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Re: Velobuild VB-R-168 Frame
Hi all, Holy shit - what did you do? Insult Chrises family? This is utter garbage and should not have left like this... However while your cases surely suck it looks like everything is kinda fine for most of the people - including me. So its a gamble you are in the lucky 50% everything is fine, rather lucky 40% - get the dremel we are fixing this or the fucked 10%. At least thats how it feels like reading here. Ordered a custom painted one a while ago after some back and forth with chris - I had my fit dialed in and knew exactly how long the Seatpost will be extended etc. and checked this and sizing with him. Frame arrived faster than expected. Looking through the frame with a camera everything looked more than ok - excess carbon could have been removed inside the frame, but structurally everything looked identical if not better than brand ones. The brake cable hole in the fork was a bit sloppy and the brake mounting holes could have been machined completely, but nothing concerning for use. Paint (the extremely popular green chameleon) was fine - not a very good paint job, but I took a glossy one not trusting the quality and expected some scratches that are less visible in glossy (there were none for me). After reading a lot of comments about problems with the build, headset creaking and BB problems etc. I was pessimistic building the bike up. However I did not have a single problem: Pressfit DUB BB - installed without a hitch, fit was really really unexpectedly good for a pressed and not screwed one. (Pressfit DUB BB is not recommended by Chris and everyone with in general - see Hambini, but if its fine for Movistar its fine for me) Cables - installed eTap Force and the brake cables were really easy to route, including through the integrated bar (the new one) Brakes - as said, mounting could have been machined entirely and not only cleaned from paint, installation was fine Front Derailleur - well its SRAM so hard to tell if the braze on was a bit out of whack or just SRAM things - probably the latter. Took a while to setup properly. Rear Derailleur - all good Axels - all good - still baffled that someone got a short axle from them a while ago Headset - I was prepared to work with micro spacers and so on to get it dialed in, but even with the delivered expander everything worked fine the second try - no play Integrated Bar (the new one) - cable routing was easy (just two so easier), spacers were fine and fitted after some wiggling into the bar. Seatpost/ Saddle Mount - I ordered other saddle clamps for round saddle rails and they fit perfectly, with carbon paste no seatpost slip and I am a heavy rider So overall I am happy with my experience with velobuild so far. Haven't ridden the bike much yet, but took it's through its paces already (couple of 1500w sprints, bunny hops, etc. etc.) and even my concerns with the bars flex are gone. If I get to it I will happily share some pictures. May 29, 2022, 06:16:28 AM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-168 Frame
Handlebar considerations – a hint Handlebars and stems are always very tricky. What you have seen could have been seen beforehand (if you know what to look for and know about the hurdles there.) Lets assume the integrated one also has a bar and stem part to explain your problem. The integrated bar has a given reach of 80mm vs the 75mm of the separated bar. So with identical stems the integrated one would be 5mm longer - this would lessen the difference to 5mm with identical 100mm or 110mm stems. BUT the stem angles are different - the integrated one levels out, while the separated one still has some upward angle. This is very hard to decipher from the website - I tried to illustrate this below. 1 is the separated one - see the angle? Also visible in the placement of the measure of 90/100 etc. 2 is the integrated one - no angle at the connection point. So if you are just looking for the "reach" of the stem the 100mm integrated one is probably more like 95mm and the separate is angled so much upward that 110mm might be less than 100mm - combine this with 5mm less reach in the bar and your observation makes sense. You can play around with the Stem Comparison tool to figure things like this out in more detail: http://yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/stem.php BTW: Full disclosure - I would have made the identical mistake and as I went with the integrated bar and had to guess the real reach with no real angle given it came out a bit different than I planned... paired with the long SRAM Hoods my fit is a little off, so more spacers than planned have to stay for the moment. June 11, 2022, 05:59:22 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-168 Frame
Only done mechanical 2x. The derailleur cables have exit ports: cover for front, plug for rear. I've only used the integrated handlebar, no FSA ACR headset. Stupid question - but where were these covers packed? I somehow did not get any and cannot find them even with all the packaging still there. (Used some flexible glue mass type of thing to cover them for now) Short Update from my side:
Happy to see that VB is also writing here now. June 14, 2022, 04:56:14 AM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-168 Frame
Anyone have any ideas on bottom brackets that would suit this frame but are compatible with SRAM Rival 12 Cranks? Do you have a wide crank? If yes this is the BB for you otherwise look for this one in non "WIDE". This is the right one - however be advised that DUB with the frame is not recommended by VB. and in general not the best combination PF and DUB, but this used by e.g. Movistar with Canyon and SRAM. Also I did not have any issues with creaking in this combination until I had a minor chain drop (pretty compact rival power crank combined with force FD and forgot to double check limit screws)... no I got a new install on my plate. I printed some bigger spacers to try have less pre-load and minimize variables. Thanks for this hint, Sucks to hear that - this is the reason I do not trust anyone but the known quantities regarding wheels... that's just too dangerous. I got myself some Farsports wheels for my 168 build. I am more relaxed with frames, because usually carbon frame failures are a more soft process like delaminating and not blowing up in my face. I was thinking about getting some very cheap carbon wheels for my gravel beater, but stories like this will see me dropping serious money on a full carbon proper gravel setup. June 17, 2022, 03:23:08 AM |
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