VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

One day and a horrible bartape job later it's finally done. Took it for a very short first test ride. Aligning the brake calipers wasn't a problem actually. No weird sounds or creaks during riding so far. Hopefully the headset will hold up and there won't be any play on that part. I had some headset play before the ride. Retightened everything and now after the ride there's no play. Hope it will stay that way. Very happy about this whole journey so far.

If anybody has a nice idea for some decals/stickers i would love to hear about them. I would like to stick to the black and white scheme but would like to spice it up a little.

[patliean1]

One day and a horrible bartape job later it's finally done. Took it for a very short first test ride. Aligning the brake calipers wasn't a problem actually. No weird sounds or creaks during riding so far. Hopefully the headset will hold up and there won't be any play on that part. I had some headset play before the ride. Retightened everything and now after the ride there's no play. Hope it will stay that way. Very happy about this whole journey so far.

If anybody has a nice idea for some decals/stickers i would love to hear about them. I would like to stick to the black and white scheme but would like to spice it up a little.

How's the front ring shift quality for you with those Magene chainrings? Mine is suboptimal at times, but once I went back to Shimano chainrings the shift quality has been superb. My guess is the "ramps" on the back side of the chainrings aren't as pronounced as Shimano.

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

How's the front ring shift quality for you with those Magene chainrings? Mine is suboptimal at times, but once I went back to Shimano chainrings the shift quality has been superb. My guess is the "ramps" on the back side of the chainrings aren't as pronounced as Shimano.

Had no issues so far but it was only a 20 minute test ride with almost no elevation. But whenever i shifted in the front it did without any issues on the trainer and outdoors. Hopefully i'll be able to do a longer ride in the following days. I live in a hilly area so there will be lot of shifts on the front. Will let you know how that will go.

[Greenred]

Patty, I think for most users Shimano chainrings are anyway laying around and if not they’re quite cheap to get. I run them with the Magene crank and there’s literally 0 difference vs the full shimano crank combo in terms of shift quality. In other words, I don’t see the argument for non Shimano chainrings… Just two cents….

[ZacItaly15]

New Trace Velo bike build video says he's been using his ZTTO for 2 years without issue https://youtu.be/6I3iTMjmQKI?t=629


I personally like the screw in/out aspect about it the most. Agree that a cup style tool would be favourable but the cheaper thiner tool works as well

I mounted the ZTTO screwed in my gravel bike and in my VBR099 (replacing a shimano DA...) and it works flawlessly. It's a bit tricky to disassembly because once you unscrew one side, the other stay in place but you can gently hammer with a rubber mallet and it comes out.

I would reccomend the steel ball bearing instead of ceramic due to durability

[volan]

Frame arrived. Managed to assemble everything and do a quick test ride. Everything seems ok with the frame, paint is really nicely done, although I'm on the edge about durabillity/quality. While I was pounding the pf shimano bb out of the bottom bracket shell (ill explain why), rear calliper was loose by the chainstays, and it rubbed againt the frame while I was pounding the bb, only to realize it scratched the paint there... So yea.

I meassured the diameter of the bb shell and it was around 40.6mm. I was keen on pressing in the shimano plastic bb, but after I pressed it in and inserted the spindle, shell pressed the bearings so tight so that spindle wasn't exactly spining like it should. I got used to BSA bb's, and spining cranks on it was always really smooth. Here, they simply wouldn't spin at all, so I immediately took them out and put in the threaded/PF bb from ztto. It sits flush and seems ok, will order another one as a replacement. I think VB could do with 0,2mm wider bb shell.

Build:
L size icebreak red paint
420/110 vb handlebars
105 di2 shifters/brakes/rd and fd
riro carbon cranks
"Peter's wheels" 26 iw, 50 deep
contis gp5k s tr

Build ended on 7.7-8 kg with pedals and bottle cages. Happy with the result. Although I, of course, made a mistake when cutting the forst steerer. I used to cutting mtb alu steerers and when I assembled the fork, caps, spacers and stem --- I didn't put in the fREAKING expander plug when I marked the cut... So the steerer sits pretty much flush with the stem, therefore - 0.5cm f??king spacer now sits on top, instead of the VB top cap. I don't want to dissasemble everything now because of it. I did order another set of spacers which didn't arrive (don't know why, asked Chris), so I will put one under the stem when it arrives and fix that problem.

[Miodu]

Nice build. I ordered the same paint but in your pics looks like orange ice brake paint. I suppose that it's your phone camera effect.

[volan]

Yeah, it's pretty much red, cherry red tint kinda. Camera distorted the paint.

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

Looking very nice. Can't you just remove the handlebars and cut the steerer a little shorter? That's how i did it after i decided how many spacers i want to run. I just removed the handlebars, put on the cutting guide and sawed off the top piece. Worked like a charm without disassembling everything again.

[2Burgen]

Beautiful bike.

And nice to see, that other people make the same mistake when cutting the fork as I did ...

[volan]

Just did a first proper ride. I'm really satisfied with how the bike feels. Although it's my first road bike, it's more then I expected tbh. Feels really fast, plenty stiff and it's more comfortable then I expected, expecially after years of full sus mtb's and fat tyres. Small road chatter is really nicely absorbed.

Had to do some additional fiddling with RD and it's cause of ztto cassette. I had some experience with ztto cassettes on mtb and they need some additional attention in order to get it to shift properly.

Only thing I noticed that I didn't think about before is the braking power while descending at high speeds. It's nowhere close as it is on fat mtb tyres and 4pot brakes. Have to get used to it and modulate before turns.

[Tilmanstoa5ty]

Looking really good. Breaking power usually gets a little better after the first few rides. New brake pads need a little breaking in to unfold their full performance.

[Serge_K]

Just did a first proper ride. I'm really satisfied with how the bike feels. Although it's my first road bike, it's more then I expected tbh. Feels really fast, plenty stiff and it's more comfortable then I expected, expecially after years of full sus mtb's and fat tyres. Small road chatter is really nicely absorbed.

Had to do some additional fiddling with RD and it's cause of ztto cassette. I had some experience with ztto cassettes on mtb and they need some additional attention in order to get it to shift properly.

Only thing I noticed that I didn't think about before is the braking power while descending at high speeds. It's nowhere close as it is on fat mtb tyres and 4pot brakes. Have to get used to it and modulate before turns.

Looks very civilised, well done!
Your rotors went on a diet. If you barely have any material left, i doubt they will perform too well. I'd consider cheap ass bulkier rotors. More mass more good for alpine descents. Steel is real.
Also, brakes do need bedding in, and not all pads are made equal.

Happy riding!

[bremerradkurier]

Sample size of one, but this Magura rotor was much straighter out of the box with a tighter and deeper spline interface than my Shimano Icetech rotor as well as being surprisingly inexpensive.

Also seemed to take longer to get hot and squeal, perhaps due to more thermal mass.

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/magura-usa-mdr-c-cl-disc-brake-rotor#product-info

[smu55]

Quick review after one year and over 5000km and near 60000m:
The frame seams stiff but the seatpost is very harsh. The straight construction of the seatpost leaves no room for flex for a little ride comfort. I had to buy another saddle which is more comfortable and lower the psi to 75 of my 28mm tyres (I used to run them conservatively hard at 100psi).
Altough there seams to be little to no flex in the frame the fork is a different story. I have constant brake disc rubbing while riding out of the saddle. There is just to much flex in the fork to avoid the disc rubbing against the brake pads. I have to admit though that I use cable accentuated hydraulic disc brakes that I have to run very tight to be able to apply enought force at my leavers. Maybe this would be different with full hydraulic brakes that maybe, would retreat farther.
I assembled the bike myself, but it wasn't straight forward. Especially as I am running a totaly mechanical setup with 4 cables running through the integrated cockpit. The canal underneath the "stem" where the cables are supposed to run has the effect, that the bend into the frame is much to tight. It would have been better if vb had made simply a hole and a lead out and they would run in the inside. Then we had more room for the cables.
After half a winter the headset bearings are done already. The quality could be better. I will have to replace them soon.
Other than that I am very pleased. I like the geometry and the look that resembles a sl7. I love this bike and my avg. speed has gon up 1km/h this year with exactly the same training intensity and total km and elevation compared with my previous road bike that wasn't aero.
I got the complete bike under 8kg with everything mounted (pedals, bottlecages, computer mounts) and there is some potential to lower the wheight eaven more. Here some facts about my components:
Elite Edge Wheels 50mm, Sensah carbon empire leavers, empire rear and front deraileur, a cheap crankset, scenix double chainring, zrace hybrid disc brakes, carbon saddle, old and heavy ultegra pedals, GP 5000 tires with tpu tubes: 7,9kg