I'm still on the fence about the separate stem/bar combo myself. Despite removing "most" of the headset play it still isnt perfect, and I would not feel comfortable using the bike in any super fast group rides or races. Only reason I went with the separate combo is because I need the 120mm stem and 400mm width bar, something VeloBuild does not sell integrated. As you have mentioned the carbon top cap design is flawed for sure.

My VB-177 has spent most of the winter on the trainer...which isn't ideal if you only have one bike. Let me know if the Deda ACR stem works for you, as I'll probably end up doing the same next fall. Sucks because of the effort involved, not to mention the weight penalty.

Thanks for the reply. I have a few questions.

What did you use to cut the compression ring?

Did you use the deda spacers?

A picture would be great.

Hello everyone,
Herewith my contribution with my new Velobuild VB-R-177. This has been my first bike build ever and it was a fun experience.
I made my choice buying from Velobuild. Couldn't decide between the VB-R-166 and the VB-R-177 but I finally decided to go with the VB-R-177.

My objective was to build a budget road bike. Therefore, I took my time and looked for used / discounted parts from the internet. I was very happy with most purchases (especially the group set). But it didn't always work out great. One of the disks appeared to be not completely round, so that needs replacement. Also buying second hand, means sometimes that some small parts are not included. Especially in my case as an inexperienced DIY bike mechanic, that appeared to be a challenge since most of the time you notice the absence of parts only while you are in the building process. It took me a lot of extra time, but I already calculated that in before starting the project.

Furthermore; Youtube appeared to be my friend in this project, since there are tons of instructional movies around to get information from. I was also lucky with my local bike shop to help me out with missing parts and giving good advice when I got stuck.

I did have play in the headset that made me worried, since I’ve seen some excellent Video’s from Patrick Lino (also known as patlien1 on this forum I believe) on Youtube. But in the end, it appeared a replacement of the inner lock end better montage. All in all, the integrated head set makes it trickier.
I did bring the bike in with my local bike shop once it was built for a good checkup and to micro adjust the shifters and to give myself some peace of mind about safety.

In conclusion; I learned a lot, will do many things differently in a new project. But it was very educational and a lot of fun, I think everybody can do it.
I did my first longer rides and I'm super happy with the end result. But I must say my only comparison of the ride quality is with my ancient aluminum road bike only on 23mm tires.

Nope and nope.
You would feel or see a bump in the tire. It had an inner tube.

Bought straight from Velobuild in the same order.  In fact, the different hub and spokes delayed the bike delivery (80 days total).

I won't use the front wheel anymore. It's the same materials and same builder.

Apart from the poor quality, what should be a concern for everyone is the abysmal after sales support... Also  Paypal won't protect you in cases of low quality and not honored warranty.

I was never really comfortable with the bike after the headset issues. Decided to change with either the Acr or the Superbox, decided for the Superbox because of the option running a semi integrated solution for for easier bike maintenance and travelling with the bike. The post from Liter took me over the line.

Happy with the result so far, everything sits tight.

I'm on 120, 42.5, 170 cranks, something between 15-20% sag and get pedal strikes even when taking my time in technical rocky areas, its just part of having a bb this low while in chucky stuff. With only 42.5mm of travel, and the headtube angle relative to fork travel, I don't see any suspension changes having a meaningful impact on pedal strikes. Crank length, the terrain you ride, and pedaling style are the only things that will matter. One persons rock garden is another persons flowy singletrack. As others have mentioned, learning to ratchet and pick a good line in heavy rock sections can make a big difference but you're still going to hit any meaningful rocks if you try to pedal. Also, this is not unique to this frame, everyone I ride with on something with modern geo has this issue.

Very glad you got it sorted in the end! A friend with the right tools is always good to have, I have asked for help on many occasions from people better suited for the job 
Thanks for the mention too, made my day!

As a matter of fact I actually just finished my headset dilemma today ! What a coincidence. I have shared it on Weightweenies with pictures of how it started and what the finished product looks like. It has been hours and hours of filing and trying to get the right fit with various parts.

https://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=171366

Update on my 177 after about 1000km. I got the headset rubbing issue fixed, not by the replacement bearings which VB sent, but by sanding away the paint in the areas which rubbed. Not pretty, but worked. I swapped the horrible flexy handlebar for the Deda superbox stem and some Zipp alloy bars. I'm done with internal cble routing, especially on bars!

Had a bit of a problem after a long ride last week - the frame was full of water with no obvious way to drain it, and the headset bearings were grinding and making a terrible noise. I took the front end apart and the bearings are totally rusty. I don't have spare hoses and cables to be able to swap them right now so just greased as best I can, and reassembled.

Has anyone else had issues with water ingress? I'd like to drill a hole in the bottom of the BB shell, but this seems like a perfect way to start a crack.

Current build:


Previously (same wall!):