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.

I would try to patch it up with a carbon fiber repair kit that can be had on Amazon for $50.  It is just 2 part epoxy with carbon fiber fabric.  Prep the area with alcohol and knock off any loose paint.  Make a slurry with the epoxy kit and some chopped strands of carbon fiber and apply it to the damaged area.  Wrap it tightly with some shrink wrap to compress and allow it cure.

Could you please tell me which big brands offer alu frames at this price? i have a friend looking for something like this and all he finds is considerably higher cost