Velobuild VB-R-168 Frame

[Queen of Skulls]

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.

If I get another build together after my 218. I want maybe these colors...

[joegal]

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.

Thanks for the insights! Also great to hear you have some racing background to back up your opinion.
How would you rate the aero-ness of the 168 compared to the SL7?
I offen hear that Specialized nailed the aerodynamics in the SL7.
As the 168 is identical in geometry and very very similar in appearance (although not the same, as the genuine seatpost does not fit), I hope to get the same aerodynamics.
But its very hard to judge the tube shapes from pictures. Especially the tube widths (e.g. downtube width from the front perspective).

Could you notice any difference in tube shapes and the aero profiles?

Thanks a lot, Eddy! 

[Eddy_Twerckx]

Thanks for the insights! Also great to hear you have some racing background to back up your opinion.
How would you rate the aero-ness of the 168 compared to the SL7?
I offen hear that Specialized nailed the aerodynamics in the SL7.
As the 168 is identical in geometry and very very similar in appearance (although not the same, as the genuine seatpost does not fit), I hope to get the same aerodynamics.
But its very hard to judge the tube shapes from pictures. Especially the tube widths (e.g. downtube width from the front perspective).

Could you notice any difference in tube shapes and the aero profiles?

Thanks a lot, Eddy! 

It's really hard to tell without going to a wind tunnel, but I don't feel any slower on the 168. It's a really solid cheap bike that I am happy to race on. If it was a handful of watts slower I wouldn't be surprised but I don't think it's massive.

[a2lacrosse]

Internal routing questions (using Shimano R7000 groupset). I put gear cancels
From the rear to the head tube to guide the housing. Rear mech was easy peasy.

I'm having a lot of trouble routing the hydraulic hose from the headtube to the rear. The guide cable went in easily from the rear, but I cannot get the hydraulic line to follow it at the rear stay exit. Is the little piece of plastic removable? That is where I am getting stuck repeatedly.

Regarding the front mech routing.. pretty extreme angle at the bottom bracket. Not the best design.

[OlieSimpson]

a2lacrosse, I've just re-built mine using shimano R7000 groupset which is the 2nd time I've done it.

This time I started at the bars and worked my way back which I found much easier than starting at the rear and going forwards which I did the first time.

The way I routed the cables was:

• Brake cables through the bars
• Gear cables through the bars
• Rear gear cable through the frame
• Rear brake cable through the frame (yes you can remove the black clip on the rear chainstay)
• Front mech through the frame (you may need to file some metal from the black clip to allow the cable to sit in at a normal angle which is what I had to do)
• Front brake cable

If you need any other advice on the build let me know!

Olie

[joegal]

Hey guys,

I ordered my frameset and its in the process of painting, in candy blue.
But I still have some questions while planning my build.

Did your frameset come with grommets for the exit ports of the brake hose? Meaning the holes in the chainstay and fork to prevent rubbung of the brake hose on the carbon.
Or did you buy Specialized grommets? Or use none at all?

Secondly: Does the frame come with di2 cable grommets? Or which ones did you source yourself?

How did the Di2-Users mount the battery? I read about just stuffing it in with bubblewrap, but is that safe?
Has anyone tried the SL7 Battery mounting grommets (S199900003)


Thanks for your input! Really looking forward to build up mine soon!

Greetings from Germany

[OlieSimpson]

Hey guys,

I ordered my frameset and its in the process of painting, in candy blue.
But I still have some questions while planning my build.

Did your frameset come with grommets for the exit ports of the brake hose? Meaning the holes in the chainstay and fork to prevent rubbung of the brake hose on the carbon.
Or did you buy Specialized grommets? Or use none at all?

Secondly: Does the frame come with di2 cable grommets? Or which ones did you source yourself?

How did the Di2-Users mount the battery? I read about just stuffing it in with bubblewrap, but is that safe?
Has anyone tried the SL7 Battery mounting grommets (S199900003)


Thanks for your input! Really looking forward to build up mine soon!

Greetings from Germany

Hey Joe!

My frame came with a soft rubber grommet for the rear derailleur exit, a hard plastic (removable) housing for the rear brake, and a metal housing for the front derailleur. Nothing was needed for the front brake exit on the fork with how the cable exits the fork leg.

It didn't come with anything for Di2 cables so I'd also be interested to hear what people have done here.

For the SL7 grommets, the seat posts on the Sl7 and 168 are different shapes so I'm not sure if this would work, although I've got no direct experience with this so someone else may advise otherwise 

Good luck with the build, they're great bikes for the money!

[joegal]

Hey Joe!

My frame came with a soft rubber grommet for the rear derailleur exit, a hard plastic (removable) housing for the rear brake, and a metal housing for the front derailleur. Nothing was needed for the front brake exit on the fork with how the cable exists the fork leg.

It didn't come with anything for Di2 cables so I'd also be interested to hear what people have done here.

For the SL7 grommets, the seat posts on the Sl7 and 168 are different shapes so I'm not sure if this would work, although I've got no direct experience with this so someone else may advise otherwise 

Good luck with the build, they're great bikes for the money!

Thanks for the input, Olie!

Yeah I know that the SL7 Seatpost is slightly different shaped, but only slightly. So maybe the grommets are elastic enough to make it work. I might try it out, if there are no other safe ways of mounting the battery.

[hazzer19]

Hey guys,

I ordered my frameset and its in the process of painting, in candy blue.
But I still have some questions while planning my build.

Did your frameset come with grommets for the exit ports of the brake hose? Meaning the holes in the chainstay and fork to prevent rubbung of the brake hose on the carbon.
Or did you buy Specialized grommets? Or use none at all?

Secondly: Does the frame come with di2 cable grommets? Or which ones did you source yourself?

How did the Di2-Users mount the battery? I read about just stuffing it in with bubblewrap, but is that safe?
Has anyone tried the SL7 Battery mounting grommets (S199900003)


Thanks for your input! Really looking forward to build up mine soon!

Greetings from Germany

I used the original SL7 rubber seat post cover on my 168 build and can confirm it worked great. The RD rubber grommet that came with the frame worked well for my RD Di2 cable. For the metal FD grommet that bolts to the frame, I had to drill it out a bit to fit the wider connector part of the Di2 cable and then it was fine. There was always a bigger gap in the grommet after that I intended to stuff with another piece of rubber, but never got around to it. I used foam in the seat post to hold the battery in place.

[zxcvbnmjm]

Finally decided to get j&l thru axles

For anyone interested i got the pinarello rear which fit perfectly and the closest they had for the front from what i found was cervelo which is 3mm shorter than the original(original is 130mm and the j&l are 127mm)

[clomdom]

I was now finally able to assemble my bike.

For all of you please remember to unscrew the mounts where the Thru-Axles are mounted and screw them back in with threadlocker.

On my second ride, the rear bracket fell out at 45 km / h because the screw has loosened. The back wheel began to vibrate as hell but i was able to recover the bike without a crash.

[easycon69]

Hi guys,

I'd like to know if someone is using a saddle with full carbon rails: in this case what kind of seatpost clamp are you using?

The standard one with the VB-R-168 seatpost is not designed to be used with full carbon rails.

Thanks, Luca

[Honda118]

Anyone know where you can get a zero offset seat post for the VB-168?

[Eddy_Twerckx]

Hi guys,

I'd like to know if someone is using a saddle with full carbon rails: in this case what kind of seatpost clamp are you using?

The standard one with the VB-R-168 seatpost is not designed to be used with full carbon rails.

Thanks, Luca

The standard seatpost is fine with carbon rails. What makes you think it isn't?

[Eddy_Twerckx]

Anyone know where you can get a zero offset seat post for the VB-168?

Not available. I talked to velobuild and they have no plans for zero offset unfortunately. And as far as I know there are no other seatposts that fit.