Velobuild VB-R-168 Frame

[MDZPNMD]

Thanks for your help

On another note, my Frame arrived today.

What's your opinion on this steerer tube?

It looks like there is a part chuipped or is missing under where the bearing is seated, is it a reason for concern for you guys or do you think it is fine? (see picture)


In my case BB and brake mounts are not faced correctly and the workshop of my choice has no tools for it.

Would you simply install the BB and hope for the best or attempt a DIY solution like using wetstones or sandpaper on a piece of glass to face them?

In general it seems quite good besides the non perfect inside of the BB, the non faced bb, the non faced brake mounts and also my endoscope showed that they forgot to remove the innter tube correctly from the top tube and some piece of the tube is left in it, gonna have to rip it out and save 2 grams.

Frame comes in at around 1045g in size 54 including thru axle and front derailleur mount

[Berzerko]

Just gave me VB 168 a good cleaning and inspection
Have about 1200 miles on it, with a lot of talk about split bearing cap and steerer I pulled apart and had a look, I see a broken steerer as a catastrophic failure !!

Besides having issues with getting proper compression on bearings and plug slipping up when trying to preload the bearings

When I took it apart the outside of the tube looked good, no cuts or grooves, the inside on the other hand had a lot of delaminating carbon

Should I be concerned ?

[curvenut]

Just gave me VB 168 a good cleaning and inspection
Have about 1200 miles on it, with a lot of talk about split bearing cap and steerer I pulled apart and had a look, I see a broken steerer as a catastrophic failure !!

Besides having issues with getting proper compression on bearings and plug slipping up when trying to preload the bearings

When I took it apart the outside of the tube looked good, no cuts or grooves, the inside on the other hand had a lot of delaminating carbon

Should I be concerned ?

 {ersonnally,  with that delamination, I would be concerned.
 I am not a carbon frame expert, ..

[Greenred]

How do you mount the Di2 battery in the seat post?

After about a year with the Sensah Empire Pro 12s and an 11/34 cassette I’m just done with the subpar shifting and splurged 

[hazzer19]

How do you mount the Di2 battery in the seat post?

After about a year with the Sensah Empire Pro 12s and an 11/34 cassette I’m just done with the subpar shifting and splurged 

I didn't use a mount and just inserted the battery with some foam packaging and it was all snug.

[a2lacrosse]

Recently purchased a VB168.

Opted not have any any VB stem/bars as I wanted to use a standard combo. Purchased a FSA69 SRS headset.

I’ve noticed that the frame/fork foul on one another with the FSA bearing/crown race on the lower (top is fine) but that there is no issues running the stock headset lower.

Have others experienced this?

[Eddy_Twerckx]

New groupset (Ultegra 11sp Di2). Went back to the LightBicycle AR45s with Challenge Criterium RS tires. Still need to bleed the brakes and weight it. 7.82kg as shown.

[carloow]

Crashed my bike at a crit a few weeks ago and decided to go for a new budget build with this frame (size 56, black). I live in the Netherlands and received the frame within 2 weeks. Can't wait to build the bike, but need to wait for a new group and wheels. Frame looks very nice and even a seatpost cover is included!

[joegal]

New groupset (Ultegra 11sp Di2). Went back to the LightBicycle AR45s with Challenge Criterium RS tires. Still need to bleed the brakes and weight it.

Looks good! Really interested in your torough opinion on how the VB fares against your SL7. I am a bit hestinant as i want to build up a budget bike with a new 12spd Di2, but i sometimes hear that the 168 feels "sluggish"(?) conpared to an genuine Specialized.
You think it would be wasting to slap a new Ultegra Di2 onto such a "cheap" frame?

[Sebastian]

New groupset (Ultegra 11sp Di2). Went back to the LightBicycle AR45s with Challenge Criterium RS tires. Still need to bleed the brakes and weight it.

Which cockpit/handlebar is that? The stem seems longer than 120mm? I'm interested because options like these are rare.

[ENEP]

Which cockpit/handlebar is that? The stem seems longer than 120mm? I'm interested because options like these are rare.

See original build post on page 106. "Kocevlo 1 piece bar/stem, 40cm/120mm"

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804787569282.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.17.79411802DclcYZ&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

[clomdom]

Thanks guys for all that gold informations here on the forum. After reading a lot of pages in this thread I ordered myself a 168. Communication with Chris was near perfect (sometimes answers took quite long). I ordered the frame without any stem or handlebar since I want to go with a own combo. Therefore I got a discount of 69$ and got the two color painting for „free“.

As Colors I chose Pantone 7471C and 232C fading from front to back and a nice stencil on the steerer. Yesterday I got the pictures of the finished painting and had a shock at first. Because the color which should have been turquoise was more greenish. Chris said color was correct also…I asked to get a picture in daylight (until now I did not get one). After a while I thought maybe their white balance in camera is totally off so I tuned the whitebalance and it seems they got the color correct.

Did you guys had some similar experiences?

[Eddy_Twerckx]

Looks good! Really interested in your torough opinion on how the VB fares against your SL7. I am a bit hestinant as i want to build up a budget bike with a new 12spd Di2, but i sometimes hear that the 168 feels "sluggish"(?) conpared to an genuine Specialized.
You think it would be wasting to slap a new Ultegra Di2 onto such a "cheap" frame?

It's heavier by around 500-600g, but other than that I don't think I could tell the difference. It's been my race bike all season and I love it. The Tarmac is my normal everyday riding bike mainly for the setup/position. I just upgraded it to 12sp Di2 which is why the 11sp went on the 168. Basically, I went weight weenie and comfort for the SL7, while this bike is my "cheap" race bike. I wouldn't describe it as sluggish at all. For reference my FTP is around 330W with a sprint around 1,600W. It doesn't hold me back.

Which cockpit/handlebar is that? The stem seems longer than 120mm? I'm interested because options like these are rare.

120mm/40cm as stated above. Kocevlo (The One Pro) in the link above. Really nice bars for the price.

[Eddy_Twerckx]

Thanks guys for all that gold informations here on the forum. After reading a lot of pages in this thread I ordered myself a 168. Communication with Chris was near perfect (sometimes answers took quite long). I ordered the frame without any stem or handlebar since I want to go with a own combo. Therefore I got a discount of 69$ and got the two color painting for „free“.

As Colors I chose Pantone 7471C and 232C fading from front to back and a nice stencil on the steerer. Yesterday I got the pictures of the finished painting and had a shock at first. Because the color which should have been turquoise was more greenish. Chris said color was correct also…I asked to get a picture in daylight (until now I did not get one). After a while I thought maybe their white balance in camera is totally off so I tuned the whitebalance and it seems they got the color correct.

Did you guys had some similar experiences?

I had a similar experience. I sent over the colors I wanted but the pictures they sent, everything looked super dark. The pink I wanted looked purple in their pictures and I was worried. But in the sun, it's looks just like I imagined. So maybe wait and see what it looks like in person.

[clomdom]

I had a similar experience. I sent over the colors I wanted but the pictures they sent, everything looked super dark. The pink I wanted looked purple in their pictures and I was worried. But in the sun, it's looks just like I imagined. So maybe wait and see what it looks like in person.

Thanks for that so I will give them the green light for shipping on Monday.