Just sharing a shot of my recently completed CX-002. Maiden voyage today for 55miles of gravel. It was a delight to ride.

Wow. Thanks Serge for posting. Is refreshing to see another build where common sense decisions are made with a build. Not every build needs to be electronic grupo. Don’t have anything against electronic. Is just so damn expensive.  There is still such a thing as good, dependable use out of traditional mech.  I am using similar break calipers (hydro piston with mechanical cable actuation) , I like them. So far they are dependable and easy to adjust. What’s your take on them?
 I went with 50m deep rims with more of an oblong shape. I have 60m deep rims on my specialized tarmac and I find those behave like sails in the wind.  The 50m deep are less so.  Also the Sensah 2x11 setup with mid size cage is working nice also. Snappy shifting and very little need for adjusting.  I am using a Shimano 105 front mech with the trimming feature. It is playing well with the Sensah front shifter.  Love the feature. 
As for ride feel, I agree. This rides so much smoother than my tarmac elite (older model circa 2011). Specially with the victoria corsa 32c tires. The bike accelerates well and holds its speed. Something I don’t feel on my older tarmac.
And most importantly , keeping the build simple and mechanical makes it both affordable and easy to maintain with my amateur mechanic skill set. We all now we can use a bit of both always. Cheers and thanks for sharing.

Had to dig for this thread in the deep, with all the new banter about VBR-268, this poor little thread is getting forgotten.

For anybody wondering, the spec on the mounting screws for the disc brakes on the VBR-168 is M5.  confirmed by velobuild via email exchange.  Additionally, on the issue of installing the FD and routing the cable through the frame, I ended up routing above the bottom bracket. The geometry in this region of the frame allows for a nice soft curve as the inner cable makes its way from the down tube to the FD cable exit hole.  I did take a bit of material off the cable stop on the side facing the frame, about 2 to 3 mm approximately. This allowed the cable to land at the stop at a lesser acute angle, still maintaining a good vertical direction as it rides up to the FD mech.
Going against the grain of the advice here about Sensah front mech, I went ahead with the install and it was pretty effortless. Just make sure the cable is routed cleanly from the front brifter. My first attempt had me cabling through the brifter in one of its “trimming” positions. Make sure that the lever is fully released in its small ring position when pulling the cable through.

I ended up installing the Sensah FD anyway, and was successful in getting it to move.  I am using Jagwaire compression less cables.  I think my initial error was not fully disengaging the shifter to its resting position.  The thing does have a “trimming” feature that is easy to overlook. Thanks folks. Will report back on how it works.

Hey folks.

I am doing a slow build of a velobuild 168 this winter/spring.  I have in hand a Sensah empire 2x11 group set.  I am finding the FD is super stiff.  Turning the pull arm over with my hands requires an effort just shy of Herculean.  Installing the cable from the brifter reveals the cable is pulling the right amount, but fails to move the arm on the FD, arm too stiff perhaps? Have you encountered this? Any thoughts on how to release some tension on the FD spring, if that is even possible? Many thanks.

@olliesimpson

Tell me again about filling the FD cable stop.  I am encountering the same issue, I filled it a bit but it is still not a perfect fit alignment to push the cable stop back into the frame.

ATM, you can only really save serious money if you go full low budget with direct2consumer-parts from China. I built my TT-X38 with LTWOO er9, Magene powermeter and full carbon wheels + a number of 2nd hand parts (like my Sram cranks, saddle and Vittoria tires) for less than 2.5k EUR. But to do that, you're required to invest A LOT of time researching parts, be prepared to deal with problems when building the bike up and you need to take the risk that customer service and warranty might be troublesome or even more or less non existent.

I mean, there's a GIANT concept store in my city. For not that much more money, I could probably walk in there, grab a bike and come back and have the shop deal with issues, should there be any. But for me, this is also about the journey. I like to come up with the idea of "my dream bike", source all the parts and think every little detail through and then build up something that I couldn't buy anywhere else and that potentially no one else has.

Agree Completely.