That honestly looks ok to me.

I asked for a simple matte beige/ sand color and velobuild gave me the worst paint job Ive ever seen. Looks much more pale yellow/piss color in person. I painted over it already and did an ok job.

Mine landed in Germany yesterday, I hope to receive it before the weekend!
In the meantime, I'm choosing the paint 

I've had the chance to put in some longer rides over the last few weeks with my new setup – a couple of rides on 40 mm Challenge Strada Bianca tires, mostly on tarmac and some Cat-1 gravel.

First impressions: I’m really happy with how the bike performs. Both in terms of ride feel and on Strava segments, it’s noticeably faster on road and light gravel compared to my Cube NuRoad. The frame definitely seems to offer more aero potential, and the fit is spot on for me.

Honestly, for minimalists, this bike could easily be a true “one-bike-fits-all” solution – as long as you’re not doing road races, it covers just about everything. I even find myself reaching for the Velobuild with the 40s for pure road rides instead of my SL7, just because it’s so much fun. It almost rolls as well as a road bike, but can handle gravel no problem.

Last week, I took it out for some proper gravel sessions, including some seriously rocky sections and even singletrack. It’s quick and agile, and the 48 mm Thundero tires definitely contribute a lot to the ride quality. It also performs impressively well on 2.1” Thunder Burt tires, proving its versatility across different terrains. The Zipp SL80 bars are also growing on me – didn’t love them at first, but now I really appreciate the grippy, textured tops, especially in aero hoods and puppy paws position.

Only minor regret: in hindsight, I might have chosen the frame in “gloss over carbon” instead of matte black. Still debating whether to go 1x13 with the drivetrain, too.

All in all, super satisfied with the bike. It may get its first race outing this weekend.

And… the next China frame project is already in the works – more on that soon!


(P.S.: Please ignore the bar tape color, just a test run 😅)

40mm


48mm


2.1"


Tire clearance 48m:


Tire clearance 2.1"