The c ring is not a tight fit on the steerer tube. I couldn't get headset preloaded until after I wrapped the steerer with aluminum foil
I think my top cap is bottoming out. A combination of a headset compressing and a shitty expander plug pulling out of the steering tube sligtly results in some preload but not enough. I added a spacer and will see if it helps.
on a different note, after some 400km on this frame I have some initial impressions.
I think the frame is solid but it's not ideal for the riding I do and it mostly comes to two things: tire clearance and a seatpost design.
The frame can barely fit 50mm tires and I actually had to shim the derailleur hanger to mount the wheels as my conti hardpack 50c just would not fit. And that's a semi slick tire with no knobs in the center so fitting any kind of an XC tire is out of the question.
Now the seatpost. I like how it looks but that's where the positives end. It's has a deep-ish aero shape which in my experience results in quite a punishing ride feel and since you can't really go crazy with a tire size there's no way to remedy it without dropping the pressure lower than I would have liked.
For context I ride a lot of rocky gravel and singletrack with roots. I switched from the lightcarbon lcg-071 and I admittedly regret it a little.
It would probably work best as an all-road rather than a pure gravel bike