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VeloBuild VB-R-066 Disc 2023 Road Bike Build
I recently completed a new build based on the VeloBuild VB-R-066 2023 Disc endurance(ish) road bike frame and the L-TWOO eR9 electronic groupset. I've only ridden it for 30km, and so far, so good, but this is no long term ride review, instead I'll focus on the build. In short, it met my expectations. Let's start with the summary: Total weight of the built bike, including pedals, bottle cages, out-front mount for computer/light, seatpost mount for light/radar, and bike pump mount: 7.85 kg, or 17.3 lbs. Total cost for all components, including shipping, sales tax, etc was AUD 3347, which based on today's exchange rate is USD 2225 or EUR 2055. The frame is size S in a matte black finish. I'm sure I'll regret choosing a matte finish, but for now it looks great. The frame weighed 885 g, with all bolts and attachments removed. The uncut fork was 359 g, and the seatpost was 203 g (400 mm). I didn't order a handlebar from VeloBuild. The frame also came with thru axles, rear derailleur hanger, front derailleur mount (bolted on, not riveted), cable exit rubber gaskets for both electronic and mechanical shifting, expander plug, top cap, headset bearings, seatpost bung and cover, crank scuff plate, and a headset cover for using a non-integrated stem and handlebar. The headset ring and cover wasn't deep enough to reach the top bearing, which perhaps could be fixed with some headset spacers, but I used a Ritchey upper headset instead. The extra rear derailleur hanger I had ordered didn't come in the box, so I contacted Chris, and I got it in the mail a few weeks later. Frame and fork quality was ok - fine - about what I expected from VeloBuild after following this forum for some time. The frame had some sharp edges around the headtube and bottom bracket shell, but otherwise it was quite smooth. I noticed some pitting inside the fork steerer and in the lower bearing seat in the headtube, but that was all the pitting I could see. There was some paint overspray on both the brake caliper mounting holes, in particular on the fork - not a surprise. I faced these myself using an IceToolz "Shuriken" Disc Mount Facing Tool #E272 (https://www.icetoolz.eu/en/icetoolz-disc-mount-facing-tool-shuriken-e272/a9232) that I had ordered in advance. I didn't have a bolt with a nut that was long and thin enough for clamping the tool so I could face the rear caliper mounts, but I was able to solve it by using one of the long caliper mounting bolts and the L-TWOO adapter plate (see photo). I think the facing helped - aligning the calipers at the end to avoid brake rub was very straightforward. The lower entry point for the hydraulic brake hose on the fork required a little filing with a round file before I could push the hose through. Again, not a surprise, but a quick fix. I've never built a fully internally routed frame before, so I spent quite a bit of time pulling and pushing foam damper casing as far as I could into the downtube and chainstays. I even pulled the electronic power cables for the derailleurs through the foam damper casing in the chainstay and around the bottom bracket area. Enabling mechanics to use old gear cables to pull the hydraulic hoses through the frame and the foam damper casing is a great feature of the L-TWOO groupset. For the T47 bottom bracket, I installed a cheap Lingmai branded one from AliExpress with internal bearings for a 24mm crank spindle ("t47-24i"). I also ordered a ZTTO branded one as a backup, it was identical in both looks and weight (except the logo), so they're probably from the same factory. It threaded into the shell without any issue. I had an unused Elita One Carbon seatpost lying around, so I used that instead of the one supplied by VeloBuild. Both had a very snug fit in the seat tube, and I have had no slippage so far, using only carbon paste and torquing the bolt to 4 Nm. Installing the L-TWOO eR9 groupset went well, by following their user manual (https://oss.ltwoo.com/download/en/eRX_User-Manual_V2.6_EN.pdf), with a couple of exceptions - see below. The user manual refers to a "stability adjustment screw" at the back of the front derailleur, but my eR9 version didn't have this. Related to the front derailleur, I added a chain catcher for peace of mind, but so far I haven't had a dropped chain. I'm running the groupset as 2x11, with 50/34T chainrings and a 11-32T cassette. For chain sizing, I followed the Park Tool instructions (https://www.parktool.com/en-int/blog/repair-help/chain-length-sizing), which resulted in a slightly shorter chain than by following L-TWOO's method. I figured since there's no clutch, and the rear derailleur cage spring is weak according to some reports, it was better to make the chain shorter rather than longer, for improved tension. To reach the mounting bolt for the shifters, I folded both the front and the rear of the hoods, and inserted the ball-end of an Allen key from the front. Make sure you have a high quality Allen key for this! For bleeding the brakes, I followed the method in the manual of pushing mineral oil from the caliper to a funnel on the levers. I didn't do the extra step of opening the vent hole. However, after the first shake-down ride on a bumpy road, I did another quick lever bleed (funnel on the lever, brake pads left in the calipers, pump the levers). I got some more air bubbles out then, and I now have great brake feel from the levers. Components:
May 22, 2024, 08:12:25 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: New LCR017-D (or Yishun R1058-D)
OK! I see what you mean now. The seat post is quite thin and the derailleur hanger is "short" so you have nothing to push the screw against. The hanger is fixed by 4 screws. So if they could provide a different hanger it could work. I'll definitely give updates when I know something new. So far I can't go on with the build. That sucks. If I have to go with electronic shifting, the build will be mich more expensive than planned. And I also really like mechanical shifting. May 22, 2024, 04:09:38 PM |
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Re: Velobuild Quality Control
I would honestly just expect no quality control whatsoever from velobuild. Most if not all my Chiner (frame) parts had QC stickers on them somewhere. Whether that means that somebody actually checks tolerances or whether there's just some bloke applying them to make customers feel good - I don't know. Anyway, I've not dealt with Velobuild in the early days - only started buying from them in 2022. But ever since then I have followed the VB threads here closely and they dealt reliably with all warranty claims from what I can tell - even if it takes a while sometimes. And since they do seem to respect their warranty and ship out replacement frames and parts, you would think that they're making some kind of effort at least to not have to deal with overly many of these issues. Also, Chris told me that all their parts undergo testing according to the ISO 4210 testing protocol. However, providing documentation of ISO 4210 fatigue tests is obligatory if you wanna sell bike parts in most countries, AFAIK. No matter how cheap the stuff is. So that is not really a distinguishing factor. But on the flipside, you will find plenty of horror stories of bad QC from the big brand's frames. This is the internet. People are very vocal here when they have issues. And very rarely are they screaming about it when stuff just works. Though this forum seems pretty balanced most of the time.  May 24, 2024, 04:25:55 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: New LCR017-D (or Yishun R1058-D)
Looking great. Almost done in 1 day... impressive! Thank you I used some kind of rubber sleeve specific for anti rattle on each cable. It is more that you can hear/feel the movement inside when turning the handlebar. It's not a problem as it will not be noticable while riding I guess. The wheel set should be delivered tomorrow according to DHL. May 24, 2024, 05:10:43 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: New LCR017-D (or Yishun R1058-D)
I finished the Build today after receiving the wheel set. I've also ridden the first few kilometers to set every adjustment and get a first feel for the bike. The build with pedals and bottle mounts is about 7,5kg. The mechanical shifting works fine. It only needs some fine tuning. The bike feels very good and stiff. I have to say that I do not really have a comparison. Only my aluminum gravelbike (Trek Checkpoint). I'll also post my impressions after a few longer rides. I think the frame fits me pretty well with size 54. I'm 175cm with inseem of 82. But after only 10km I don't know exactly. My personal Pros and Cons so far: + Good frame and parts quality. No bigger problems yet. + The build was good with some smaller problems. - front derailleur hanger not so good for mechanical Shimano due to the missing support for the stabilizer screw. - paint quality is okay (small imperfections here and there) but the clear coat is very thin so that I already have some smaller scratches. I think the paintjob should be clear coated at least 2 times. As already mentioned by other people the carbon in some areas (downtube, toptube) Is very thin. You can easily flex it with your thumb. I don't know if that is normal for that kind of frames. I just want to say it. All in all I'm very happy how it turned out and looking forward to the next rides. The whole build was about 2500 Euro. For that price I can't buy a branded Frame with carbon wheels and group set. May 25, 2024, 10:22:17 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: New LCR017-D (or Yishun R1058-D)
Short update: I did my first 50km ride today with best weather. It was great and the bike feels amazing. The only thing I have to get used to is the Free hub sound. As it is a 36T Ratchet system, the sound is not "round". It's a little alternating which seems to be normal with ratchet Free hubs. But for me it sounds not so nice. Maybe I'll put more grease inside to get it less loud  It's LCs C52DB-RD28-44C wheel set. I'm being very picky here... May 26, 2024, 11:57:53 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: New LCR017-D (or Yishun R1058-D)
looks cool. As my gravelbike has also relatively sporty geometry, the feel here is very near to that. My gravelbike on paper have 12mm longer reach and higher stack. I definitely feel that on LCR017 the stack is lower which wasn't uncomfortable so far. I never had a bike fit so I don't know my perfect measures. All I can say is that I don't had any pain or bigger discomfort on today's ride. I thought that LC give more stem spacers with the frame. If I would order again, I would definitely ask for more spacers, as they only deliver one with 10mm and one with 5mm. I then would increase the high about 10mm I think. Total shipping including EU taxes, for both packages was 287 USD. May 26, 2024, 01:22:25 PM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: New LCR017-D (or Yishun R1058-D)
I had chatgpt estimate the downtube for me and it came up with 40mmnear the head tube, and 60mm near the bb and it worked out pretty well for me (see all the frame pics above, attaching the downtube shot here). Don't really have measurements for anything else, but they did a pretty good job with the graphics I provided (vector graphic pdf files are their preference). Of course anyone with a frame, a piece of string and a little time could probably do better  Hope that helps! May 31, 2024, 09:26:05 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: New LCR017-D (or Yishun R1058-D)
I'm planing on designing some decals for the bike. Does anyone have the measurements on: Hope that helps. Viewed from side: Downtube: 50mm bottom, 45mm top, width 60-40mm (from downside) Toptube: 20mm bottom, top 30mm, width 30-50mm (from top side) Seattube: 45 bottom, 45 top (only the upper area) June 01, 2024, 03:36:29 AM |
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Re: Lightcarbon: New LCR017-D (or Yishun R1058-D)
Yup, finally shipped last Thursday. If I'm deciphering the China Post updates correctly, it's been on 2 planes so far ... but I expect it won't get here until the end of next week at the earliest. Don't worry, I'll be irrationally stalking the tracking information incessantly with great diligence until it arrives!
June 10, 2024, 10:39:43 AM |
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