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Re: Shifter and brake cables and housing
Hello thank for your reply. For cable actuated hydraulic brakes, compressionless housing brings braking action much closer to full hydraulic, while standard housing will make braking spongier. Or so it is often said. I can't give a personal account, as I built my 168 with a compressionless setup from the get-go, and my previous bikes were full hydro or old school v-brake September 03, 2021, 05:00:40 PM |
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Re: Velobuild's price vs other options
Here is my experience: Chris is very responsive, and VB will accept custom paint schemes and decals for a price. However, with VB it is best to keep the order as simple as possible, as their fulfillment system leaves much to be desired. They are prone to making mistakes on orders, even on straight forward items such as frame and handlebar size. While responsive, getting them to correct an order after shipping is near impossible. They may make mistakes or switch parts and not tell you until the item has shipped. This occured to me with the handlebar (model switched) and seatpost (incorrectly painted). They will give you the run around, and eventually throw you a bone, but unless the mistake is severe, do not expect good post sales service. They will quote 21 days, but expect up to 2 months. Shipping by EMS took about 2 weeks. I didn't pay duties The frame I received was quite good. Geo was correct, and weights were within specified, even with paint, axles, and hangers A couple superficial scratches. The carbon was mostly nice and clean internally. The steerer was smooth, but deep in the fork were a lot of loose fibers. However, I understand this also is the case with some name brands. The handlebar holes that interface with the spacers was slightly misaligned as were the mounting holes for the rear brake caliper. The handlebar cavities were the sloppiest, with cables constantly catching on the carbon while routing. The cable only caught in one place on the chainstay. The BB hole was round and very clean. Super easy installing the BB The front fork could use a cable port, as the exit hole for the brake cable is very shallow. This results in some thin carbon around the hole. While the brake cable easily went through, it did chip off carbon around the hole in the process. No torque specs are given other than the thru axles. In short, they make decent frames for the price. They are disorganized and prone to making mistakes. If you are patient, and they deliver as ordered, you'll likely be satisfied. If you need post-sales help, god help you. September 03, 2021, 10:50:52 PM |
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Re: Shifter and brake cables and housing
I got zrace and I basically live on Alps, finger crossedTrace Velo seems to like them, but then Cornwall isn't exactly the Alps. Let us know how it goes! September 05, 2021, 09:49:20 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-168 Frame
Finally! I've only had time to pick at the build 15-30minutes at a time so it took forever. Wrong paint color notwithstanding, here are the other hiccups I experienced(mostly trivial): - Brake cable exit hole on fork had some flaking carbon - One of the Front brake mount screw holes was not deep enough, requiring use of an extra washer as a spacer - Handlebar carbon is a bit messy inside making routing fiddly - Rear brake mounts slightly misaligned, resulting in the slightest rub once per revolution (even if I manually open the Juin Tech calipers the whole way). It'll probably be fine once the pads are bedded - some minor cosmetic scratches And here is the good: + Weight was within specified, including hardware + Other than handlebars routing was super easy + Carbon looked super clean on the inside, other than deep in the fork + BB pressed in very cleanly End build is a 1x12 based on the Sensah Empire Pro. Showroom weight (without pedals) = 7.58kg Weight with pedals and cages = 7.79kg Real-world weight (with computer mount, computer, lights, Airtag, repair kit) = 8.6kg UPDATE: Included my parts and pricing. All prices are Canadian Dollars, incl. taxes, duties, and shipping where applicable. Weights are a mixture of estimates and actual, so differ from the final measured weight (probably some parts came in lower than advertised, and losses from cutting cables, handlebar tape, steerer, etc.) September 09, 2021, 07:04:51 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-168 Frame
In fact i just notie this frame is press fit. I do not think it does. Although, I had great success using a threaded PF bottom bracket. No BB press, self-aligning, creak resistant, installs with a normal Hollowtech II BB wrench Took me 2 minutes to install https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32856311570.html September 14, 2021, 12:16:17 PM |
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Airtags! Remove the speaker without damaging the tag
Anyone else using them as cheap bike theft insurance? If so, where is everyone placing them? They are a fair bit larger than I anticipated, and apparently they do not transmit well through carbon Under the saddle seems popular, but not the most difficult place to spot. For now, I have it strapped to the top of my saddle clamp, somewhat camouflaged in an old piece of inner tube. September 14, 2021, 03:12:42 PM |
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Magene P325 CS - First Impressions
I really wanted a power meter for my bike, but did not want to pay the normal rates for the a dual-sided meter Noticed the Magene P325CS was a dual meter option for a reasonable price, so I pulled the trigger. I think it retails for about $450/$550 CAD, but I picked mine up for about $350 CAD. I got a standard 53/39, with 170mm cranks. Packaging: It comes in a pretty box, and is well-packaged. Left crank is packaged in a separate box within, and the crank set protectected with a custom-cut piece of packing foam. Includes: Chainrings, Cranks, magnetic charging cable, instructions Build: Everything looks well-machined. Smooth, with no burrs. All parts fit perfectly. The cranks are hollowed with 3-holes, 2 of which are visible. Anodization does not run the length of the holes, and stops about an inch in They are a bit chunky at 775 grams. The power meters are rechargeable, and come with a charging cable that magnetically sticks to the charging ports on either crank There are reports of chainring flex under sprinting conditions, but I cannot comment as I swapped out the rings for 1X. The spider LOOKs like a direct-mount SRAM 8-bolt AXS interface, but it is not. The SRAM 8-bolt interface has one shorter spline. This means that if you switch chainrings, you will need to take a round file to one of the splines to get it to fit on the cranks. (I had to do this with my Stone AXS-to-5-Bolt Adapter) Note: If you want to switch out the chainrings, you will need to get one that allows access to the drive-side charging port. Installation: As easy as can be. Fits standard BB road shell width, with 24mm crank shaft. Slide through BB, pre-load with 10mm hex bolt, tighten left-side pinch bolts. done Accuracy: Can't speak to this, as this is my first power meter. GP Lama reviewed, and it is not as accurate as he would like. This was also looked at by Ronald Kuba, and to a lesser degree Charles Ouimet. Both of them believe it is fit for purpose, unless you are at a competitive level (which I am not, and early data from the power meter backs this up - lol) At the end of the day, I am only competing against myself. At the very least, it will be useful in trending performance changes. Set-up: Connected easily to my Magene C406 using the Onelap utility, which then syncs with Strava. No issues here One a few rides, but so far no signal drops Features: The Onelap utility provides all the metrics you could ever need. Basic things it does track are: Power, cadence, left/right balance, pedaling efficiency, torque effectiveness. It then makes other calculations, such as Power Zones (Anaerobic, VO2 Max, etc.), Watts/kg, Training stress, intensity, normalized power, etc. All in all, I am quite happy with it. For the same price, I could have gotten a single refurbished 4iii or Stages crank. Whether it is as accurate as a pair of Assiomas is irrelevant for me. It is accurate enough for my purposes. September 16, 2021, 11:06:15 AM |
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Re: Airtags!
Do you have more info about this?Unfortunately I do not. Just GP Lama's video, and somewhere else (I forget) I should test it out, to verify I actually wanted to use two. One in a fairly visible location like what Snacks posted or under the saddle. And one somewhere totally hidden. This way finding the obvious one might provide some false safety feeling to the thief while I still have a chance to recover my bike. Great idea. I think I might have to do that as well.
This one from AliExpress also looks good. Hides in the headset cover. It would perfect if the finish on the cap were nicer, and had a false hex bolt head. https://www.aliexpress.com/i/1005003072778100.html September 16, 2021, 12:30:41 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-168 Frame
Hey guys, first post. Looking for a size recommendation with this frame before I order. I am 5'8" on a 54 Cannondale Supersix Evo right now, with 100mm stem, 0 offset seatpost. Bikeinsights is another good site to compare geometry. It allows you to better visualize the differences https://bikeinsights.com/compare?geometries=5f3acb315c0c5a001736c275,604d98c2d7c8240017c37234, September 16, 2021, 07:20:38 PM |
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Re: Juin Tech GT-F brake calipers (dual piston)
Hey 1Sigma, So, I’ve put about 70km or so on these. And I’m pretty satisfied. I don’t really notice the difference so far compared to the 3-piston Shimano MT-BR520 brakes I had. As others have mentioned, modulation isn’t as good as full hydro but still good. It’s not on/off as some people make hybrid brakes out to be. UPDATE: I guess the pads just took an ungodly amount of time to actually bed properly. The braking power on these have significantly improved. I don't know what is considered good, as I otherwise use fully contaminated v-brakes on my other bike, but I can go from 40kph to 0 in roughly a car length. At higher speeds (40kph+) they stop faster than rim, and about the same at lower speeds (<30kph). Haven’t ridden in the rain with them, but I’m sure they’ll be infinitely better than rim in the wet. Honestly, I don’t know why I was hoping for. They don’t blow me away, but I guess with brakes boring predictability is a good thing. September 17, 2021, 10:32:54 PM |
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