VeloBuild VB-TT-023

[teichs42]

Well, it seems it's raw carbon week around here, so here's mine 

Gotta say, the matte finish goes way better with UD raw carbon compared to the glossy finish I originally ordered...

Only one problem so far:

The basebar rotated down at the stem clamp — dangerously so, while riding. I disassembled everything, cleaned it, and mounted it again with plenty of carbon paste and 6 Nm of torque. It's holding up so far, but the fear never really goes away  :'(

I think I might have had the extensions too far out, creating more leverage and possibly causing the problem. I moved the armrests a little further back for a safer position.

I'm 1.82 m tall, and the frame is a Large. The fit is OK, but I'd rather have more room to extend my arms. I feel like I'm right at the limit with this frame...

I switched the armrests because the original ones were too small for my liking. I'm not a fan of the traditional hand grips with the Blip adapter on top.

I ordered these Balugoe ones from AliExpress. The general size is better, hand grips are better too, but I'm still not happy with them. I'll probably have to design custom ones that actually fit my hands (these are very small). Having the 3-bolt interface for the hand grips does make everything easier, though.

The frame box is my custom design. The other box available for this frame won't fit these types of aero bottles. There's also a custom 3D-printed part at the transition between the brakes and the basebar, smoothing out the height difference between the hydraulic brake caliper and the basebar, so you can get a better grip in that area.

Happy with the build. It weighs 9.9 kg as pictured.

Top down pic of the cockpit? Looks like you lined your aerobards fully with padding?

[muringuets]

Do you think that this would also fit for normal round bottles? the previous design posted here was specifically for the aero-bottles..
This one seems to also fit normal bottles.

And by the way.. I can confirm the bar slipping fear will never go away... I have now more than 3500km on the bike but it never happened again (the new alloy stem is definely better btw)

Regarding the box, it was designed for the Trek RSL-style aero bottles (found on AliExpress under the Ahyka brand). This is my first attempt, so it still needs some tweaks.

But I could make a specific version for regular round bottles. The question is: should the box remain constrained by the frame width, or should it follow the shape of the bottle? The second option would mean a wider, rounder box body, and I'm not sure it would look very cool.

I'm the king of imagining cool designs that supposedly attach airflow to various parts of the frame. Then I print them, and they all end up looking ridiculous. 😂

The most obvious example, in my opinion, is the aero cover people are putting in front of regular round bottles. Those things look like Super Mario's evil bullets (I did a version of this a couple years ago - never used).

Top down pic of the cockpit? Looks like you lined your aerobards fully with padding?

It's a cutout from an Ultracool.tech towel, the kind that keeps you cool when it's wet. It's my version of Sam Laidlow's 2024 Kona setup, although his version had a copper lining underneath, some sewing, and a much more professional look.

I did a decent job cutting the second armrest (the one on the right in the picture), but it all fell apart when I realized I had to remove the padding to install it on the bike. The double-sided tape tore the thing apart in multiple places, and all I managed to do was save some dignity. 😂 It's horrific.

It really works! When it's dry, it's stiff and doesn't look like it will work at all, but all you need to do is pour some water over it and voilà — soft again, and the cooling effect is back.

I found it a little too hard on my arms, though. Maybe a two-layer version in the future...

[klindsey00]

It's crazy how variable peoples fits are... Tobi is 194cm and says the fit is great, muringuets is 12cm shorter and feels like the reach is too short??? Interested to hear some elaboration on this.

[fabianVDW]

Hello everyone! I am close to pulling the trigger also on the VB-TT-23.
My bike fitter had me sitting on the pads (with elbows) around 640mm above the bottom bracket. Can any owner of a size M measure roughly how many spacers would be needed for that? Frame stack says around 501mm, so there is around 14cm of gap, but what I cant really tell is how much of that is covered by existing handlebar...

Thanks, Fabian

[muringuets]

It's crazy how variable peoples fits are... Tobi is 194cm and says the fit is great, muringuets is 12cm shorter and feels like the reach is too short??? Interested to hear some elaboration on this.

If you go by Trek's recommended sizing, the L version is suited for riders from 175 to 186 cm, while the XL frame is recommended for 186 to 198 cm.

Velobuild doesn't offer an XL size on their website.

I can't speak for Tobi, but personally, I wouldn't go for an L frame at that height. I'm not sure exactly what his fit looks like or how he managed to feel comfortable on that frame. Bike fitting is a complex discipline — different bodies can have very different proportions even at the same height.

In my case, there's the added concern about the basebar slipping at the stem clamp. When I found a good forward position, the basebar rotated, so I got scared and moved the extensions back a bit.

In that sense, I'd like to have more freedom to move forward without worrying about it, but you work with what you've got. It works for me as it is now.

[klindsey00]

If you go by Trek's recommended sizing, the L version is suited for riders from 175 to 186 cm, while the XL frame is recommended for 186 to 198 cm.

Velobuild doesn't offer an XL size on their website.

I can't speak for Tobi, but personally, I wouldn't go for an L frame at that height. I'm not sure exactly what his fit looks like or how he managed to feel comfortable on that frame. Bike fitting is a complex discipline — different bodies can have very different proportions even at the same height.

In my case, there's the added concern about the basebar slipping at the stem clamp. When I found a good forward position, the basebar rotated, so I got scared and moved the extensions back a bit.

In that sense, I'd like to have more freedom to move forward without worrying about it, but you work with what you've got. It works for me as it is now.

Right, If they offered an XL I'd probably order one. From Tobi's pictures there is a TON of seat post and a pretty good amound of spacers but the saddle is centered and no extra reach on the cockpit. As far as the stem clamp slipping did you get the newest version of it? Still think I'll be going with winow for the larger size and putting on a pretty standard stem to avoid slippage.