I'm just curious, were those recent race blowouts with hookless wheels on 25mm internal width wheels? At least on my gravel bike running 25mm internal width on 38c tires, that tire is on so tight even if it were to break the bead, I don't see the tire coming off. It was already hard getting them on and I was able to bead the tire with just a regular floor pump. Hookless at least for gravel has been great for me.

I would consider hookless on my road bikes, but I tend to prefer 25c tires since I feel more agile road climbing at that width.

The iiiPro post and flat mount brakes share similar components like bleed screw. I'm curious if I could use the post mount brakes on a gravel build for more stopping power.

I am really split. I am fine doing some work on the frame but really want to avoid needing to replace it right away. Spcycles has some of the same molds as Velobuild. Is their quality any better?

I like SPcycle. They're straight forward and ship fast. Only downside is that my frame didn't come with plastic guide tubes (easy to route though) and the paint easily scratches. I would buy from them again if they had a frameset I wanted.

Has anyone considered building or has built a 1x road or light gravel bike (like 32c tires) using the eGR? It might be fun to build an lightweight climbing frame with the groupset.

Could you share photos of the relevant area of the RD and a link with the things you've applied?

It's nothing fancy. I just used Elmer's rubber cement glue with a brush that I coated around the battery cable. Plus a $2 USD packet of dielectric grease from the auto store that I applied with a toothpick. It just looks like gunk around the cable, I'm not sure there's anything worth looking at.

people have had success using liquid electrical tape around the RD cable plug. i bought a bottle myself but i don't have a thingy precise enough to squeeze out the stuff with any precision, so i'm not sure how to seal it efficiently. the stuff is sticky and dries super fast so it's not forgiving at all.

I used liberal amounts of rubber cement on the battery cables. It's a non-permanent adhesive seal that's easy to rub off. I then put dielectric grease on as a second protective layer. I haven't rode the bike in the rain, but it's been adequate against random water puddles and other wet areas. The only issue is that the dielectric grease attracts a bunch dust/debris. I'm thinking, maybe using rubber cement and then applying heat shrink plastic might be a cleaner solution.

where are you located?

Southern California. When it does get wet here, I usually just take my mechanical GRX gravel bike.