Velobuild VB-R-218

[madmax]

Did the first test ride & bike is much lighter than my Madone  (19.6 lbs)  at 17.4 with pedals/ bottles etc etc

It handles well & ran into a couple of issues

1. FD will not shift from small ring to big & only does that only in a while.  I can see the cable move the FD when I try to shift

2. Saddle rear hex bolt fell off.  It looks like a 5mm hex bolt with some sort of plate nut  & my saddle came off & nearly killed me in the process
    This is probably the first bike shop that did not torque the bolts or use loctite. Luckily I was able to regain my balance & not keel over in traffic

Can anyone tell me what bolt/nut is used to clamp the saddle in the rear so I go find a spare bolt ?
 
 

[coffeebreak]

All my bikes have varying lengths of M5 screws to tighten saddles. The ones on my VB frame are M5x35mm.

[madmax]

All my bikes have varying lengths of M5 screws to tighten saddles. The ones on my VB frame are M5x35mm.

Yep the rear bolt is an M5,  I don't know what that tiny rectangular nut is called or its dimensions since mine fell off

At the moment I have a replacement M5 bolt with a washer & barrel nut which looks funny but holds the seat in place

Edit :#1

Partial solution

Chris @Velobuild responded within a few hours & sent out another set of bolts

Brian @ Lecuadia Cyclery looked up the F12 & used a barrel nut thats used in the Pinarello to fit in the space & torqued it to 8 nm & also fixed my FD so the shifting is smooth now

[coffeebreak]

Glad it's all sorted out. I think with a little scavenging around in local hardware store you might be able to stock up on those nuts. I found something similar.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Hillman-3-8-x-5-8-x-1-4-20-Barrel-Nut-880543/202242356

This of course isn't metric style but they might have metric too.

[madmax]

Ordered these ones as they are a better fit, right now I have a stopgap nut and bolt in there

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NP4RCHJ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1&psc=1

FD chain rub on small and large ring in front when the largest 2 rear cogs are used
Also it will not shift at all from small to large in front if I’m pedaling, so I think the adjustment is off

There is no inline barrel adjuster so setting this up correctly is proving to be hit or miss and I will have to learn how to do this myself

Oddly, the bike feels smaller compared to my Madone 56cm, though they are identical in size with +- 3.5 cm difference in reach
Takes a bit more effort to get going, but holds speed really well, probably due to ceramic bearings in the elite drive wheels

Madone is 12x2  48/35, 10-33
Velo is 12x2  52/36, 11-34

I seem to be using the big ring on front a lot more on this bike than on the Madone sl7

[madmax]

Completed Bike pix

Bike with decals installed

Matt from MH Custom Printing in Oceanside/San Diego, who made the decals for me & put them on

Huge thanks to everyone on here who replied with helpful suggestion & Sebastian who has been in touch via email & helped me resolve my front derailleur issues

[Sebastian]

Completed Bike pix

Bike with decals installed

Matt from MH Custom Printing in Oceanside/San Diego, who made the decals for me & put them on

Huge thanks to everyone on here who replied with helpful suggestion & Sebastian who has been in touch via email & helped me resolve my front derailleur issues

Nice One! Congrats on finishing your build. Looking great. I like the Blackbird reference.
Glad I could help you on your odyssee

[kongo]

need ideas, the bottom bolt that mounts the water bottle is siezed in bolt hole. when i try to un screw i can feel it ripping up the carbon. basically the mounting poing feels like it want to spin free. the top mount is good. wondering if i should leave it as-is.

[madmax]

Just did a 26 mile ride & ran into the following issues  (give me your opinion here folks)

1. Clicking noise.  This may be the rear indexing

2. Chain rub on largest sprocket in rear (11-34)

3. Creaking/swooshing noise if I stand & pedal up a hill & I think this may be the spindle rubbing against that inner bolt
   This is the first time I've heard this since riding this bike

4. Creaking noises from the front of the bike.
    This one is really odd as I can't tell what the heck is causing this or if the Elite Wheels carbon spokes are "twanging" due to wind, since I did not have this noise in the last 5 rides


The Campy Record can definitely take a beating & I was in the large ring in the front for most of my ride, which surprised me as I'm usually on the smaller ring on the SRAM Force on the Madone
I think this may have to do with the 52/36 front & 11-34 rear combination

Overall the bike rides well & is more comfortable in reach than the Madone, though the seat is really stiff (same Bontrager Aeolus saddles on all my bikes) & for that the Trek iso speed wins out for comfort.

[jr223]

For #4 did you lube between the outer diameter of the bearings and the frame? I've had that weird creaking front end before on one of my Specialized bikes and I solved it with an extra help of grease.

[madmax]

For #4 did you lube between the outer diameter of the bearings and the frame? I've had that weird creaking front end before on one of my Specialized bikes and I solved it with an extra help of grease.

Yes.  I used ParkTool ASC-1 on the threads of the Campy Ultra Torque cups & set those to 35nm & then the crank itself was coated with PL-1 & tightened to 42nm  (40-60nm)
Keep in mind the crank spins freely & all is fine when riding straight. The moment I put some muscle into the pedals I get this slight creak & if I am standing I get this dull rubbing sound

I swear this sounds like one of the old WW2 planes with mechanical controls & everything creaking & clicking in the wind & the red campy carbon pads make a hissing noise like a jet turbine spooling down as you brake to a halt....now that does sound cool

The only difference between the last 4-5 rides & this one today was I didn't have my headphones in & the decals are now on the bike & maybe Kelly Johnsons (Skunkworks/SR-71) spirit has somehow taken up residence on the bike   

[Sebastian]

need ideas, the bottom bolt that mounts the water bottle is siezed in bolt hole. when i try to un screw i can feel it ripping up the carbon. basically the mounting poing feels like it want to spin free. the top mount is good. wondering if i should leave it as-is.

Well, if you don't HAVE TO undo it, I'd say leave it be.
Did you use Loctite?
If you MUST get it out, I'd probaly start by taking out the cranks and try to apply penetrating oil like WD40 from in- and outside and see if you can loosen it somehow.

[Sebastian]

Just did a 26 mile ride & ran into the following issues  (give me your opinion here folks)

1. Clicking noise.  This may be the rear indexing

2. Chain rub on largest sprocket in rear (11-34)

3. Creaking/swooshing noise if I stand & pedal up a hill & I think this may be the spindle rubbing against that inner bolt
   This is the first time I've heard this since riding this bike

4. Creaking noises from the front of the bike.
    This one is really odd as I can't tell what the heck is causing this or if the Elite Wheels carbon spokes are "twanging" due to wind, since I did not have this noise in the last 5 rides

1. Sounds like an issue with the indexing
2. Where does the chain rub? On the FD? Then it's an FD setup issue. Set the inner limit screw. If the chain rubs in the big/big gear combination, then that's a reminder from your bike to shift to the small ring
3. Sounds weird and could be any number of things. Does it only happen when pedalling? Are your QR skewers properly tightened? Does your tire rub on the chainstay? Do your brake pads rub when yanking on the bike during pedalling while standing? I did have noise coming from brand new Ultra Torque cups on more than one occasion, because the brand new rubber seals make a noise when the crank spindle is rubbing against them. It would usually disappear after a few rides. But that usually sounded like a very high pitched squeaking.
4. Sounds like something coming from any of the interfaces on the front. Check the handlebar grub screws. Are they still torqued correctly? Do you have headset play? Also, I think what @jr223 actually meant, is if you greased the headset bearings when you pressed them into the frame's headtube. Those could creak as well. 

[madmax]

1. Sounds like an issue with the indexing
I redid the FD after the bike shop installed the chainstay (CSD) bracket upside down & I was able to get the front to shift in 2 clicks
Because of all the futzing around in the front the chain line may not be perfect which is probably throwing off the rear indexing

2. Where does the chain rub? On the FD? Then it's an FD setup issue. Set the inner limit screw. If the chain rubs in the big/big gear combination, then that's a reminder from your bike to shift to the small ring
Yes.  Chain rubs against inner part of the FD, when in big/big & thats the only time it does that

3. Sounds weird and could be any number of things. Does it only happen when pedalling? Are your QR skewers properly tightened? Does your tire rub on the chainstay? Do your brake pads rub when yanking on the bike during pedalling while standing? I did have noise coming from brand new Ultra Torque cups on more than one occasion, because the brand new rubber seals make a noise when the crank spindle is rubbing against them. It would usually disappear after a few rides. But that usually sounded like a very high pitched squeaking.

Tires are not rubbing & I will check the skewers (thanks for adding that).  I did switch the grubs from small black alloy steel to the original stainless steel in the front handlebar so that may have caused the issue

4. Sounds like something coming from any of the interfaces on the front. Check the handlebar grub screws. Are they still torqued correctly? Do you have headset play? Also, I think what @jr223 actually meant, is if you greased the headset bearings when you pressed them into the frame's headtube. Those could creak as well.

Zero headset play. Yes every single thing was lubed with PPL-1  or HPG-1 from ParkTool.

I will recheck all screws. Because the saddle fell off on my 1st ride & I had to buy a brand new titanium bolt, I am extremely apprehensive about getting on the bike in case the tech sabotaged it since it's a chinese frame
(Yes, I'm probably being paranoid here, but I had zero creaks before I dropped the bike off & I'm very sure the saddle was torqued correctly by me)

[madmax]

1. Rear clicking issue resolved via index/tension adjuster

2. FD was a lot more challenging because it will now rub on top 2 & bottom 2 (on rears) when the front is large & small respectively
The FD does not have a tension adjuster due to all the cabling being internal & campy is very finicky to set up correctly

Also the techs did strip the low limit screw & at this point I have it set up & can use the single click on left side to micro adjust when shifting from front small to large (with 2 clicks)
The fronts will shift when level, but will not shift under load going uphill & thats ok, I can live with that as long as the other clicks are resolved.

So now for a test ride on sun after it stops raining & see if the BB still creaks & if there are any other odd rattles. My friend who helped me out is pretty experienced on bikes & said he did not hear any BB rubbing or rattles, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed