1 question to those who have already assembled.
The saddle elevation on the handlebars is extreme due to the negative stem. How are you coping with it? Otherwise it was 9 cm, with a spacer I am 15. I also don't want to undercut that extreme.

2nd question .. do you have a disc in between or was that how it was?   

I think the 3.5cm of spacers that the frame comes with are about enough for the steerer safety - if you need more, it may be that the frame is too small, or that the frame's geometry is not good for you/your needs. For instance, I ordered a 56cm (182cm), which would have been aggressive but still "friendly",  but I received a 54cm by mistake, which is fine but with a 2cm shorter head tube making it much more aggressive.

About the disc, it doesn't look like it belongs there. What's the purpose of it?

Assembly from the bottom-up: fork, fork race, bottom bearing, head tube, top bearing, compression ring, headset cover, (spacers), handlebar. Obvs the expander plug goes in the fork steerer 

Hey guys, quick update on my build, which I hope might help who still need to start:

After managing the internal routing, I realised that I couldn't eliminate the headset play without locking the steering. After quite a few trials, I realised that the problem could be that the compression ring that sits above the top bearing, is sitting too low for the dust cover to compress it down once the top cap is tightened, which result in the dust cover pushing on the frame instead of the headset (as it has downward lip), while pulling up the fork excessively. As I put some cardboard/plastic strips on top of the compression ring as spacers (didn't have nothing better on hand), it seems fine, although some paint paid the price while figuring this out.

Obvs is not a solution but I intend to redo the wiring in a few weeks, once I remove the spacers and re-cut the fork, so i'll fix all that at once with some spacer-half-ring or something. Maybe a 1-2mm extra height in the top bearing could do, need to do some research on that. If anyone has ideas, fire away

Hope it helps if anyone has/will have the same issue

What kind of weights are your guys’ bikes coming in at? The 168 with mid level groupset is probably in the 18 lbs category right?

My 54cm vbr099 was 8.30kg, with no pedal and bottle cages. The 168, 54cm and weighting at 1130g just the frame, with full Ultegra 8020 which I moved from a frame to the other, once finished I suspect won't be too far off the vbr099.
 
I must admit that I have a pair of Fulcrum 400 DB which are definitely on the heavy side at 1690g.

Would be interesting to see the difference in weight if anyone has a 54cm not painted   

While building it seemed on the small side for a 56cm frame, so i measured it: I believe it's a 54cm  seriously though..

Gonna ask for a confirmation, but if it's a 56cm the geometry is completely off.

Chris just informed me that DPD is not available for shipping to the UK since mid june, and therefore EMS will be used.
Does anyone have experience with it, in terms of shipping time and duties+vat?

Anyone else waiting for the frame to be shipped as it is still waiting for the handlebar? Got any update?

My frame (56cm 40-42/100) was supposed to be painted and shipped by the end of March, then April, then May, then it got delayed 'for the handlebars', so it was June, and then today I've been told the painting shop used the wrong color, so should be ready next week. I mean, what else is there to add

I did have issues with my FD and RD, which didn't appear during my short daily commutes. I had trouble shifting into my large chainring, and my four larger cogs had issues. Is it normal to require a tune up so early on or did I do something fundamentally wrong? I'm guessing that it's too early for cable stretching so perhaps I did not tie the fasteners for the cables sufficiently and they've slipped ever so slightly?

It may be that the internal routing is settling down, assuming it was fine when assembled, and so cables tension (if mechanical) may change slightly, requiring a tune up. if it's hard to get on larger cogs/chainrings, it might be that the cables have too much slack. Hope it helps

Congrats! Lucky you . It's weird though, I ordered mine on April 17th (so almost two weeks before you did) also with 420/100 bars and mine is not shipped yet....  . It's good to hear that they are shipping orders though!

I'm reading on other forums that people that ordered later got the frame shipped earlier for some reason, bit all over the place. As Chris originally put it, mine was meant to be ready by the end of March and delayed ever since, which is frankly ridicolous. Who knows what they're up to, but for sure I'll watch myself from recommending Velobuild for customer service, aside from Chris being overall responsive 

Does anyone have an update from Chris on their frame?
Mine was supposed to be ready this week, but it seems like there'll be more delays as I didn't receive an update