Probably a good time to follow up with my thoughts on the 177. Anecdotal of course, so take with a grain of salt.

1. By and large I think the 177 is the better frame versus the 168. It's lighter, much stiffer, and I've found it to be more responsive of a riding experience. EPS molding if that's important to you. The geometry is more forgiving as well.

2. I've tested both the 168 and 177 with a variety of wheels: Winspace Hypers, Farports EVO, Elite Drive, and VeloBuild's own 38mm depth road wheels. This is where the differences in the frames became most apparent. The 177 comes alive with quality wheels. Despite most of the aforementioned wheels being stiff race wheels they felt somewhat soft under load with the 168. Marginal but noticeable. While the 168 is an aero frame (and arguably looks faster), you can easily slap some aero wheels on the 177 as well as optimize your on-bike position.

3. Velobuild's 38mm depth road wheels - Yes they're heavy but retail is only $339 USD. 1778g for what is suppose to be climbing wheels. Very noticeable on bad pavement and upon acceleration. Steel spokes and Novatec's cheapest generic hubs. For an ULTIMATE budget build where weight isn't a priority they are probably fine. Overall system weight is still more important. Sidenote...Novatec's top-tier hubs on the other hand are fantastic and I run them on my gravel wheels.

4. Front derailleur cable port - If you're running mechanical shift cables, routing and setting up the FD will most likely account for half of the entire time you spend on the bike build itself. The 177, 168, and CX-002 all use this style of cable port. Just be patient...

5. Separate Stem Combo - We can all agree the supplied stem which comes with the separate bar/stem combo is flawed in its design. VB updated the supplied metal C-ring/clip and removed the metal tabs, however you may still find difficulty removing all the headset slack/play. A fool-proof alternative is to opt for the integrated handlebars, use FSA's ACR system, or my favorite which is the FSA no.69 headset if you need to run your own stem. Hoping one day VB offers a separate stem with internal routing capabilities but with a tradition round top-cap design.

So for $500+shipping you get a classic looking frame resembling an S-Works SL6, a non-proprietary seatpost, and a frameset that comes in well under 1000g without paint and hardware. Solid if you ask me. Sadly I had disassemble my 177 (for a 2nd time) to donor the components for another build.

I'm running SRAM eTap on my VB CX-002 frame and the setup/experience is so awesome...I'm most likely gonna rebuild my 177 yet again but also use eTap. Make it my travel/climbing/holiday bike. Won't have to worry about FD routing issues either. THIS IS THE WAY.