Tideacebike

Tideacebike

You can't just remove that part - it's necessary so the axle can clamp the bearings. The endcaps can usually just be pulled off, but I want to reiterate that you can't use the wheels with those caps missing.

It seems to me like you ordered a wheelset with 110x15(front) and 12x148(back) boost-spacing but you are using either a 100x15mm mtb (or possible even a 100x12mm road) fork+axle.
There might be conversion kits from boost to non-boost for those Goldix M240 hubs. If not, you'll have to change the hubs and rebuild the wheelset (or return it if you can).

Is the stem slipping up or just the expander with the cap? There should be a negligible amount of force pulling the plug out of the steerer, as after tightening the stem the only use of the plug is to hold the cap.

The highlighted parts shouldn't be expanding and/or gripping anything. The ledge is just there so the plug does not drop into the steerer by accident.
The expanding parts of the expander plug are the parts with the crosshatched groves further down the plug.

Quote from: Serge_K on May 24, 2024, 04:05:34 AM
I wish there was a dislike button. Who are you, and how much 1st hand experience with VB and other frames do you have?
Saying there is "no quality control whatsoever from velobuild" is simply false. I don't even want to argue, I just wish posts could be downvoted.

I'm sorry that you feel butthurt. It would certainly help the conversation if you could bring yourself to argue your point. Have you audited their production to know they are doing any QC? Are you sure you aren't conflating quality with quality control? In general you don't necessarily need any of the later to produce a decent product...

I've bought two frames from them, one perfect as you can only wish for, the other had a fork steerer tube that was 2mm(!!!) out of round, oval oversized pressfit BB (so you can't press in anything because you can just pull it out without any force), threads of the brake interfaces filled with resin, a seat tube that was only reamed out to about 7cm depth, voids on any machined surface and flaking paint right out of the box (that it wasn't painted as agreed upon should be a given at this point),.
The issues of that second frame are so obvious and present through the whole manufacturing process that I can't imagine even a rudimentary QC process to miss ALL of them and not pull that frame at some point from the production line before it reaches a customer.

I've audited enough production places to know the theme. They aren't evil, notice the defects and send them to the customers anyway - they just don't have dedicated processes set up so a defective product can be detected and pulled from the line at a later stage without incuring penalities to the person reporting the defects.
QC is a significant "non-productive" share of the production cost. If you can cut that, you'll be able to offer the product for cheaper. If your production is set up well in general, so the defect rate is low, you might even come ahead in customer experience on average.

I would honestly just expect no quality control whatsoever from velobuild.
That does not mean the average quality of bikes that are shipped to the customers is bad (especially for the price), it just means there is no established process that consistently checks if what is shipped out meets some kind of internal quality standard or is exactly what the customer ordered.

If the production process is running great at that moment and you aren't looking for anything special, you'll probably get a frame punching way above its price point. If the workers in the factory had a shitty day or were in a crunch to get a batch of frames done before the holidays, you'll get a horrible frame in the mail. They might replace that shitty frame free of charge or completely refuse to do anything at all, again depending mostly on the luck of the day (and to a part your reach in media...).

Do these have any advantage over your normal SRAM RED 8-bolt Crankarms?
They seem to be the same weight and apparently only $20 cheaper.

While I appreciate the competition of Cybrei, Incolor and Lexon, am I jaded to expect at least a little more of a price gap considering the unproven durability and lack of local customer support/warranty?

Chainline issues aside - the axle of a road crank has a good chance of just physically being too short to fit.
I've never actually measured it down to the mm, but I believe my SRAM Red crank has an axle length of <90mm - it would not fit in a 92mm wide BB.

I'm running Pirelli Cinturato Velo TLRs in 35mm (about 38mm on 25mm inner width rims) on my year-round commuting bike through everything badly maintained city roads have to offer (gravel, glass, potholes, ...). They sealed immediately and haven't leaked since, didn't get a puncture either. I give them air about every 2-3 month and the sealant inside is probably dry for ages (haven't refreshed it for two years...).

They are certainly not the fastest tire, nor do they offer above-average grip. I would still recommend them if you are just looking for a resilient, easy to mount and good sealing tire.

Quote from: 00Garza on August 29, 2023, 04:14:15 PM
Didn't someone on here recently buy direct from Yishun?

Yes. It's really not that much of an issue anymore. They even have a warehouse in Germany.
At least as long as you are fine with the base carbon-black frame. You won't get any one-off customizing (like individual paintjobs) from them. You have to buy in quantity for that.

I don't have a source for a replacement top cap. I could probably model and print you one though, if you are located somewhere sending a package from Germany to is not outrageously expensive. You wouldn't be able to preload the steerer with it - you would have to use a normal round cap for that - but it should look pretty decent.
Is my assumption correct that the only thing broken is the chamfer interfacing with the screw?

Yishunbikes G095D Speed Gravel might a solid candidate.
I don't have any personal experiences with that frame, just eyeing it for a while. But I've only heard good things about Yishunbike.
We have a topic on that frame here:
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,4283.0.html
The manufacturer site for the frame:
https://www.yishunbike.com/product/g095dspeed-gravel/

My next speedy all-weather commuter bike with convenience items like fenders and proper lights will probably be a Workswell WCB-R-358. It has some nice details, like the fender boss at the top inside of the fork arch.
Unfortunately it's a bit heavy. A 54 frame is 1200g, fork 490g, seatpost 180g. With a nice set of fenders weighting 500g, I'm not sure if 150g extra really makes a difference though.
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,4060.0.html
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,4138.0.html
https://www.workswellbikes.com/gravel/wcb-r-358.html