I have a story to contribute as well.

I ordered their wheelset (VB-RC-50 25mm tubeless) for my first build. At the time, I had never done a TL setup before and asked Chris if I needed rim tape thinking maybe the TL sku for the wheelset made it unnecessary.

Chris confirmed that I did not need rim tape. I used a floor pump and pumped the tire to about 60psi before there was a loud bang, carbon shards flew, and the rim wall delaminated. I was shocked.

I assumed I had done something wrong. I went to an LBS and explained what had happened, and asked them to setup my other wheel TL. If all went well, I would simply order another wheel to replace the one I had presumably messed up.

Unfortunately, the LBS pumped it and it exploded again sending one of their employees to the hospital (non-serious injury but another shock to me).

Clearly, the deep section cavity cannot take pressurization. On my ICANN wheelset, this is impossible as there's clearly a hole that would release build up if any leaked past the rim tape.

The final disappointment was Chris being unwilling to give me a refund and instead trying to get me to accept new rims and rebuild using the leftover spokes and hub. I kept demanding a refund until Chris stopped responding. I did a chargeback but was so sick of the situation that I didn't follow through with the back-and-forth and see what their lame excuse was.

Fast forward a year later, the R-168 frame has been great to me. I wasn't aware of the general negative sentiment (one year ago, VB was known as having the best post-sales support) and assumed I was a one-off. I followed up on my old thread with Chris asking if he'd honor a refund if I ordered another frame (I also needed a refund for the bottle cages that never came). He agreed but he refunded only one wheel (the cheaper one!) of the wheelset.

The new frame has worked well. I paired with an ICANN wheelset again. I'm still not sure if one should use rim tape with the VB wheelset or not, but either way, it's a serious design flaw for the rim to delaminate at moderate pressure.

Did they do a good job of supplying the little frame bits for entry/exit ports and for different drivetrains like mechanical vs electronic? Has anyone slapped a real FSA ACR headset on one of these? How good are the bearing seats in terms of finish?

Only done mechanical 2x. The derailleur cables have exit ports: cover for front, plug for rear. I've only used the integrated handlebar, no FSA ACR headset.

I was daydreaming about building an e-bike. I see there are some off-the-shelf frames available, but there are some modifications I'd like to make. Has anyone ever requested a change in geometry? Or even more radical, submitted a custom design to be fabricated as a one-off?

Wish I woulda read this all sooner. My frame has not shipped which is fine, but the answers I’m getting from Chris are very deflective for simple queries.

Anything I can answer? I’ve now built two of these about a year apart. I had minimal QC issues with the frames but I did get a somewhat defective wheelset that I abandoned.

Almost done with a new VB-186, but while working on the rear derailleur, I realized that instead of shifter cable housing I used brake cable housing. Anyone done this before? Is it no big deal or should I redo all my cabling?

Just saw a new R-218 listed on VB and didn't see it mentioned here yet. Anyone know whether this mimics an existing geometry?

http://www.velobuild.com/products/http-wwwvelobuildcom-products-http-wwwvelobuildcom-products-2021-vb-r-218-carbon-fiber-road-frame-disc-version-integrated-hidden-cables-345

Absolutely love it! But, I'm not a harsh critic. I'm primarily a runner and had never paid for a bike before until my hand-me-down bike was stolen. Only 750mi since getting it and almost all from chill weekend endurance rides with cyclist friends.

I remember having a vague worry that the bike wouldn't be able to conceal its poor provenance. But, it rides so smoothly (tubeless helps) without ticks, maintenance issues, or aesthetic warts. And I've gotten loads of complements and inquiries about the make ("cheap chinese carbon!" is my go-to ).

Anyone else having trouble adjusting their seatpost? I've had it in for a month, and I want to raise it by 1cm--unclear whether it slipped by 1cm since I didn't add a marker.

Even after undoing the fastener, the seatpost doesn't budge. I've tried twisting the seatpost gently and knocking it sideways to no avail. I haven't tried pushing the seatpost in primarily because I'm worried the seatpost is already resting on the seattube. Any tips?