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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
Hi everyone! I promised to update everyone as soon as I received my frame. Well, it took longer than expected because there was a bit of a mishap. Velobuild shipped my frameset after 10 days, exactly as promised. It took another three weeks for it to get to Germany. That's longer than usual but still perfectly OK. However, upon unpacking I realized that I received a disc brake frameset when I had actually ordered the rim brake version. I sorted it out with Chris and I will now get my actual frameset. The disc brake frame will now be shipped on to another customer. However, since I had it lying around for a week or so, I made some pics and weighed everything for y'all. So here it is. Frame Size is an XXL. Handlebar is 120/40. Overall quality seems perfectly OK for the price. Some minor imperfections in the carbon finishing here and there, maybe the caliper seats are not perfectly faced, BB threads are OK, bearing seats in frame and fork as well. I have never seen a Dogma F in real life but from what I can see on the internet, it's a carbon copy. It even has the asymmetrical rear seat and chain stays as you can see in the pics. More pics and details to follow. I also shot a few pics from inside the headtube seattube and downtube. Cheers Sebastian I ordered it with custom paint, which will add some weight, I guess. July 10, 2022, 04:06:08 AM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
Here are a few more details. I've made some shots from the inside of the frame. Everything looks fairly normal judging from my experience with other frames. The headtube area has some wrinkles. Some of it might be resin pooling. Some of it might be wrinkles in carbon sheets. Make of it what you will. I've seen similar things in other frames. I think it should be fine as this is not a lightweight frame and the headtube area seems fairly overbuilt. But obviously there's no way to know for sure unless you have someone scan and/or x-ray it. July 11, 2022, 10:22:27 AM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
hello all, does anyone know the length of stock seat post? im waiting for mines to come in I ordered it on the 2nd of sept. its being painted glossy white. I ordered the xxl model im 6,4 or 195 cm. I think it's 35cm, but I'd have to double check. The seattube on the XXL is 54cm. I got the XXL frame and with my seat height of around 81-82cm I got about 10cm of seatpost inserted in the frame. I think that's about as high as you can go with that seatpost. At some point you need an aftermarket post in 40cm length. September 12, 2022, 01:57:25 AM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
September 12, 2022, 04:27:01 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
So anyone else have BB issues yet? Mine’s fine. Not as smooth as my prior frame with a thread fit BB into a pressfit shell. But it does spin smooth enough. I got a different issue, though. After a few rides I noticed cracks around the seatpost clamping area. Now I did make sure to have at least 10cm of seatpost inserted. I used a calibrated torque wrench from PRO and tightened it to 4nm. The upside is: Chris and VB were quick to assure me that the frame would be replaced under warranty. I am now waiting for a replacement and it should be shipped any day now. Hope that one will hold up better. Apart from that, I loved the fit and particularly the handling and cornering feel. The steep head angle and low BB feel really great. September 17, 2022, 03:18:07 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
i assume this this may be common but not to major. special for what was paid for the frame. small things like that i expect. This what I'm glad to here about at the end of the day. side note @sebastian how is the fit. if I remeber your a tall rider. The fit is very nice in fact. I like the steep head and seat angle. It makes for a position well above the BB which I like. And also very direct steering despite my 120mm stem. So direct is the steering in fact that I think it would be too nervous for my liking with a shorter stem. I particularly like the handlebar shape. I find it very comfy especially in the drops. The reach is a tad shorter than on my previous frame but I don’t feel cramped so all good. It does even make it easier for me to ride in an aero position with horizontal forearms since I can rest my arms better on the bars. I do have more toe overlap. But at my height and with my shoe size I do get this on all road bikes to some degree. I’ve learned to live with it and it’s basically never an issue. September 18, 2022, 03:23:57 AM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
I ordered my VB-R-218 in size XXL with the 110/42 cockpit on August 20, with a September 5 ship date and September 13 arrival in Texas. My intention was to use it as a frame for all of the spare parts I've been collecting in my garage to use as a fun project bike. I spent yesterday building it up, and it's now mostly complete. I was worried about the shifting quality with the full internal routing -- enough that I actually started researching buying a Rival eTap groupset before I built up the bike, negating the entire purpose of even beginning this project -- but I powered through and I'm pleased to say the shifting is superb. Running both hydraulic brakes and mechanical shifting through the headset was a royal pain, but now that it's done I'm happy with the results. Handlebars rotate just fine with everything bundled up in there, and the shifting is just as smooth as my bikes with more relaxed cable routing. It was a little tough to get the bottom bracket threaded in. There was a ton of paint in the threads that I had to carefully scrape out because it was preventing me from even getting the threads engaged, but after an hour I was able to finally get the bottom bracket installed. I haven't noticed any friction or problems rotating the cranks, so I'm hopeful everything turns out to be aligned well enough. The only problem I have so far is that after several hours of tinkering, I can't get the hydraulic brakes aligned at all using the normal tricks. The scraping is much more severe than I've experienced from any of the other bikes I've built, and I suspect the mounts need to be faced. I ordered the Hayes brake alignment tool to see if that will help, but if not I'll pop into my LBS to get them faced. I just want to fully exhaust all attempts to do it myself since they're an authorized Pinarello dealer. Maybe they won't care, or maybe they'll be totally offended and toss me out. We'll see. Component list: - R7000 105 mechanical groupset, including 172.5 mm crank with 4iiii power meter - Giant PR2 wheelset - Continental GP5000 tires, 700x25 - Bontrager tubes - Proxim W350 saddle - Jagwire shift cables - RS500 SPD SL pedals, sitting in the garage not installed yet Definitely not lightweight. In its current state without pedals, it's 8.76 kg. The RS500 pedals are about 320g, and when I install the water bottle cages that arrive tomorrow that will tip me well over the 9 kg mark. Definitely not concerned about weight since this is a spare parts build, but depending on how it rides I could see myself swapping the wheelset out with something a little more svelt sometime in the future. Once I can get the brakes to the point where the wheels turn without waking up the neighbors, I'll report back on ride quality. September 18, 2022, 04:37:50 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
I hope it's glue  Did you get a actual paint job or is it their primer? No paint job, just the basic matte black frame
Yeah it came with that blob on it, but it's way above where I'm going to be cutting the steerer tube anyways so it's not a big deal September 28, 2022, 10:45:06 AM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
I'm 235lbs i started high(100psi on 32mm gatorskin) and worked my way down. the high psi hand my back killing after 16 miles I'd be done. once i went below 80psi i could go all day long. i will never ride anything smaller then a 28 i love myself to much. unless its a short ride 10miles are less. I had 1 flat on my gp5000 on the rear and 3200 miles and non on the gator skins. Oh ok. I'm in San Diego & the streets are all over the place here, lots of small stones & glass. I went through a 10 pack of continental tubes 80mm & was about to give up biking when I saw a Youtube video & decided to try a higher psi, so its 110 for me for now, until i start shedding weight. I guess the majority of the aggravation came from trying to remove & put on the GP5000's. I have never seen a tire that is so miserably hard to remove or put back on. Have fun on your new bike & post some pix. It's really nice to read about people experiences & see their bikes. September 29, 2022, 06:42:13 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-218
yea i thought it was just me with gp5000 and removing them from rims. but the absorb the road buss better then the gatorskins. but i could kill the gatorskins i still have a set. Yeah, this is why the Germans will loose any war..... they won't be able to change their continental tires on their armored vehicles in the field .....  Very nice pix. Thanks for posting them September 29, 2022, 07:14:26 PM |
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