

I have a story to contribute as well.

I ordered their wheelset (VB-RC-50 25mm tubeless) for my first build. At the time, I had never done a TL setup before and asked Chris if I needed rim tape thinking maybe the TL sku for the wheelset made it unnecessary.

Chris confirmed that I did not need rim tape. I used a floor pump and pumped the tire to about 60psi before there was a loud bang, carbon shards flew, and the rim wall delaminated. I was shocked.

I assumed I had done something wrong. I went to an LBS and explained what had happened, and asked them to setup my other wheel TL. If all went well, I would simply order another wheel to replace the one I had presumably messed up.

Unfortunately, the LBS pumped it and it exploded again sending one of their employees to the hospital (non-serious injury but another shock to me).

Clearly, the deep section cavity cannot take pressurization. On my ICANN wheelset, this is impossible as there's clearly a hole that would release build up if any leaked past the rim tape.

The final disappointment was Chris being unwilling to give me a refund and instead trying to get me to accept new rims and rebuild using the leftover spokes and hub. I kept demanding a refund until Chris stopped responding. I did a chargeback but was so sick of the situation that I didn't follow through with the back-and-forth and see what their lame excuse was.

Fast forward a year later, the R-168 frame has been great to me. I wasn't aware of the general negative sentiment (one year ago, VB was known as having the best post-sales support) and assumed I was a one-off. I followed up on my old thread with Chris asking if he'd honor a refund if I ordered another frame (I also needed a refund for the bottle cages that never came). He agreed but he refunded only one wheel (the cheaper one!) of the wheelset.

The new frame has worked well. I paired with an ICANN wheelset again. I'm still not sure if one should use rim tape with the VB wheelset or not, but either way, it's a serious design flaw for the rim to delaminate at moderate pressure.

[Jwzard]

I cant read all the 74 pages, but whats wrong with the 168 frame?

[hazzer19]

I cant read all the 74 pages, but whats wrong with the 168 frame?

I think this thread was started for an issue a user had with their wheels. I don't think anything is wrong with the 168 frame as I and a number of other users on the forum have successfully completed builds with it.


It's too bad to hear about the issues some users have had with VB wheels and frames. Hopefully the improvement they are making to QC will be seen over time.


Speaking from my own experience, I've built a GF-001, VB-R-168 and just completed a GF-002 build (link below) without issues. I also have the VB-RC-50 wheels on my 168 and they have been fine.


http://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,3499.0.html

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

I have a story to contribute as well.

I ordered their wheelset (VB-RC-50 25mm tubeless) for my first build. At the time, I had never done a TL setup before and asked Chris if I needed rim tape thinking maybe the TL sku for the wheelset made it unnecessary.

Chris confirmed that I did not need rim tape. I used a floor pump and pumped the tire to about 60psi before there was a loud bang, carbon shards flew, and the rim wall delaminated. I was shocked.

I assumed I had done something wrong. I went to an LBS and explained what had happened, and asked them to setup my other wheel TL. If all went well, I would simply order another wheel to replace the one I had presumably messed up.

Unfortunately, the LBS pumped it and it exploded again sending one of their employees to the hospital (non-serious injury but another shock to me).

Clearly, the deep section cavity cannot take pressurization. On my ICANN wheelset, this is impossible as there's clearly a hole that would release build up if any leaked past the rim tape.

The final disappointment was Chris being unwilling to give me a refund and instead trying to get me to accept new rims and rebuild using the leftover spokes and hub. I kept demanding a refund until Chris stopped responding. I did a chargeback but was so sick of the situation that I didn't follow through with the back-and-forth and see what their lame excuse was.

Fast forward a year later, the R-168 frame has been great to me. I wasn't aware of the general negative sentiment (one year ago, VB was known as having the best post-sales support) and assumed I was a one-off. I followed up on my old thread with Chris asking if he'd honor a refund if I ordered another frame (I also needed a refund for the bottle cages that never came). He agreed but he refunded only one wheel (the cheaper one!) of the wheelset.

The new frame has worked well. I paired with an ICANN wheelset again. I'm still not sure if one should use rim tape with the VB wheelset or not, but either way, it's a serious design flaw for the rim to delaminate at moderate pressure.

This is by far the craziest story lol. Had to be a google translate mishap. Also probably(hopefully) the last time VB forgot to drill the little hole in a wheelset.

[slosada]

UPDATE: Paypal denied the claim
Disapointed on Paypal as they tried hard to deny.
Look at the options: Seller said "car accident" (obviously not true)
Paypal said "doesn't meet 'not as described'
Paypal then swapped for "used for a long time"
Finally on the phone they said they don't cover customized items

So beware relying on Paypal for warranty backup

[carbonazza]

UPDATE: Paypal denied the claim
...So beware relying on Paypal for warranty backup

My experience too.
I always pay now as Friend and Family, saving the 4 something % with providers I trust.

[1Sigma]

Now it's my turn to reach out to VB.
Looks like I've developed disconcerting flex with my handlebars.

I've sent them photos and videos as well as ride data on when the issue arose.
I am not a mega power sprinter (max 1,100W. 940W for the ride in question), nor am I very heavy (75kg)
No crashes.

Below is a photo of what the steerer looked like before and after
Also a pic of cracking on the handlebar.  This is there older HB10 handlebars - can't tell if that is carbon or just paint cracking

I'll see what the court of public opinion says.  Part of my just wants to throw in a 90mm expander plug and see it that works, but a failing handlebar in traffic would probably be a bad time....