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Re: VeloBuild VB-R-268 frame
I ordered the 268 and received something else yesterday. It looks like I got the fork and seat post for the 268 but the frame is something completely different. Anyone have any experience with this? It’s also painted which I didn’t order. Congratulation, you received my (or better said my girlfriends) frame! Yesterday i received my parcel and it contains the correct Fork and assembly parts, but instead of the GF002 in XS with this paint sheme i´ve got an unpainted vbr 268 in size M. Just thought lets check the vbr-268 thread if anyone posted about that and there we go  .Sooo... your Frame is in Austria now, where is mine? I already reached out to VB and they responded, basically saying they f***** up because they have been very busy prior to their holidays. They already asked if i could ship the frame elswhere (most likely to your adress^^) and that they will cover the cost. I replied that i am of course willing to do so, if possible they shall send me a prepaid sticker which i can print out and I`ll drop it off. The other way round, it will be more complicated if you are outside EU since the frame was delivered to me using a special method to avoid our wicked fees&taxes. It needs to be done the same way now, otherwise i would have a lot of struggles with the customs and need to pay a fortune. Lets see what VB responds, - send me a pm if you want to align. kind regards, Bernd February 14, 2024, 03:03:38 PM |
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Re: Velobuild VB-R-177
Rebuilt my VB-177 frameset, as it's off to a new home. My buddy opted for 105 Di2 12-Speed and a set of 1st-gen Hyper 65s. Shifting with 105 feels identical to Ultegra Di2 12sp and the wheels make for a speedy ride dynamically. FSA no69 headset system is the way to go. After building this bike up and riding it, I'm now quite curious to check out the VB-268. I hoping the 268 takes all the good from the 177 and pairs it with the aesthetics and geometry of the 168. Yes I said I was finished with reviewing $500 frames but... YouTube Search: VeloBuild 177 Shimano 105 Di2 12 Speed: EXCELLENT https:// youtu.be/tA6i2vBFrzE (remove the space) February 20, 2024, 10:39:22 AM |
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Re: Airwolf YFR068 - 2023 Gravel Frame
Well my build is 90% complete. Waiting on some power meter SRAM Force cranks to finish the build. Running some loaner cranks for the time being. Mixed feelings about this bike. The quality of the paint (see pic of example - it chipped really easily. Has happened in a few locations), issues with the headset plug (as others have noted) and misaligned brake caliper mounts were low points (normal methods for aligning brakes didn't work, needed to really play around to eliminate brake rub). Overall required excessive fiddling to get things right, in my opinion. The bike rides well enough, but it seems noisy and the wheels I chose are probably too stiff. I can't tell if the noise is the chain/cassette combo? Open to feedback, based on my componenet selection - maybe I'm made some bad choices. Once I get final parts on it, I'll weigh it. I'm not shooting for weight weenie but I think it'll end up light as a result of all that carbon. Here are the specs: - SRAM Force AXS brakes and shifters - SRAM GX AXS rear derailuer (went mullet on this build, good for where I live) - Garabuk 10-50 cassette - SRAM Rival cranks with 42T cassette (upgrading to SRAM Force with PM and 44T when it arrives) - Shimano 160mm ICE-tech rotors - SRAM GX chain (for now) - WheelsFar Wheels. 50mm deep, 24mm internals, 30mm external width, DT350 hubs with aero Sapim spokes - GravelKing SK 43mm tires - 400mm handlebar and 110mm stem on 58cm frame - Specialized Power Comp Saddle (not what's on in pic, but have since swapped it out) Anyone else find specing and building bikes to be almost more fun than riding them? April 17, 2024, 02:49:09 PM |
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Re: Airwolf: What is this model inspired from? [Trek Madone]
I just finished building my second slr from Airwolf (one for myself and one for a friend). Some experiences to share: Ordering the frame went quite smoothly, as well communications with Airwolf during the whole process: easy to get in touch with them and they're willing to help. Their statement that this is the original is obviously not true. Some small issues, especially with the small parts that come with the frame, indicate this is a copy. A good one though, as far as I can judge without testing it to and over its limits. Fair paint job, though it seems a bit easy to damage. We'll see. Please note that though the website states the frame is also suitable for mechanical shifting, it is not. Just like the original gen 7 Madone, it is only suitable for Di2 (or any other electronic shifting). The internal routing of a rear shifting cable has to go through too many sharp bends to let it shift smoothly. I spent a lot of time and trying several things to get it shifting without any issues, but in the end decided to strip the mechanical groupset and replace it by Di2. Learning the hard way... The second build-up was an easy job after that. Routing the brakehoses through the handlebar is really a pain. It took me quite some time and the help of an extra hand to get them through. I guess that'd be the same with an original; it's caused by the design. The parts that come with the seatpost are a bit sloppy. The wedge used to fixate it in the frame is way to smooth and therefore too slippery. Using carbon paste is explicitly discouraged. Ordering an original wedge (which has a roughed surface) solved it easily. The sadlle clamp was skewed and too wide (and heavy), and again using an original solved it. The headset bearings seem to fit well, but there's still some minor play in the headsets of both bikes after putting the bike together. In the second build I replaced the splitring on top of the upper bearings with an original one, but that didn't resolve the issue. My conclusion is it has to do with the first spacer. Adding an extra C ring on top as suggested above might solve it, not yet tried. The holes for mounting the front caliper were in the right place (both builds), but quite rough on the inside. The threading of the holes in the forks had to be cleaned out/threaded, otherwise the bolts needed far too much force to get them in. The mount for the rear caliper on one of the frames is not exactly even, so when I tighten the bolts the caliper will not stand exactly upright. This makes it almost impossible to adjust the caliper enough to let the disc run freely. Probably some paint issue. Solved by putting some thick nail polish on the frame on one edge of the bolt hole. Both bikes have been ridden for a few hundred km and it feels fast and sturdy. The handlebar is pretty flexible, which I didn't expect from a carbon one. But that may be me not being used to an aero bar. All in all I am quite positive about the Airwolf frame. If you go for this frame I'd advice to buy some original parts with it at the trek webshop right away: seatpost wedge and saddle clamp (together about 30€). But if you're thinking about building a very nice bike yourself, I'd certainly consider this frame. May 31, 2024, 09:53:59 AM |
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Airwolf Madone
Hello all, I've recently completed an AliExpress build focused on a knockoff Madone Gen 7 frame from airwolf. Everything was bought from AliExpress and my rotos(Shimano CL800) and chain(Sram Rival 12 speed) are the only non-chinese parts. Just wanted to share with you guys some thoughts about the buildand, frame and Wheeltop groupset. The frame: It's very heavy, 1550g for the 58cm. Paint is good but fragile. There's a defect on the front near the logo. The mount hole for head unit on the handlebars isn't threaded for the first 2mm so I can't fit a screw in, unsure what I'm going to do about that. Couldn't center my brake calipers in the rear, had to add 1mm of electrical tape on the left side of the caliper similar to another user here who added nail polish. The build: Don't attempt unless you're willing to deal with small issues and you have all the tools necessary. The compression plug that came with the fork had some edges that were 2mm too wide. This had to be filed down to fit in the fork. Internal routing on this handlebar is an absolute nightmare even with the cable routing kit I got stuck and almost gave up. Rear caliper is angled slightly wrong after torquing, not centered on the wheel. Another user added nail polish to fix the paint discrepancy, I added some electrical tape. The groupset: Wheeltop eds TX, haven't ridden it much yet but bleeding this thing is very tedious. Takes multiple passes to get the last little bits of air out. The micro adjustment per cog on the cassette is nice. The shifter buttons have a very far travel before actuation. I've added some filler on the outer edges to prevent the buttons from resting so far out resulting in less travel. Full list of parts here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19EG7w-PL_o6xKSSonwYg_NhqtS9TUTIpZ4kgHLeZcio/edit?usp=drivesdk I got lazy and stopped weighing individual parts during the build but the whole thing weighs 18lbs with cages and sealant. With a quality frame it could be dropped to around 16.5 but I'm happy with the result. Here is an imgur album with the bike, haven't been able to add an image and make the list successfully. https://imgur.com/a/6nXO66F July 28, 2024, 12:09:40 PM |
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Re: Airwolf YFR068 - 2023 Gravel Frame
I finally got everything built up and am mostly very happy with the bike. I opted to get the airwolf 24mm internal wheels with novatec hubs and those have been amazing. The only issue I had with the wheels was actually with the hub, which I wasn't expecting. I got centerline hubs and the interface on the front hub for the brake rotor did not want to accept any brake rotor (I tried a few). I finally was able to use a mallet to get the rotor far enough onto the hub that I then could use the BB tool and sinch it down. We'll see if that causes any issues but I think it'll be fine. As far as the frame, I had no problem routing the brake lines after using a rasp on the entry points in the fork and rear triangle. The only issue I've encountered is headset play. I purchased the SL7 compression ring but just could not get the brake lines to run cleanly through it from the fork. The lines run in front of the fork and then the SL7 compression ring would split them to the side and then I would run into issue with the headset spacers on top because they need the brake lines to be in the front again. So I used to compression ring that came with the bike. I did use the SL7 bearings and have had no issues with the fork rubbing on the top tube. But I just cannot seem to work out all of the play in the headset. I had the problem a user explained above where the expansion plug would work its way out of the top of the fork. I fixed this by adding locktight and also tightening down the bolts on the stem a little so they kind of holding the plug in place while I would tighten the top cap down. That process has worked well but I still seem to have a bit of play after every ride. I am wondering if the headset spacers, which do not seem to be great quality and don't look like they fit together perfectly are the issue-maybe they don't seat correctly and then work loose during a ride. Anyway, here are some pictures and a full parts list. Overall, I am very happy and I would buy this frame again (considering building one for my wife). As an aside, I am using the ZTTO Ultralight 12sp 34t cassette and it has been... okay. There is a fair amount of noise with in the drivetrain which is annoying to my and sometimes my shifting isn't super clean. I may just bite the bullet and get a force cassette and hope for better luck. I'd appreciate any advice you guys have on this. Let me know if you have any quesitons about the parts or build process! Wheels: Airwolf 30mm wheels with 24mm internal; novatec hubs Tires: Panracer Gravelking SS 38mm Shifters/FD/RD/Brakes/crankset: Sram Force AXS Saddle: Ergon SRX-3 Cassette: ZTTO ultralight 34t chain: KMC X12 (is this my problem?) Brake rotors: Bucklos centerlock floating rotors October 11, 2024, 02:59:31 PM |
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Re: SL8 Replica Build
So this thread started with a very satisfied customer and ended with an horror story. As far as i can tell, all bad. https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,5263.0.html October 23, 2024, 05:44:42 AM |
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