Velobuild VB-R-168 Frame

[bamboo_mountain]

I think it's a general problem since on the picture on their website its somehow seem to be misaligned...

Wow, it's even slanted in the same direction! What solution did you come up with in your case?

I'm thinking of just trying to find a different set of bars+stem.

[kr78]

... What solution did you come up with in your case?

I modified the carbon computer holder to make it fit

[patliean1]

Anyone know the shipping times for unpainted raw frames, assuming the size is in stock?

[darc16]

Ordered my frame on 6/28 and it arrived at my house on 7/5

[erallen30]

Too bad that these kind of problems (still) exist. Same issue as with mine: http://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,3147.msg36515.html#msg36515.

I think it's a general problem since on the picture on their website it somehow seems to be misaligned...

Geez, can't even ship a handlebar with mounting holes aligned? Seems like secondhand market is a better option.

[erallen30]

Hi all,
I finished my build in june and have driven it 1300 km since then. I really like the bike in general  . Luckily I am one of the persons without one of the common quality problems, beside the following issue.
As some other guys i have to use micro spacers, to get get enough space between the top cover of the headset and the head tube. Otherwise the top cover would touch the head tube when compressing the headset.
Unfortunalely my microspacer arrangement slips out of place form time to time, which leads to a loose headset. I attached two photos, to illustrate the problem.
Maybe you can share picutes of your microspacer arrangement or any other advice on how I can address the problem would be very much appreciated. thanks in andvance

Damn. This is a serious issue. I was seriously contemplating purchasing one of these framesets. Too many issues to be sorted yet. Any attempts to rectify the problems just seem to be mostly lip service from VB.

[planet_sammy]

Here’s a pic of my completed build.
No big issues for me. Front disc brake caliper mounting points I think need to be faced, as no matter how much adjustments I do, there remains a tiny bit of rub.
Unfortunately the part for facing that is very expensive.
And otherwise, I thought the port where the front derailleur cable leaves the frame was fiddly and a pain, but I got it in the end.

Got them to send me the frame in bare carbon and I did the paint myself. Also added the Winspace Lun wheels which I really like.

Did you still have to pre-sand your raw carbon frame with wet sandpaper or could you apply the primer straight away?

[shHH]

Damn. This is a serious issue. I was seriously contemplating purchasing one of these framesets. Too many issues to be sorted yet. Any attempts to rectify the problems just seem to be mostly lip service from VB.

I think most problems are caused by unskilled assembly of the bike or can be solved with a clever work around. In my case the customer support of velobuild assured me to send a bigger compression ring, which should solve the problem.
In general I never heard of serious structural problems with these frames. Considering the low price of the frame set, you can get very good value for money. On the other hand, you have to be prepared to find your own solutions to solve problems. If you want a road bike, which works "perfect" in every aspect, you have to spent MUCH more money. So, If you don't have a problem finding solutions yourself, I can really recommend the frame to you.

[patliean1]

Is it just me, or has there been an increase of new Chinertown members mainly looking for confirmation bias against purchasing from VeloBuild?

[Pigdog]

Did you still have to pre-sand your raw carbon frame with wet sandpaper or could you apply the primer straight away?

I did a very light sanding first. Mainly just to make sure the primer would adhere better.
But it was very light to make sure not to compromise the resin.

[Pigdog]

Is it just me, or has there been an increase of new Chinertown members mainly looking for confirmation bias against purchasing from VeloBuild?

I was wondering something similar. Is it more quality control issues recently, or more posting about it?
I mean, mine wasn’t perfect. But it was what I was expecting.
I have a buddy who bought a brand new Factor and it had a frame failure on his first ride. They are replacing it under warranty but it looks like he has to wait like 6 months. Point being, even top brands have QC issues even when your spending big money.
So I went into my Velobuild project expecting some issues. Obviously, big issues you need Velobuild to step up and do something about it though.

[Mowgli]

Is it just me, or has there been an increase of new Chinertown members mainly looking for confirmation bias against purchasing from VeloBuild?

I probably fall under that category! It's probably as least partly due to this forum having the most discussion about the brand, and there's been some useful knowledge sharing to fix issues like your headset/top cap problem. I wonder if VB have perhaps suffered a drop in quality recently which means there are more problems - and the customer service, at least in my experience - has been fairly poor so far.

[carbonazza]

That is why I prefer to work with Carbonda.
I don't remember any issue. Even once the customs here screwed a 2 frames delivery, and shipped them back.
In that case it is by boat. They never arrived back.
Carbonda did send me 2 other frames, no question asked.
For me, that build bikes for others for years now, this is gold.
The same with lightbicycle.com for wheels.

I'm all for trying other brands too, but in the end high quality and after sale service is what matter.
I'm not sponsored at all but if you can't stomach the ups and down of importing they are a safer bet.
It always saddens me when I read someone on the forum having a bad experience when building their bike.

[Pigdog]

That is why I prefer to work with Carbonda.
I don't remember any issue. Even once the customs here screwed a 2 frames delivery, and shipped them back.
In that case it is by boat. They never arrived back.
Carbonda did send me 2 other frames, no question asked.
For me, that build bikes for others for years now, this is gold.
The same with lightbicycle.com for wheels.

I'm all for trying other brands too, but in the end high quality and after sale service is what matter.
I'm not sponsored at all but if you can't stomach the ups and down of importing they are a safer bet.
It always saddens me when I read someone on the forum having a bad experience when building their bike.

I think that could an example of individual experience though. I had Carbonda at the top of my list for a frame, and I emailed them 2x with a couple pre purchase questions, and they never replied either time. So I contacted Velobuild and they were great.
Obviously I am not saying that’s “normal”, but based on my personal experience (extremely limited as it’s only 1 person),  Carbonda customer service was nonexistent. I get in reality I probably just caught them at busy times and slipped through the cracks. So far, everytime I have contacted Velobuild they at least reply.. Watch now that I said that, I will never hear back again. Haha

[bamboo_mountain]

Is it just me, or has there been an increase of new Chinertown members mainly looking for confirmation bias against purchasing from VeloBuild?

I guess I fall into this category.

I have had issues with other frames failing on me in the past (including some expensive "western" brands), but never like with Velobuild where they supplied incorrect or obviously bad parts from the start.

Most people here, including myself are okay accepting some risk that they wont receive the same warranty buying direct from China, but I feel it is in the interest of everyone to push for better QC at least.

I do wonder if there was simply a bad production run that got out around the time China was experiencing the worst of the Omicron wave, Chris mentioned to me that there were delays at that time and maybe pressure caused bad results. It does seem somewhat localized around a group of us who purchased around that time, and recent builds have looked a bit better to me.

In any case, I do hope that Velobuild can succeed, and do not want to seem overly harsh in my critique. I just think that it is important to share the bad with the good so that buyers can make an informed decision.