Hey All!

I have finally found an easy yet permanent fix for the headset play issue when using the separate handlebar/stem combo. Please bare with me as I'll do my best to be clear and concise. You do not need an FSA ACR setup, nor disconnect any hydraulic or shift cables.

#1 - This is NOT a design flaw on VeloBuild's behalf. The issue lies in the particular C-Clip they supply, which sits in the middle between the upper headset bearing and the black metal bearing cap.

#2 - VeloBuild's C-Clip uses two tabs in order to lock the headset cap into place. The supplied spacers also use these same little tabs/knobs in order to lock the stem in place as well. The problem with these tabs is they are just deep enough (when locked into place) to subsequently recess the metal headset cap too far into the headset bearing. This is why there's always headset play no matter how tight the compression top cap bolt is. Those little tabs are about 0.5-1.0mm tall which, when recessed into the bearing cap, make all the difference.

#3 - The solution? Using a C-Clip that DOES NOT have those little tabs. Using a totally flat C-Clip means the headset cap will still be level/flush, but it wont recess into each other by the 0.5-1.0mm mentioned above. This also enables you to use a C-shaped shim if need be, although you should not need to. Not having the recessed headset cap is basically a shim in of itself since the headset cap will sit 1mm higher.

#4 - I found all of this out while building my Yoeleo gravel bike. I had the same headset play issue. Turns out Yoeleo's headset bearings for the top and bottom are slightly two different thicknesses. The thicker (red bearing) one needs to be on top, and I had them reverse. During troubleshooting Yoeleo send me a spare flat C-Clip, but the fix was simply switching the bearings around.

The Takeaway - Confirm the headset bearings are indeed the same size (they should be) and thickness for top and bottom. Buy/Order flat C-Clip for the top headset bearing. I no longer even needed to use a spacer above the compression plug top cap. Everything is flush, and no headset play even after a 30 mile ride earlier today on terrible Chicago roads.

Photo 1 - VeloBuild's supplied C-Clip with the two tabs
Photo 2 - The replacement flat C-Clip
Photo 3 - What the flat C-Clip looks like installed
Photo 4 - My final setup with no spacer above the stem top cap

awesome, looks like a proper solution! where can i order that c-clip?

yes, i had some very tiny amount of play with my integrated handlebar too! i think the problem is that the cover can not push enough on the compression ring, and cover and ring are identical in both seperate and integrated bars.

hey patrick, yes, you are right with the carbon topcap, just built another GF-002 for a friend , with seperate stem and bar, had exactly the same problem  with the carbon topcap, could somehow solve it with putting a normal topcap under the carbon one, and compress them together, it looks it solved the problem, will send updates after some tests.

Hello,
last year I built my first gravel bike velobuild GF-002, had some issues, most of them were due to my lack of enough experience and very easy to solve, and some were known velobuild issues, still relatively easy to solve.

I rode my bike over 3500 km.
My friends, after seeing me riding with confidence, also wanted to have a gravel bike like that, so I built another 7 GF-002 for friends, with integrated bar and separated bar and stem combinations, during that process, I learned lots of tricks, and made my tools better and collect a good amount of experience for building bikes.

I thought now it's time to build a proper road bike for myself again, and here it is, my new VB-R-177, and I absolutely love it.

The classic headset play problem can be solved (at least in my cases) with a sand paper, you should sand the steerer tube until the headcap sits perfectly on the compression plug, and yes, it should be straight, so take your time and try to have a clean cut, it helps.
If you still have problem, micro shims are your friend, cut one and put it between compression ring and headset cover.
For another classic problem, rubbing brakes, you should use M5 bolts that comes usually with break rotors(for 6 bolt rotors) as they are a bit shorter than regular bolts, they may help a lot to adjust the breaks properly.
Other than that, I don't see any major issue on velobuild side.

If you are considering some semi-hydraulic solution like juin-techs, you should not, yes, they can stop you, but the difference is like day and night, now I feel much much safer on descends, and have much better control overall.

For internal cable routing in handlebars, after testing the new method on a friends bike and saw the results, I did it for myself too, so here is how: just escape it, as easy as that you save yourself a good amount of time, and it gives you the possibility to change, bar or stem in future if you want to, I will post a picture so you can see what I did.

After about 200 km on this, I can say the ride quality is very good, the bike is very responsive, climbing and descending is very fun, the bike is fast and comfortable.

I did not build a weight weenie bike, so my setup with pedals, bottle cages, garmin mount and velobuild gravel wheels (which I used on my gravel bike) is 7.9, so you can cut some good amount of weight if you go for a lighter wheelset.