VeloBuild VB-R-068 Build thread

[Swavegawdd]

I'll take pics later, but I'm honestly pretty let down overall. The communication with Chris was horrible- anywhere from a day or two to a week for replies. I'm not sure if he was purposely lying or just terribly misinformed about his products, but he assured me that the saddle rail clamps were compatible with carbon rails. When the frame came, it was about 100 grams heavier than advertised at 1260g for a 56 when it said it would be 1050g. Not the end of the world but it pissed me off a little. In terms of the paint/carbon- the threads for the bottom bracket were covered in primer/paint/carbon or whatever- I had to scrub with acetone and buy a thread chasing tool on Amazon to clean the threads and make them usable- I ruined the threads on a Shimano BBR60 bottom bracket before doing that. So that was strike 2, so to speak. After installing the groupo and doing the first ride, the seat-post slipped all the way into the seat-tube, despite having tightened it to the torque that Chris provided me and using carbon paste. I ended up researching how to get the seat-post to stick in place- on here and other places and was able to get it clamped in place and to keep from slipping. Although, from everything I've read, that was a common issue, still- strike 3. Final issue that pissed me way the fuck off- VeloBuild says that it fits 25c tires, I ran Bontrager R3 and R2 tires and Continental GP5000, as well- all three in 25c and the left non-drive side of the tire kept rubbing on the inside chain stays, even though it appeared to have at least 5mm~ of clearance on either side. So yeah, that pissed me off a lot and it contributed to me feeling it lacked stiffness.

So yeah, that's  my evaluation of this frame and I would NEVER do business with VeloBuild ever again no matter what- the frames are ok at best and the customer service is horrible. I'm not anti all Chinese carbon/open mold frames, I'd consider buying something from one of the more popular ones with a good reputation that's been around for a while like DengFu, ICAN (who I've bought wheels from and they've held up amazingly  for 4K miles and they have terrific customer service) or Winspace.

If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask- and, I'll try to get pics of the drops, but IIRC, they're carbon.

I too had issues with the tire rubbing against the chainstay with my 25c gp4000 tires. I bought some new s-works turbo tires 24mm and the clearance is now perfect. No chain stay rub at all. And the seatpost also slipped for me but I found a fix for that issue with electric tape arpund the seat post where it gets clamped and also using some of that rubbery plastic material that bedroom fitted sheets come in. Besides those two issues I LOVE this frame. Way more comfortable than my last frame (could be that my last frame was slightly too small) and I feel like I am a lot faster on it. Rides where I normally would get dropped by A group, I'm not finishing with them. I am for sure goin faster with the amount of power im outputting than with my old bike frame.

[Froglover825]

Thanks. I have bought one and I have just finished building it up. I will post my build up soon.

Yes for the headset I ran into the same issue, needed to build 3 shims, Chris claims it doesn’t need but it was binding very badly if you want to tighten it.

I do not have issues with the seatpost but I have questions about the seat clamp. I am running 7mm seat rails and it does like to clamp it tight. I am trying to figure out if this is for 9mm or 10mm oval rails? Right now I have wrapped my 7mm rails with one layer of electrical tape and it seems to holding tight.

Did you put the shim under the dust camp above the top bearing?
I'm having an issue with play in the headset no matter how much I tighten

[jcr]

Did you put the shim under the dust camp above the top bearing?
I'm having an issue with play in the headset no matter how much I tighten

I had to put 3 micro shims under the dust cap. It did not come with any. The shims was to solved a binding issue when it is compressed. Not play issue

[carbonazza]

Did you put the shim under the dust camp above the top bearing?
I'm having an issue with play in the headset no matter how much I tighten

If you don't cut enough the fork.
When tightening, the top cap may make contact with the compression nut.
Try to put a 5mm spacer between the top of the stem and the top cap.
You'll se immediately if this is the issue.

[Froglover825]

Managed to get the play out of the fork by buying a longer expander plug 

[Froglover825]

Hi all -
I had a rather unfortunate incident on my 068 a few days back, essentially my rear wheel came off from under me, as in I was riding along got out of the saddle and the rear wheel rolled out across the road and my shoulder cushioned the fall.
I had my bike serviced a few days beforehand, I'm guessing the junior mechanic didn't properly secure the wheel somehow.

Fortunately my shoulder took most of the damage however the rear dropouts i'm most concerned about now, I've attached some photos:
https://imgur.com/a/bg0dEvP
Is the dropouts meant to look like that, as in that shallow? The derailleur hangar seems to match up with the depth of the dropout.
If someone could confirm that it looks the same as theirs it would clear up my concerns that it is a user error not due to poor design.

Thanks!

[jcr]

Hi all -
I had a rather unfortunate incident on my 068 a few days back, essentially my rear wheel came off from under me, as in I was riding along got out of the saddle and the rear wheel rolled out across the road and my shoulder cushioned the fall.
I had my bike serviced a few days beforehand, I'm guessing the junior mechanic didn't properly secure the wheel somehow.

Fortunately my shoulder took most of the damage however the rear dropouts i'm most concerned about now, I've attached some photos:
https://imgur.com/a/bg0dEvP
Is the dropouts meant to look like that, as in that shallow? The derailleur hangar seems to match up with the depth of the dropout.
If someone could confirm that it looks the same as theirs it would clear up my concerns that it is a user error not due to poor design.

Thanks!

First I hope you are ok. That sounds dangerous.

In terms of dropouts, that looks correct, looks like only surface scratches.

Btw you mentioned you got a longer expander plug, how long did you get? I think my friend is having the same issue with the play.

[Froglover825]

First I hope you are ok. That sounds dangerous.

In terms of dropouts, that looks correct, looks like only surface scratches.

Btw you mentioned you got a longer expander plug, how long did you get? I think my friend is having the same issue with the play.

I got the longest that I could find which was a PRO Gap Cap 1-1/8" 50mm Long UD Carbon Steerer Expander Blac.
When I went to the lbs they also put 5 micro shims under the compression cap, it seemed to help somewhat.