Does anyone know what these fasteners are called in stem portion that clamp to the fork, and where I can get a new set, other than VB?  Mine are stripped out, and would like something of higher quality.  TIA

Cool build and great job on the paint!  That marble effect is wild!

There is a slight creak when I stand on it and mash the pedals, but I think I just need to retighten the headset bolt (things may have settled) and put some carbon paste on the steerer tube.  I'll report back if this fixes the minor issue.

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After several rides and tightening things down more, it seems that's all it was: my stem/bars were not torqued properly.  I also added some carbon paste to help there.  The only thing that rattles now are the GRX levers, which is a common problem lol.  So, I think this notched C-clip helps with the headset play issue - I am not experiencing any right out of the box on my new build.

I removed Elite Wheels painted on logo's with a heat gun (and scraping with a paper towel) and goof-off pro...  It was a real chore.  Stickers can be done with hair dryer.

velobuild quote the max tyre size as 42mm is this realistic?

I would say so.  Here are a few of mine with 25mm road tires and 38mm pathfinder pro knobby gravel tires.  Lots of clearance left.

Initial Ride impressions:
Disclaimer: I come from a mountain biking background, and I am getting more into road biking, so, my opinion of the CX-002 may be less refined than others about road bike differences.  Also, a road bike is a road bike to me since they’re all way more efficient than a mtn bike.  I have an XC hard tail with 2.35/60mm tires, so I didn’t want to build a bike that would overstep its intended use; the XC bike can do gravel, but not as quickly.

Road manners:
I took it out for a road ride to put it through its paces at the local riding “spot” and it handled itself wonderfully!  The Modern CX geo is really a nice hybrid between a road bike and a gravel bike. 
Compared to my 2013 Trek Madone which has “compact geometry” (which I feel is too extreme for me, but it is a rocket ship on road), this bike feels a little more “lazy” in steering and agility, but this was expected.  The CX’s BB height is only 2mm taller which isn’t really noticeable, but I’m still getting used to the bike, so higher speed tighter turns will take some getting used to.
The WB is 40mm longer, which makes it more stable.  This is especially noticeable on high speed downhill sweepers. The CX is also about 2lbs heavier, so that was noticeable (esp with the added gear), but for my riding style and what I want out of this bike, I am OK with that.
 
Gravel manners:
This thing really is at home off road.  Like Pat said, it is really comfortable on rough roads, dirt roads, and on double track.  I have about 30 miles of off-pavement experience on these 38mm Pathfinder Pro’s, and they seem to be a good match for this bike.  The bike soaked up all the small bumps very well and was a nice place to be.  It was really stable on the dirt road downhill turns and I felt confident maintaining a decent amount of speed.  I feel it could do more once I learn the tires a little better.  I did slip the front end once on a loose over pavement turn-in, but I was able to catch it and keep going thanks to the Longer WB (compared to the road bike).

Again, overall, I’m really happy with the frame selection and what I’m getting out of it.  Is this a crit racer? no.  Is this a long adventure bike, not really.  Is it a gravel race bike?  Maybe, tho the BB offset could be lower.   Is its a nice quiver killer for a road/gravel/cx bike?  I think so.  I was inspired by the YT'er "outdoorbros" and his reviews of the Specialized Crux as a dual purpose gravel & road bike and "quiver-killer".  I think with CX bikes (as a subset) modern geo's, this is more possible than in years past when BB drops of 60-65, causing them to be pretty twitchy.

Over time I may upgrade the groupset and other components, but honestly the mech/hydro GRX810 2x11 setup is pretty nice.  The 48/31 chainring gearing is great for solo rides.  I'll have to an end of season review after a CX race or 2.

Ok the bike is finally finished! 

Goal:
What started as a want for a road bike in 2021, and wanting to build a bike from the frame up, led to a livery design in search of a frame… then buying a used road bike… and then determining that I would be better on something dirt-road capable of riding longer distances safely.  So the goal was to get a reasonably fast dual-purpose road+gravel bike that could also withstand 1-2 CX races if I felt like it; IE: surviving bunny hops. Ideally, something like the Airwolf 066 (Rinescalte Granite) would have been more ideal, but I was not a fan of how it looks (subjective!).

DIY Spray-paint job:
The Livery (paint job) is a throw-back to late 70’s - mid 80’s race cars and sport bikes.  I did all of the striping by hand with 1/16” tape and spray paint.  I think I’ll document my paint process for anyone who wants to read how it can be done – lots of lessons learned from over the years applied here that I want to write down for DIY’ing a spray paint job.  That may require it’s own post if anyone’s interested.  I initially asked if VB could paint it, but they didn’t want to do the rounded corners of the stripes, which was critical to the design, so that’s why they sent it in primer.  It’s no fault of theirs since this was a complicated paint job.
1.  To start, the inside of the (exterior) frame was sanded down to the carbon and sprayed in Spraymax 2K Matte clear (posted above). 
2.  Then taped for the outer parts.  The white is Honda/Acura’s Platinum White Pearl (NH-883P), which has a red and blue flake in it. I wanted a metallic white that wasn’t too creamy/pearly in color.  I applied a light coat of Spraymax 2K clear. 
3.  After letting that cure, I sanded it very lightly with 1000 grit just to give the paint something to stick to.  Then I did the hand striping … which took a while to get straight and then symmetric.  The blue’s are from Montana Gold, then finished with 2K spraymax.  Unfortunately, the Montana Gold is a bit dusty, so some paint dust got in the final clear coat .. But it’s only noticeable at 3 feet away. 
4.  After that stage cured, I applied an Invisiframe’s Generic CX/Gravel kit to protect the sensitive area’s.  I think the sizing matched the frame pretty well, with some clever ingenuity needed at the top of the seat stay and the back of the seat tube for the wheel indent.  Maybe an SL7 kit may fit better?

Assembly:
This is the first road bike I’ve assembled, and the integrated bars with the full hydro/mech drivetrain was a bit of a chore, but after a lot of wrestling, I figured it out.

Bike Specs:
- VB-CX-002, Size 56, with top tube mounts.  Final weights without pedals or accessories:
-- Gravel: 8.655kg/19.08lbs
-- Road: 8.475kg/18.68lbs
-- Weight with accessories and pedals: ~22lbs
- Integrated bars, 110x440, 10mm spacer
- Rider: 6’1”, 185cm, 34” inseam - perfect fit and standover.  Kind of like an older style frame with a nearly horizontal top tube.
- (Used) GRX-810 2x drivetrain.  48/31 Chainrings, 11-34T, 11S, 172.5 crank arms
- Token Ninja Bottom Bracket - thread together style
- Elite ENT Wheels 50 deep x 27ow 17iw, upgraded spokes, 25mm GP5K TLS, tubeless
- Elite ENT Wheels 30deep x 28ow x 18iw, Pathfinder Pro 38mm, tubeless
- 160mm SRAM rotors
- Jagwire LEX-SL cable housing (min bend radius: 25mm)
- Lyne Components bottle cages and Holy Rail tool bag kit
- Fiziks 3.0 Bondcore cush tape

Road and Gravel ride impressions coming mid-week, but so far I am really happy with it

I think I have the 2nd generation... If that's the only change (appears to be the case), then I may try to cut a slit/groove in mine to see if it helps since I'm building the bike this weekend.