2023 VeloBuild CX-002 Cyclocross Frame

[NoGrip61]

The frame arrived, in lightning fast time!  Big thanks to Chris and team for the great communication. 

A couple more notes about the CX-002 frame: 
1.  I ordered a spare hanger and seat clamp, per recommendations on here, but since this frame now includes the seat post dust cover (might fit the 168 too), I would recommend getting a spare of that as well.  It’s very narrow and very soft, so I am not sure how it will do long term.  Rubber tends to get hard and brittle over time and this design relies on a snug fit to the post, which will loosen.  I think this would be a fairly easy tpu 3D print job tho. 
2.  The size 56 here also weighs about 1250g, without rear axle, and all hardware still on. 
3.  Chris and team were able to add top tube mounts, but not on the seat stays or chain stay.  This will be good for longer rides where I want a top tube bag, but I’ll have to use some custom clips to add my rear rack on occasion.
4.  The down tube is more of a boxed profile (not easily shown), which may be more aero with a wider tire?  I think the 3T exploro and Factor Oslo (?) have a similar DT profile and they are considered “aero gravel” bikes.
5. The top tube is pretty high, so be careful when sizing.  My CAD and mock-up calculations were good, but it’ll still be close when standing LOL…. Which I rarely do anyway.

Next up is to paint it in a radical theme once it warms up enough to DIY spray paint (pardon the tape).  I sent VB my thoughts on the livery/colorway that I wanted, but I was too picky about the design, so they left it in a lighter primer.  Not to discredit them, but this will be a fairly complex paint and vinyl striping job, so it’ll be fun to do.  It’ll be painted like I did with one of my other bikes with auto touch-up paint, Spraymax 2k, and an Invisiframe protective wrap.  I have all of the other parts for this build, but the tires are still on backorder.

[coffeebreak]

Looks great. I had good experience with VB in general and have my eyes set on this frame for my next build.
What tires have you ordered? Also which wheels are going on it? All the best with the paint and build. Keep us posted.

[NoGrip61]

Looks great. I had good experience with VB in general and have my eyes set on this frame for my next build.
What tires have you ordered? Also which wheels are going on it? All the best with the paint and build. Keep us posted.

Two tubeless sets:
1. Elite ENT 50Dx27ExtW with 25mm Conti GP5k's
2. Elite ENT 35Dx28ExtW with (hopefully) 38mm Specialized Pathfinder Pro's (on backorder)

I'll post up more specs when everything is finalized, but I have a GRX810 2x mech groupset for it as well.

[hazzer19]

Looks great. I had good experience with VB in general and have my eyes set on this frame for my next build.
What tires have you ordered? Also which wheels are going on it? All the best with the paint and build. Keep us posted.

Same! On the GF-002 at the moment but may be inclined to go with something faster. Good idea on the top tube mounts! Looking forward to seeing this build.

[NoGrip61]

Well, we are getting a week long heat wave in the mid west USA, so it’s time to paint!  I’m going to do this in 3 stages: matte clear over carbon (below); base, mid, gloss clear; then stripes and clear.  Here you can see the rough black and white theme though.  More to come. 
The Pathfinder Pro 38’s are finally back in stock in some places, so I was able to snag a set.

[johnboot]

Well, we are getting a week long heat wave in the mid west USA, so it’s time to paint!  I’m going to do this in 3 stages: matte clear over carbon (below); base, mid, gloss clear; then stripes and clear.  Here you can see the rough black and white theme though.  More to come. 
The Pathfinder Pro 38’s are finally back in stock in some places, so I was able to snag a set.

Have you started using the bike yet? I’m eyeing this one up for a second bike / commuter , so interested in real world reviews. I was looking at both is and GF-003 , but leaning towards this , as I wont be doing any gravel as such, just a few rough roads and cycle tracks

[NoGrip61]

Have you started using the bike yet? I’m eyeing this one up for a second bike / commuter , so interested in real world reviews. I was looking at both is and GF-003 , but leaning towards this , as I wont be doing any gravel as such, just a few rough roads and cycle tracks

Not yet... I am hoping to get the paint finished late next week and built up by mid-may, barring any build hiccups.  The GF-003 looks like a mountain bike, so it may be overkill for that application, IMO.  I was cross-shopping the Airwolf YFR-066 / Rinasclta Granite, which, if I liked the aesthetics of it, I would have chosen that for the same use (not to imply it's ugly, just a subjective opinion).  I am hoping this CX-002 can survive light trail use and bunny-hops in CX, so we'll see this summer.

patliean1 has a few video's on YT with his ride impressions of the CX-002, posted on the first page here.  It'd be interesting to see a comparison video

[johnboot]

Not yet... I am hoping to get the paint finished late next week and built up by mid-may, barring any build hiccups.  The GF-003 looks like a mountain bike, so it may be overkill for that application, IMO.  I was cross-shopping the Airwolf YFR-066 / Rinasclta Granite, which, if I liked the aesthetics of it, I would have chosen that for the same use (not to imply it's ugly, just a subjective opinion).  I am hoping this CX-002 can survive light trail use and bunny-hops in CX, so we'll see this summer.

patliean1 has a few video's on YT with his ride impressions of the CX-002, posted on the first page here.  It'd be interesting to see a comparison video

Cool, I’ll keep an eye out for your build…possibly I may have actually bought one by then  . Yes, i did see his vids and looks good. I think he was sent the bike for review though, so good to also hear from somebody who is a regular customer and bought themselves.

[Kactusdog]

If VeloBuild can somehow provide a similar level of unique design, QC, fit and finish with future releases as they've done with this CX frame...this will solve a lot headaches and perhaps even regain customer trust.

Bike build and first official ride video below.

YouTube Search Title: My VeloBuild CX-002 Is FINISHED! - Total Winner

Hey Patrick, thanks for the content there, how has your experience been with it so far? Would love to hear about the ride quality, quirks, etc.

I’m looking at this for replacing my Carbonda CFR696 and fulfilling recent road bike needs, running two wheelsets on this instead with Rival AXS 2x. I ride a bit of rough AZ unpaved trails, and lots of rough torn up road. GP5K 32’s on one wheelset, 42 S-Works Pathfinders on the other. I’d prefer a relatively light bike for being an all rounder, but the aero qualities is what I am after here. All internal, performance at speed is what has appealed to me here. I do appreciate the number leaning towards handling rather than stability, but still a longer wheelbase than a typical road race bike. My Carbonda feels more like an SUV than an all rounder.

I considered the Factor Ostro VAM and just riding that with the biggest tires I can fit. That would mean forgoing the Pathfinders and grabbing my MTB instead, but I worry about the shorter wheelbase of the Factor being too twitchy…

[patliean1]

Quick update on my CX-002. Full disclosure I have not ridden it that much, but enough to offer a marginal update. I probably should make a video on this topic since my last video on the channel was 3 months ago. Yikes. These days sadly I pretty much only have time to train or make videos. But not both. At the moment, maintaining a high level of fitness is priority.

Yes the frameset was sent to me by VeloBuild to review. While it's probably impossible to be completely unbiased, it's also a bit undermining to believe a $500-600 frame is going to substantially impact my feelings toward it. Especially when I still had to purchase the eTap Rival groupset, those wildly expensive ENVE G23 wheels, and every other component. I've criticized both in videos and in this forum how the VB-168 is not the best modern road frame VeloBuild offers (the VB-177 is superior for the price) and I received push back from 168 loyalists. Bottom line is you can't please everyone, so take both forum users and YouTubers' opinions with a grain of salt. End of the day these are disposable frames.

1. So far zero quirks. No BB creaks, no rattles, no lose bolts. Nothing. The disc calipers where the easiest to setup of all my sub-$1000 Chinese frames. Either the caliper mounts were faced or I just got really lucky.

2. The standover height is tall because the BB height is also tall. It's a cyclocross frame after all. This really isn't an issue if you aren't constantly mounting/dismounting outside of the realm of cyclocross.

3. Not the lightest frame ever, however this for sure provides more road compliance.

4. Road feel. This is completely subjective. Could be the tubeless tires or the ENVE wheels but it's a very comfortable frame. If it had fender/bag mounts you could certainly use it for bike packing. I think the overall added weight of the frame and bigger tires allow the bike to handle rough pavement very well. I suppose this should be obvious. The bike as a complete build just feels bullet proof.

5. The Rinasclta/Air Wolf Granite All-Road is a better road/rough road/touring frame. The VB-002 is a better gravel/CX bike. I cant see myself ever putting standard road tires on the CX-002. However, I also would never use the Rina Granite for CX. Both frames would be brilliant with 38c Pathfinder Pro gravel tires, but the CX-002 going to be both funnier and more gravel compliant than the Rina Granite.

6. Minus the tall standover height and lack of frame mounts, I reckon the CX-002 could replace my Yoeleo G21 gravel frame. The difference between the two is the CX-002 feels like you're "on top" of the bike, whereas the G21 feels more like you're "inside" the bike. This probably is only important for stability when you're descending at 45mph/70km. Something I've down several times with the G21.

If you only could have a single bike for literally everything, I'd take the Rinasclta. But if you had room for two super affordable bikes (road and gravel/CX), I'd take the VB-177 and the CX-002.

[patliean1]

Thank you forum members for motivating me to make an update video. Most of what is discussed in the video is mentioned above.

YouTube search: VeloBuild CX-002 Update - Gravel Approved

[NoGrip61]

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

[coffeebreak]

Beautiful retro modern paint job! Love this. I'm right now going back and forth between two VB frames since I don't have a clear goal in mind but want something fast with 32c tire support. So this one and 177 are in contention. I'll be keen to know how it rides on the road and what tires are you using for road.

[NoGrip61]

Beautiful retro modern paint job! Love this. I'm right now going back and forth between two VB frames since I don't have a clear goal in mind but want something fast with 32c tire support. So this one and 177 are in contention. I'll be keen to know how it rides on the road and what tires are you using for road.

Thanks!  My wheel and tire specs are above ^^

I was looking at the 168 before the CX-002 came out and it also states a 32mm tire clearance; however, a few members on here were showing that knobby 32mm gravel tires would come too close the frame and fork.  Therefore, I think it'll be really tire dependent.  The Pathfinder Pro's (they come in 32's) can and will stretch out over time, so if they are rubbing at nominal when new, then with any frame flex or dimensional stack up differences, they would easily eat into the frame; also need to consider mud/dirt clearance.  My wife has 38mm Pathfinder Sports that I measured at 40mm, so I am expecting my 38's to do the same over time.  I would think a less knobby tire like the GK SS' or an endurance tire would do better and fit in the 168/177 frame.  I wanted to run the pathfinder pro's for added confidence while turning at speed on dirt roads and single track, so it was too risky for me to get a 168 even with the 32 PP's.  If VB made a 35mm clearance road/endurance bike like the Canyon's, then I probably would have chosen that, but honestly, I think this CX-002 IS that bike... it's kind of an aero CX bike... which CX bikes aren't usually aero.

168 tire clearance shots and discussion:
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,3147.msg41295.html#msg41295

[NoGrip61]

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.