Quote from: J-S-Q on January 12, 2022, 04:21:54 AM


Anyone else who has built an 099 (or something similar), how have you handled the rear derailleur cable? The frame has a fitting on the down tube to house the cable outer, leaving just the shifter cable to exit the frame. I'm a bit worried to use this because if the outer ever comes loose from the fitting I would have to remove the bottom bracket to fix the problem.

I think you meant the front derailleur. I route the outer cable through the bottom of the bottom bracket. This puts the cable into a steep angle and ending in the housing cap. That steep angle actually provides a lot of pressure to hold the outer cable in place,provided your outer cable is long enough and not very compressible. See the attached image. Green is the outer cable and red is the BB hole.

This is beast assembled

Very happy with the results. This is my second time building a fully integrated bike, and this time the process went a lot smoother. Totally worth over exposed cables. It looks stunning.

Happy biking everyone. May your builds finish without issues!

Quote from: J-S-Q on January 11, 2022, 05:52:24 AM
Perhaps you could try a different/longer compression plug, which might have less chance of slipping? Maybe this one:
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/deda-elementi-expander-bung/rp-prod171842?utm_source=customer-emails&utm_medium=stock-email&utm_campaign=backinstock

Or have you tried using carbon past where the handle bars clamp to the steerer tube to give some extra grip?

Another thought: Have you tried using some sort of retaining compound on the headset bearings in case they are moving within the frame?

Might be worth trying something like in this video:

Thanks man, that's exactly what I did.

So, for anyone having issues like me. A longer compression plug solved the issue for me.

I used this: PRO Headset expansion nut for carbon steerer tubes, 50mm, 1 1/8 inch

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NJYGTQS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The compression plug sits a bit lower than a standard ones, so it doesn't provide as much support for the top stem bolt clamping the steerer tube, but shouldn't be too much of an issue.

It's still not as stable as my other Velobuild (R-177), but it's much better now.

Quote from: J-S-Q on January 09, 2022, 04:08:23 AM

When you tighten the headset, does the steering feel perfectly smooth? On mine, without the spacers, I could feel some friction, because the headset cover was rubbing slightly against the top of the frame, and no matter how much I tightened the top cap, there would still be a small amount of play in the steering.

When I tighten the headset, it doesn't rub with the frame. There's actually a few millimeters between the headset and the frame. I've had that issue you mentioned with my previous Velobuild and I fixed with the same type of thin spacers.

The problem now seems like no matter how much I tighten the headset, there's some play in the steering when braking. And if I keep tightning it up, the compression plug slips up.

So I guess that's not a common occurrence for this bike? hm, I'll keep investigating what could be the issue.

Hey,

Question about the compression of the headset Do you feel the headset moving and not stable when braking?

I'm having a hard time compressing the headset on my bike. Everytime I try to compress it, the compression plug slips up. I've tried a lot of things:

* Deda and the FSA compression plug after the one that came with the bike failed. Deda seems a bit better, but still slips when compressing.
* Cleaning the steerer tube with iso alcohol
* Carbon paste
* Sanding the inside of the steerer tube a bit
* I tighned the compression plug up to 7.5N (I'm afraid of going higher as 7.5N feels quite a lot already).

No matter what I do, the compression plug slips before the bike feels stable when braking.

Should I keep riding the bike even whenthe headset doesn't feel fully compressed?

I wonder if the issue is with the compression plug, or the headset has some play even when tightned enough.

Ps.: This is my second Velobuild build. The first one feels very stable and I didn't have any issues with the headset.

Quote from: jokage on September 06, 2021, 10:01:43 PM
Nice build! Was wondering if they've got some very long chainstays, but then I realized that it's fitted with a set of 650b. What made you choose the 650b wheels?

If I may know, what's your height? I was considering this frame before I've decided to get the size XS of R-168 primarily due to the geometry -- the XS of 177 about a size up of the XS 168. After rode hundreds of km on my 168, I now believe that could afford one size up (or a longer stem).

Thanks.

I've tried other road bikes and it's not doable for my foot to reach the floor because of the height of the top tube. The 650b helps in that regards because the bike sits lower to the ground. It also means the pedals are close to the ground, so I can't take a sharp turn while pedaling, but that's OK.

And, I'm about 155cm. The size of the bike fits me well.

Quote from: ivorhooper on September 06, 2021, 04:21:38 PM
Hi, very nice bike.
I've put another 80 miles into mine and I think it's great. No problems whatsoever.
Where do you get the silicone seat post ring from?
Thanks

I got mine from Amazon, named "IKAAR Silicone Cover Bike Seat Post Ring Waterproof Dust Seatpost Protective Case Universal Mountain MTB Road Bike Accessories Pack of 4".

It's cheap but works great.

I think you can buy the ones from Fizik too, but couldn't find a black one.

Hey o/ first time posting here. I just finished my bike build and want to share some of my experience here. I wrote this review for the Velobuild website, but I'm pasting it here too. Hopefully that can be useful to someone else

----

I've recently finished building my VB-R-177 (Size XS) with Shimano 105 hydraulic disc brake bike, Fulcrum Racing DB7 650b wheels and Schwalbe Pro One 28mm tubeless tyres. The bike is perfect for short people.

The frame came well packaged and in good condition. There were no visible marks or damage to the frame.

The frame, however, took a lot longer to be shipped than initially agreed on. So, if you're in a hurry, this may not be the frame for you.

With that being said, the frame is really good and I was impressed. The quality of the carbon seems good with no sharp bits inside. The paint job was on point and exactly how I specified it to be. The frame came with almost (more about it below) everything you need to build it other than the groupset, cables and things you expect to not come with a frame.

I said the frame came with almost all parts because after assembling the headset, the handlebar were not turning smoothly. I had to buy some very thin (0.4mm) spacers to go between the top headset bearing and the compression ring to lift the headset a little bit and don't scrape the frame. Other than that, the build went without any issues.

For the integrated cockpit and fully integrated cables, I do recommend having a cable routing tool. I also used a small file to open some internal holes in the handlebar because the hydraulic hose and the shifter cables were too big for it. As long as you're patience, and route the cables through the handlebar FIRST before putting it on the bike, you should be OK. No, really, route your cables in the handlebar before assembling it to the bike, trust me on this. Think it through. This order is not the same as a more "traditional" bike build.

Tip: If you're buying a shifting cable set, make sure you buy one with a very long cable. In this bike, the outer housings goes all the way from the shifter until the derailler.

Tip2: You can buy silicone seatpost rings that will make the transition between the seatpost and frame a lot nicer, and prevent water ingress.

After going through the pain of routing the fully integrated cables I think the end result is worth it. The bike looks amazing. It's very light (between 7-8kg) even though I didn't buy any weight savings components.

I recently finished a 120km ride and the bike had no issues.