i have same frame 790 mile on it since june. my paint was a little better but the bb was shit on mine just like your had to send it to the bike shop to clear the BB of paint and debris. rear brake caliper mounting area had to be resurface because of over spray paint. al said in done would i reorder another yes, would i recommended ....... depends on the person. if they cant do basic bike repair no.
I can live with cosmetic blemishes if the price is right or I'd just order a raw finish and paint it myself. Pity about the BB but not surprised as my experience with frames ex Asia often leaves me having to fix something. Under $1000 it usually the case. The UK does shaft consumers at the border it's not something i miss as an expat. I do get by a 10% sales tax still and potentially duty on goods over $1000 depending on trade agreements and the actual goods.
Having built two VeloBuild disc frames myself (VB-168 and VB-177) and I can say the quality and performance is fine for the price point. In my opinion the VB-177 is a "better" frame than the VB-168. Stiffer yet lighter. Granted both frames use BB86 press-fit and I would not dare buy a cheap frame with a BSA threaded BB. It's little things like this along with poorly/non-existent faced caliper mounts that potential customers need to be aware of. While they may not be deal breakers, you certainly will need to find creative ways at home to resolve these kind of issues. Basically the $500 pricepoint should come with the caveat that some "sweat equity" will be required.
Patty has the right idea, Velobuild seems to do the carbon part pretty decent, so get a pressfit BB and unpainted frame. No dodgy aluminum and you can take the time to paint it well.
Fancy Patrick currently owning a Trek Madone and worrying I might need to buy H's BB when mine begins to creak I was going to buy a BSA threaded frame but your comment as made me think otherwise now.
For what it’s worth: I got this in the rim brake version so no issues with a hole in the fork steerer or needing to face brake mounts. The paint while far from perfect is not half as bad as on yours. Also the BB was okay. Threading in the cups was easy. It probably doesn’t spin freely enough to get your full approval so alignment might not be uber-perfect. Also I paid less than you despite being located in Germany as well. No customs. For the price I’m actually super happy. The fact that yours is so bad at least in parts doesn’t inspire confidence in their QC though.
So about customs: I did pay customs basically. I had it shipped with XDB which includes customs. So it wasn’t billed to me afterwards which usually is the case. The full price including shipping amounted to 749 USD. About the BB: I use a Campagnolo Ultra Torque Crank and BB cups. The parts came from my old bike so they were known to work.
@@bananosipedist Ich hab mir vor einem Jahr Laufräder von nem sehr bekannten Laufradhersteller aus China bestellt, sie haben mich gefragt ob ich irgendwas zusätzliches möchte, wie zum Beispiel Tax Avoidance, fand den Service super!
When appropriate and warranted, sitting on the fence is absolutely fine, and gives credibility to a review :) Also your dedication to a good review job is even more obvious, if you are still thinking about it, whilst actually on 'the job'!
Built a bike based around the velobuild 177 after watching some of Patrick Lino’s videos and gotta say I agree with his comment. The quality of the 177 seems better than the frame you received. My frame didn’t have the same “patch” on the fork and definitely didn’t have any mold lines. Granted, there were still paint imperfections similar to the ones you pointed out on the brake caliper mounts and bottle holder mounts, but honestly for me I’d much rather pay $700 for a frame and spend an afternoon sanding rather than paying 2 or 3 times the price for a comparable frame. Additionally, as Patrick mentioned in his comment, my press fit BB was way better than the BB you received. I’ve only had the bike for about a month and a half, so I can’t speak for it’s durability, but I’ve taken it on some longer rides and it’s been a great ride. Id love to see some other videos on future velobuild frames and see what your thoughts are on some of the other options
I went with the VBR 168, very pleased with it. Pressfit BB, no issues as all. Paint was custom so it doesn’t seem to have any of the problems Hambini had. Few issues getting the headset correct but nothing to bad. GC performance built up the same frame & seemed to get a better quality QC than this one
I just finished building one for a friend and there were zero issues with the paint or the BB. Some issues we did face were: - brake caliper mounts not properly aligned/faced. Needed sanding down. - Bike came with 2 paint chips at the seattube and the chain stay. It's really sad when you buy a new frame with paint chips. Everything else was fine. So i guess QC is the issue here as well as their handling and packaging. The paint chips definitely happened during packaging and not during shipping.
At our local bike shop, we had factory touch up paint for all new bikes. Most had blemishes that needed some finalising. I don't know if that still is the case at bike shops. Regardless, the paint on Hambini's bike was poor overall.
Having built many Dogma F's in the shop I work in, this thing looks the part, same bars and all. We have had issues with them where the brake mounts on the fork were not perfect, and it was a pain in the ass to get it faced properly.
Thanks for reviewing this, Hambini. I built up a VB-R-77 frame about a year ago (which was apparently used by Ribble as their 2017 Ultimate SL). It is rim brake with a BB30 - which I put a WheelsMFG threaded BB through (largely due to learning from this channel about BB alignment issues). The only problems I have had are the brake mounts were slightly too small, and the inner-frame cable routing is badly engineered - Cable housing stops at the frame and the cables run bare inside, but some of them rub and rattle against the frame when riding. All in all I am pretty happy for what I paid.
I had gotten mine a couple days ago. I haven't done cabling yet so can't comment on that but the rear brake mount was also small, none of the provided recessed nuts with R7000 calipers would sit flush. Ended up sanding down a few mm to get it working. Not too big of a deal, just some extra work.
I just got me a 400€ rim break frame from Ali, the only thing "wrong" with it is, that the passthrough for the rear break housing is on the drive side, and the seatpost needs a little convincing to go in all the way. The BB is perfect and is super smooth threaded. The headset is not perfecly snug but not bad either. The Paintjob is mostly good to perfect, only three little imperfections that you only see when you know where too look. Glad that i did not go for a Velobuild frame, seen a lot of Vids with bad reviews.
I just finished building one of these up from VB too. Mine came with a 0 offset seat post rather than a setback. I did not go for paint. About 50 miles on it so far and its been great. I had the same exact experience with my bottom bracket. Used a wire brush and a sacrificial BSA to get the threads clean. In the case of the bottom bracket cover screw... Mine was perfect height-wise but the threaded rivet was was too tall for a BB to be inserted. lol Glad I opted for no paint
I've gotten skilled at chasing cheap Chinese bottom brackets and facing the brake mounts. It's okay if you buy the tools -- but you need tools or a good bike shop. I feel downright handy when I prep a cheap frame properly.
For the price, something has to be less quality than a Pinarello - so I think I could live with a bit less quality on the paint or maybe needing to face a couple bolt holes. However, you MUST be able to assemble and use your bike without a bike shop. My take on your review, if the bottom bracket threads were clean and alignment was straight - I think this would have gotten a ‘pretty good value for money all things considered’ type of review. Hopefully VeloBuils will address the bottom bracket issue shortly following your video and their product will be much better off for it.
@Unbias you really think someone is throwing many thousands of dollars at making molds for multiple sizes of a bike and nobody is buying them?😅 I've seen plenty of these knockoffs. They're extremely popular in the Philippines and working in the US, I've seen a significant number come into bike shops when I was a mechanic
Agree with you. As a VB-168 owner, I had none of the major issues. Knew from day one looking at the site that the painting was not their thing, hence went with mat black (also it was more quickly available). Paid about 630 usd about 8 months ago for the frame set. Found Chris at VB very helpful. The bike is leaps and bound better than the entry level Triban 520 (decathlon) I have
hello Hambini. i agree with you on the paint. however mine is fine. i got the rim brake version and the paint job is good. no drips no bubbles or imperfections. they may have bad qc
In my understanding when you buy a frame from china (winspace aside), you have 50% chance of geting a "workable" frame. I believe sometimes they don't give a SHITE what they send or they have the team split in half, on mondays, wednesdays and friday they send the left overs and on the rest of the week the other team (rested 3 days) ships good frames. I was inclined to order from velobuild a few moonths ago but i wasn't quit sure on what day it was... And now i do believe that The Great Hambini will force them to check a bit more the quality of their work. I believe they can do much better than that. Or now they will stop painting the frames in the roof and let them dry the wind. ANOTHER GREAT VIDEO HAMBINI
You should manufacture bikes, Mr Hambini. Thank you for revealing dysfunctional structures of bike and its component industry. I think this level of engineering regression you reveal can be extended to many sectors.
I would call this "underpriced" in the sense that they should charge more, BUT also provide more. Putting a few cents more into refreshing the cutting tips on the BB thread cutter, and taking a bit longer in masking the paint, and improving the quality of the paint. They could probably still provide a cheap bike, maybe $100 more cost to really improve and get this bike across the goal line.
@rollinrat4850 In the west most assemblers do get paid by the hour and an expected output is usually determined by time and motion of previous workers or by an assembly line speed. Piece work or being paid per unit has gone afaik, in the west hourly legal minimum wages are the norm now. It may be different in China but Taiwan, Japan and Korea have base wages.
Overhere in the Netherlands in a cyclingclub I know about many Chinarello's, fake Bianchi's and nobody of these guys ever had problems with braking or cracking frames. Working in a bike shop I saw enough Pinarello and Trek frames cracking. Often also other brands and they had issues with the seattube where the clamp didn't function or the tube cracked.
A BMC Timemachine I worked on a few months back had a cracked seatpost despite the wedge clamp being torqued to spec (5 Nm). Torquing it to 4 Nm created no damage.
@@Reanimator999 it would be silly to think the big companies are lower quality than these. Those companies sell WAY more with very high levels of quality assurance. Plus the real ones are built to higher levels of performance which requires higher level of skill. These fakes don’t perform nearly as well and they can make it simple since it’s cheap and pros at the highest level aren’t constantly comparing them to other top end bikes
I've seen genuine Pinarello with similar issues. Genuine Pinarello have an Italian threaded bb but you have to run a tape through them to get the bbs in nice. I dont understand why cut/facing a frame is seen as a lack of quality these days. Frames have had to cut and faced forever
Can confirm, bought another VeloBuild model as an experiment. Yes, it builds badly. * Had to retap the BB thread. * Seat clamp only came in oval rail setup, but swaps out perfectly with a Trek Mount, so extra $$$. * Fork wheel alignment is not 100% perpendicular (either the wheel goes straight or the bike goes straight 🤨) * Rear chain stays are off. When in granny gear, the rear derailleur catches the rear spokes. * Handlebar spacers did not match the frame. * Paint job was suspect. * BB Area has loose carbon fiber strands. Really shitty moulding job. Given the amount of defects, I chose to not ride this bike. I made this a trainer-only setup, which is still cheaper than Tacx, Wahoo, Stages or any other trainer bike. Also I save my good bikes from trainer abuse.
I worked in a company where spotty manufacturing gave the QA people fits. The people doing the work were either deprived of the right tools or procedures needed to get consistently good results. The QA people were given only a few seconds per item for inspection. Therefore a lot of defects made it through simply because there wasn't time to inspect known problem areas. I brought this up to management several times with no results. I quit shortly after.
In my recent experience this frame represents a very good example for VB. They sell a lot of, as you say "unforgivably bad" stuff these days. Unless you're prepared to bin the frame or immediately relegate it to the trainer (and then with issues), I wouldn't recommend VB to anybody. Note - I'd recommend quite a number of the other Chinese brands.
Yeah that seems to be the running theme, there are a few Chinese brands that actually want to compete against big names prime examples being Win Space, ICAN and TriFox. I wouldn't be half surprised to see Win Space fielding a team in the pro peloton in a few years. And you have the rest that are basically like this VeloBuild, knock off of a big name frame but a total crap shoot in terms of quality.
@@mrvwbug4423 Trifox are scraping the bottom of the barrel, though better than VB. Similar to TanTan. SPCyles and BXT inhabit a similar tier. ICAN and LongTeng are better but you may still have major problems - Yoeleo probably place around here too, as does their OEM Miracle. DengFu and Workswell are good. Speeder, Elves and Carbonda very good. Seka similar tier but more expensive. WinSpace is mostly Speeder stuff straight from the catalogue but at a significant markup. Velobuild and TopCarbon / Lexon are the absolute worst.
@@pmcmpc I built an SPCycle frame a couple years ago. Got matte black so can't really comment on paint quality. The only "major" issue was the rear hub spacing is off by about 1mm leading to chain rub on the chainstay in the small cog (fixed with a pedal washer). This past summer I had two significant crashes (bone breakers) but the frame came out unscathed. The company even sent me a free replacement derailleur hanger to replace mine which bent in crash #2. The biggest advantage I found was that I spent $350, I wasn't overly worried about damaging the frame in the crashes - I would have been in panic mode if I was on a $5K frame. Is it perfect, no, but it's $350 and fantastic for that price.
I have a velobuild 068 frame that is so bad that the rear wheel literally works itself loose under high power meaning I crash. First time it happened I figured I must have somehow had the QR loose, changed the wheels and every ride onwards checked it was tight. Second time it happened and a broken thumb I realised there was something very very wrong with the frame.
@@borano2031 dawg it's a 300$ velobuild frame straight from china, their customer service or lack of it is a joke unless you just bought something. Secondly they ain't giving my money back so at best they give a replacement frame which I wouldn't trust either, their qc is just non existent
Bought a cheap blue anodised Bike Bearing Tools Set off fleabay. Checked the bb (Token) on my road bike after replacing the freehub on wheel and the left bearing had almost seized, glad I check my bearings regularly. Replaced with a Praxis HTII (wish I could afford a Hambini bb, maybe after the next crypto bull-run). Will change the bearings in the old bb with my trusty Hope HTT178 BB Tool.
I just finished my build in the same frame. BB was a struggle. I ended up threading an extra GXP steel BSA BB with WD40, 1 full turn in, 1 full turn out, with my BB wrench, to basically “rethread” the BB. making sure not to cross thread. after fully doing that on both sides, i was able to Screw the BB by hand and i put in my Sram Dub BB as the final BB very easily.
I've just upgraded from a Carrera TDF frame to a (BNIBox) Boardman Road Sport frame....£25 off of Ebay and only one of those dreadful internal cable thingies...Paint and engineering looks way better than any of the stuff you've had the misfortune to cut up and review lol
From my experience talking to bike mechanics, all disc bikes can require facing so that leaves the paint and BB. The paint is cosmetic so you probably can say “well it is cheap” but the bottom bracket is poor, a thread that is not clean could lead to damage in assembly and not having the pieces fit flush may lead to misalignment. Unfortunately a bike can appear to be like a chain, it is only as good as the weakest link, this being the BB. A shame, as this I would see as a easy QC fix in the manufacturing.
Hambini I would like to see a review on an original itilian frame and compare the difference in both frame...this way consumers can see whether buying a frame 10x the price of the Chinese version....always wondered this myself whether it's really worth to buy name brand carbon bikes that depreciate 75% of its value in 4yrs... It seems the Chinese frames.now.post covid are quickly available for shipment than the original brand names one
I have a cheap Chinese frame. It has problems - there is a bit of carbon fibre and resin in the lower headset race, I filed it away. The bolts for the gear hanger were too long, sawed them to size, the bearing race on the forks didn't seat; I filed it to shape and its OK. The whole thing cost me £450, didn't have to pay tax or import duty ! Fitting the press-fit BB was a pain, but it was fine and the facing was good. It was my mistake for trying to fit extra shims but they were not needed !
I paid an extra £30 for paint on my Chinese Track frame as I didn't have time to spray..........I got a 30 quid paint job 🙈 about 2 hours work with the wet n dry and rubbing compound got it ok ish. Frame is good though.
They can't all be easy. This was fair. I feel like if I bought ten of them, I'd get one really good one. But I don't want to deal with returning nine frames to China. The Winspace gave me more confidence that I could buy only one. So I'd choose the Winspace - if the disc version were available.
I've got their GF-001 gravel frame. My paint job (British Racing Green) looks much better, so don't think all came out like yours did. The only issues I have is the seat post keeps slipping and I can't fix it, probably partly my fault being 17 stone (looking to loose a few this year), and the other being the front brake. Squeezing the lever just produces a juddering with little confidence in stopping power, I've gone through two different calipers and 3 different discs but none fix it. They don't look like they need facing, but something isn't right. At the moment the bike just lives in the garage. BTW, my BB threads were the same.
A question Hambini, wouldn't you like to build it up and let the local 85kg 5 watts per kilo guy, kick it up a few climbs for a couple of months and see how it performed.
I did a build of this frame with custom paint which is much better that what you got. I have a build documentary on my channel. I would say the biggest let down is the other bits such as plastic parts. However I do found the customer service is quite alright and they offer to send additional spacers and other small bits.
I have VB-R-177. Paint was better than yours, but not perfect. There is a nice thread in chinertown numbering all the sins. A little summary that I faced: 1. Headset play: your handlebar gets loose and your front wheel will be pointing elsewhere. They sent a new bearing press for the concerned owners. 2. Misaligned front caliper: People was creative fixing this, I ended up torquing one of the bolts to the specs and the other slightly under 3. Slipping seatpost: piece of soda can inside to make for the "tolerances" 4. Bolts tend to undo on the frame. Happened to rear derrailleur hanger and then to the front derrailleur 5. A bottle cage mount hole got stripped when... removing the screw. Something that I haven't faced is a flexible handlebar But the most TERRIBLE thing was the velobuild wheels. rear wheel cracked, cut the tub and exploded in a downhill after just 350 Kms. Upon inspection the cracks developed from the spoke holes. and WORSE: Velobuild denied warranty claiming a "road accident" with the bike frame and spokes in pristine condition. I would not buy nor recommend this brand to anyone
I've seen a couple of other people on UA-cam build up frames from them who also had an issue with the bottom bracket. It looks like they just don't change out their tooling often enough and use worn out bits. I wonder if that is from lack of training, lack of care from the people doing it, laziness, or does the company push them too hard. Maybe a combination of all?
The ICAN definitely seems like a better deal, slightly more expensive, but much better quality. Though it doesn't look like a certain Italian bike with a frame that is $9000 by itself where this one does.
We have this kind of frames as well being sold here in the philippines, I've seen one in person, the paint is quite rather well unlike what velobuild has. But mind you guys they actually use the real branding of it... Its not just Pinarello, they also have bianchi, treck, spez. I'm not joking here.
Oh the knockoffs. They could stay in SE Asia, but once they get delivered to the States with that copyright logo, they'll get screwed. I saw it happened with fake Louis Vuitton bags sold in flea market in 90's.
@@Reanimator999 the actual vendor is quite secretive of it now, they usually post those things for sale casually in their page but now, you have to go to their website with special access pass. Velobuild cost 500$ but they sell it double. Pinarello F copy is sold orund 1k$
Thank you for this video!👏🏿 First, I found way to soften eardrum blowout by listening to singers like Sammy Davis Jr's Second Best secret Agent theme song!(I love that movie) Cher's singing also works! 🤜🏿🤛🏿 I've been considering one more build, Winspace at top of list, but keep wondering about these cheap frame sets on AliExpress, I'd love to save some $$$ plus have something my clubmates don't have! There's one with the name THRUST (the innuendo just tickles me) Priced at $300 but I wonder about it's build quality!
I have to say I'm quite relieved 😅. I really like my VB-R-068 rim brake, even if I like a 12 hrs lunch break I still went for the Venge replica. I could not thread the BB as well, had to get a shop to put the bike together. Yes, some imperfections and also a bit of tyre rub as well on one side. But for the price it rides and look great!
@@lastfm4477 to be fair the frame has got a tight clearance and Velobuild said max 25c tyres. My wheel was slightly out of dish and I run carbon ones with a wide channel and maybe some flex. So it might not happen with other set ups.
So it is heavier than an alu frame, and it has none of what makes a Pinarello frame flexible in the right places? It is about as much of a bike as a kit car shell slapped atop any clunker is the car it looks like from afar.
I really appreciate this analysis as I’m thinking of building a new bike in the spring. Velo was being considered, but maybe not anymore. How much time do you spend analyzing a bike like this? The time spent on reviewing the internals must take forever.
I have just built up a VB-R-066, rim brake, light weight endurance frame. Everything fit and whent to gether as expected, for a quality frame. I have had it out for about 5 km and the seat post never slipped Very happy so far, just waiting for the weather to warm up.
Funny facts is the original one has the same imperfection sometimes worst resin and thinner fiber in it. The Chinarello some of their manufacturer has a thicker fiber. I do not support the replicas but paying 18000 for a real pinarello are kinda over price. Buy 10 chinarello and check them 1 by 1 for quality check I am sure 5 our of 10 will be in better condition than the original one.
Any opinions on titanium frames for commuting/gravel/bikepacking in a wet country near the ocean + a heavy rider? I've been looking at the Planet X Tempest or Goldrush bikes and wondering...
@@jimhize It's not about the weight. It's the salts in the air, road and water you need to worry about when living near the sea. Steel bikes rusts. Titanium doesn't.
I would like to the channel do an analysis on an unbranded frame from China. Like a trace Velo special. My time trial bike is unbranded bike id like to know am I really risking my neck compared to if I had bought the frame from a reputable manufacturer. Great content btw
I spaced out for a sec, and when I focused up I saw what looked like the inside of an elephant's truck, and I'm thinking, "why's Hambini showing us that, that's weird?" No, apparently that was the interior fork...
Update: I seemed to have lucked out. The BB has good alignment. the paint is ok for what you pay. Only issue was just a little clean up on the brake mounts. You get what you pay for. Not the best but not bad. the paint on mine is better. I am getting one of these soon... Same frame. And I thought They fixed the threading issues BB. The one here is utter shit... Did they cut it with a dull tap..... And the paint. I mean if you are paying for custom paint. it shouldnt be like that. The facing is just part of the deal. I know a lot of the bargin bikes that are like that. However paint is bad. Like I can paint better blind folded. That runs and the paint by the bb is just crap. I guess it s get out the 1500 git paper for me. I hope I dont have to redo that paint. Its really just inexcusable.
I imagine the BB thread is BSA?! Looks like the old Campagnolo wooden box workshop frame finishing kit needs to come out of hibernation. Especially on those shitty threads and bb face.
Yoeleo is basically the same price as Winspace (a tad cheaper) and has shit customer service. They also have terrible customer service having dealt with them directly.
Yoleo, Winspace, Pardus, Polygon, Seka, probably it is the right price of a hi-quality product. Even gazzalion dollar big brand got embarassing quality. They are 3 version of China quality: 1) Level quality on par to big brand quality such Yoeleo, Pardus, Polygon, Seka, Winspace, Elves. Polygon and Pardus already in LTD race. Variety of frame to choose and material type. Polygon made in Indonesia. 2) Like Trifox, Triaero, Ican, etc. Eventhough its a copy but still they put a trust on their own branding and quality. They will try to care the quality, otherwise the brand will go down. The quality is not bad for the price. If you enter your national race, if you good enough, you will win if you use one of those frame. Our ex national rider use 400usd china crap and win. Other rider use 5Kusd and above frameset price. 3) 100% copy big brand without any branding. Just plain like chinarello in the above video. This kind of quality you should worry, probably just visual inspection without any r&d and standard testing. In conclusion, I will buy either Pardus, Elves or Polygon. Pardus & Polygon already race in LTD. Most of the frame 1/3 the price of those big brand. If you give me free big brand flagship frameset, I will sell it and buy Pardus, Elves or Polygon. Buy any other performance parts with surplus money except absolute bs aero OSPW 🤣 This OSPW is another level of unnescessary bs. Exaggerated marketing bs same goes to big brand frameset. Maybe the old quality sentiment of China that make you total reject the Asian made bike. Hey, one more thing, most big brand made in Asia 🤌🏻 The only thing that make you fast is the engine. Anddd the engine of a bike is the man behind it.
I used to know and forgot. They work with a factory for their gravel bikes, a well established one, and for the road ones I'm not sure where they come from but the latest model that looks like a Scott is foam molded and people are loving it. The specialized clone and pinarello clone have lots of happy users, but more QC problems. Either way, VB sells. They don't make.
Longteng. I checked my notes. They make at least the vb gf002 and gf003 for vb. I have three of those in the mail so i hope I'll be happy :) They bought the moulds together or something. Other brands do sell very very very similar frames. Whether it's the exact same mold or not, idk. Lots of happy people with the gf002. The gf003 came out a few weeks ago so it's yet to be reviewed by people.
@@pierrex3226 interesting ive been looking at the GF models. i actually quite like the GF-001 even though it is really old its got a nice racey CX fit.
I just noticed your review on this Hamb... We built exact same bike at start of December but it was rim brake (c'mon suckers & n0obers... rim brakes for road bikes!! disc for MTB's!! or gravel) So, we didn't have the problems you have faced, nor with BB... Our paint job was the simple BoB colour and it was very good (obviously cause mostly it is left as bare carbon) I've ridden this bike myself and was very happy and actually slashed a few PB's on first ride. We did encounter a small problem when we were trying to cable the rear brake within the frame itself... but nothing drastic...If you remember me, I emailed you a few times about my real Pinarello F8 and the BB casing... total shite! and totally corroded!! and no, Pinarello didn't cover it with any warranty!! noone was interested!! So, even buying the real frame at their exuberant prices (£5k. I think I recall!) means diddley squat! For me, if you like the look of a F, then this frame is a no brainer! If you remember this simple thing - RIM BRAKES FOR ROAD BIKES!! lol..My m8 has the 'real' F... and side by side.. absolutely NO difference... I have mine with all my components from my prior 'real' f8, so Dura-Ace, lightweight meilenstein wheels (22mm tubs) Absolute Shite oval sub compact rings- so, noone would really ever know as who would put all that kinda gear on a 'copy' frame?? ME!! For me, I'd NEVER buy another Western Corporations inflated prices for any bike frame!! Weare currently doing an eMTB build, Frame set and motor, bars and wheelset all from China (like where ALL the big boys do their shopping too!! lol) and I expect this eMTB to be a top top contender on par with 1 of the 'corporations' €13.5k bikes!!! and all for a measily €4k!! Another no brainer... (sure, I'm sticking some western branded components on it.. but that's only because the chinese ain't got their shit together on that yet.. but I think they soon shall) I do think it is a lottery when buying from China though... and can be very stressful... not for most I'd say!! Happy New Year!
PPS - I don't think there is a need to compare this frame to a Winspace T1500 when it is more than double the price ? For me, Winspace has gotten a touch of the Western Corporations disease going on there... as €1600 is way way too much for a BICYCLE frame!!! Now, lightweight carbon do very good frames, e have bought a few and from start to finish they are good to deal with (at Least Wendy was) and their frames are spot on... I know ALOT of very good cyclists riding their lightweight climbing frame in the Alps and they are raving about them!! and Durianrider raves about that very same frame also just the other week (and long before) For me, €750-€850 is maximum any bicycle frame should be sold for!! We picked up an eMTB carbon frame for €650, which is being given rave reviews online...anything over them prices then IMO, your 2 bits short in yer head!! and obviously have way too much money to waste!
PPPS - Lastly - You really shouldn't be buying carbon framesets from China if your not prepared to spend a little effort to correct any misdemeanours, full stop!! Your best to pay them Western Corporations ridiculous prices instead for their bikes!! (and still have the chance of it failing too!!!) If you use a little bit of that thing between your ears, you can invent a way to ensure the chinese seller at leasts makes an effort to send you a checked over/decent frame....(but that's for you to work out...yea.. use the brain cell u have) - this is not directed at you Hamb.. this is directed at the 99%
i have 15k miles on one including some crit races, BSA. no issues whatsoever. it's a very famous open mould frame design unlike the one reviewed in this video and VB are resellers so at this point i think you are unlikely to run into major QC issues with one
@@ScottVanHorne one thing to note is that it is not quite as light as advertised, i have an XS and my frame is about 840g, which is still very light and IMO there are better places to save weight than on the frame honestly.
@@WHAT_1400 Interesting, I'll have to weigh mine once it arrives. I'm not too worried either way though, my current bike frame weighs more than double.
4:55 Did that crown just slip in there that easily? I don't know how good the headset is going to feel. I know it's a split crown but you should still have to manhandle it a bit to get it on.
@@janeblogs324 Oh you mean it compresses. It's not ideal though, I couldn't accept that on a race bike. The only compression component I can tolerate is the top ring, everything else must be as tight as virgin
@@janeblogs324 I want to add that I've never used a split crown like that, I've always thought that they don't compress, rather expand to make installation easier. Correct me though.
@@Megadeth6633 every carbon fork I've owned had an aluminium sleeve over the steerer tube base to prevent crushing. The upper compression ring in the to headset bearing only gets crushed by the weight of the front wheel, yet we still get "the ring of death" on our upper steerer tubes after 5 years
I think that for the money versus quality of the frame that you get, you are perhaps more kind to Velobuild than they may deserve. On the other hand, I thought their email was very good, being an English speaker myself. So, what's next? Will Velobuild make good with the frame? Any customer in your position would expect nothing less, considering what they sent you.
But did I win the guess? I did say it wasn't a Pinerello and although it may not have been obvious, I was implying it looked Pinarello from the inside!
If by "hint" of sarcasm and wit, you mean enough to fill one of those giant mining trucks that operates in Australia, then yes that's a fair description!
Almost looks like they've used a drill to clean out the brake hose hole in the fork and its hit the carbon on the inside causing that little splinter. Just the tip. Only for a minute.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Bye Bye ear drums. If you have one of these, please do comment below.
i have same frame 790 mile on it since june. my paint was a little better but the bb was shit on mine just like your had to send it to the bike shop to clear the BB of paint and debris. rear brake caliper mounting area had to be resurface because of over spray paint. al said in done would i reorder another yes, would i recommended ....... depends on the person. if they cant do basic bike repair no.
I can live with cosmetic blemishes if the price is right or I'd just order a raw finish and paint it myself. Pity about the BB but not surprised as my experience with frames ex Asia often leaves me having to fix something. Under $1000 it usually the case. The UK does shaft consumers at the border it's not something i miss as an expat. I do get by a 10% sales tax still and potentially duty on goods over $1000 depending on trade agreements and the actual goods.
Yes, I have one fully functional eardrum.
ringing in my left ear dissapeared thanks
nope i'm fucken deaf now ya twat
One quickly gets use to lowering the volume every time an episode starts... Classic Hambini!!
Having built two VeloBuild disc frames myself (VB-168 and VB-177) and I can say the quality and performance is fine for the price point. In my opinion the VB-177 is a "better" frame than the VB-168. Stiffer yet lighter. Granted both frames use BB86 press-fit and I would not dare buy a cheap frame with a BSA threaded BB. It's little things like this along with poorly/non-existent faced caliper mounts that potential customers need to be aware of. While they may not be deal breakers, you certainly will need to find creative ways at home to resolve these kind of issues. Basically the $500 pricepoint should come with the caveat that some "sweat equity" will be required.
Thanks for commenting big boy. You can be my sweat equity anytime.
@@Hambini Ha! GAA(my legal advisor has suggested I don’t finish the quote).
What will the hairdresser say?
Patty has the right idea, Velobuild seems to do the carbon part pretty decent, so get a pressfit BB and unpainted frame. No dodgy aluminum and you can take the time to paint it well.
@@galenkehler Yup! I painted my VB-168 myself at home 🤣
Fancy Patrick currently owning a Trek Madone and worrying I might need to buy H's BB when mine begins to creak I was going to buy a BSA threaded frame but your comment as made me think otherwise now.
For what it’s worth: I got this in the rim brake version so no issues with a hole in the fork steerer or needing to face brake mounts. The paint while far from perfect is not half as bad as on yours. Also the BB was okay. Threading in the cups was easy. It probably doesn’t spin freely enough to get your full approval so alignment might not be uber-perfect. Also I paid less than you despite being located in Germany as well. No customs. For the price I’m actually super happy. The fact that yours is so bad at least in parts doesn’t inspire confidence in their QC though.
Hey, warum musstest du kein Zoll zahlen?🤔 danke👍
What BB? Hard to know how much of that is the frame vs the cups
@@bananosipedist Das würde ich auch gerne wissen.
So about customs: I did pay customs basically. I had it shipped with XDB which includes customs. So it wasn’t billed to me afterwards which usually is the case. The full price including shipping amounted to 749 USD. About the BB: I use a Campagnolo Ultra Torque Crank and BB cups. The parts came from my old bike so they were known to work.
@@bananosipedist Ich hab mir vor einem Jahr Laufräder von nem sehr bekannten Laufradhersteller aus China bestellt, sie haben mich gefragt ob ich irgendwas zusätzliches möchte, wie zum Beispiel Tax Avoidance, fand den Service super!
When appropriate and warranted, sitting on the fence is absolutely fine, and gives credibility to a review :)
Also your dedication to a good review job is even more obvious, if you are still thinking about it, whilst actually on 'the job'!
Built a bike based around the velobuild 177 after watching some of Patrick Lino’s videos and gotta say I agree with his comment. The quality of the 177 seems better than the frame you received. My frame didn’t have the same “patch” on the fork and definitely didn’t have any mold lines. Granted, there were still paint imperfections similar to the ones you pointed out on the brake caliper mounts and bottle holder mounts, but honestly for me I’d much rather pay $700 for a frame and spend an afternoon sanding rather than paying 2 or 3 times the price for a comparable frame. Additionally, as Patrick mentioned in his comment, my press fit BB was way better than the BB you received. I’ve only had the bike for about a month and a half, so I can’t speak for it’s durability, but I’ve taken it on some longer rides and it’s been a great ride. Id love to see some other videos on future velobuild frames and see what your thoughts are on some of the other options
I went with the VBR 168, very pleased with it. Pressfit BB, no issues as all. Paint was custom so it doesn’t seem to have any of the problems Hambini had. Few issues getting the headset correct but nothing to bad. GC performance built up the same frame & seemed to get a better quality QC than this one
Love the no-nonsense critique. Makes me chuckle. 😀
Plot twist: it’s better than the real one.
Glad to see Winspace in the back replacing the Cervello S5.
I just finished building one for a friend and there were zero issues with the paint or the BB. Some issues we did face were:
- brake caliper mounts not properly aligned/faced. Needed sanding down.
- Bike came with 2 paint chips at the seattube and the chain stay. It's really sad when you buy a new frame with paint chips.
Everything else was fine. So i guess QC is the issue here as well as their handling and packaging. The paint chips definitely happened during packaging and not during shipping.
At our local bike shop, we had factory touch up paint for all new bikes. Most had blemishes that needed some finalising. I don't know if that still is the case at bike shops. Regardless, the paint on Hambini's bike was poor overall.
Having built many Dogma F's in the shop I work in, this thing looks the part, same bars and all. We have had issues with them where the brake mounts on the fork were not perfect, and it was a pain in the ass to get it faced properly.
Thanks for reviewing this, Hambini. I built up a VB-R-77 frame about a year ago (which was apparently used by Ribble as their 2017 Ultimate SL).
It is rim brake with a BB30 - which I put a WheelsMFG threaded BB through (largely due to learning from this channel about BB alignment issues).
The only problems I have had are the brake mounts were slightly too small, and the inner-frame cable routing is badly engineered - Cable housing stops at the frame and the cables run bare inside, but some of them rub and rattle against the frame when riding.
All in all I am pretty happy for what I paid.
I had gotten mine a couple days ago. I haven't done cabling yet so can't comment on that but the rear brake mount was also small, none of the provided recessed nuts with R7000 calipers would sit flush. Ended up sanding down a few mm to get it working. Not too big of a deal, just some extra work.
Your intro is the the best. I always forget to turn the volume down though...and end up getting blasted.
I just got me a 400€ rim break frame from Ali, the only thing "wrong" with it is, that the passthrough for the rear break housing is on the drive side, and the seatpost needs a little convincing to go in all the way. The BB is perfect and is super smooth threaded. The headset is not perfecly snug but not bad either. The Paintjob is mostly good to perfect, only three little imperfections that you only see when you know where too look. Glad that i did not go for a Velobuild frame, seen a lot of Vids with bad reviews.
I just finished building one of these up from VB too. Mine came with a 0 offset seat post rather than a setback. I did not go for paint. About 50 miles on it so far and its been great.
I had the same exact experience with my bottom bracket. Used a wire brush and a sacrificial BSA to get the threads clean.
In the case of the bottom bracket cover screw... Mine was perfect height-wise but the threaded rivet was was too tall for a BB to be inserted.
lol Glad I opted for no paint
I've gotten skilled at chasing cheap Chinese bottom brackets and facing the brake mounts. It's okay if you buy the tools -- but you need tools or a good bike shop. I feel downright handy when I prep a cheap frame properly.
For the price, something has to be less quality than a Pinarello - so I think I could live with a bit less quality on the paint or maybe needing to face a couple bolt holes. However, you MUST be able to assemble and use your bike without a bike shop.
My take on your review, if the bottom bracket threads were clean and alignment was straight - I think this would have gotten a ‘pretty good value for money all things considered’ type of review.
Hopefully VeloBuils will address the bottom bracket issue shortly following your video and their product will be much better off for it.
I think that is a fair comment.
No, nobody is entertaining buying this shit. "VeloBuilds" should be charged with criminal malpractice and go out of business, forever.
@Unbias you really think someone is throwing many thousands of dollars at making molds for multiple sizes of a bike and nobody is buying them?😅 I've seen plenty of these knockoffs. They're extremely popular in the Philippines and working in the US, I've seen a significant number come into bike shops when I was a mechanic
@@cccpkingu seen a few in Melbourne too. Good enough for crit racing
Agree with you. As a VB-168 owner, I had none of the major issues. Knew from day one looking at the site that the painting was not their thing, hence went with mat black (also it was more quickly available). Paid about 630 usd about 8 months ago for the frame set. Found Chris at VB very helpful. The bike is leaps and bound better than the entry level Triban 520 (decathlon) I have
hello Hambini. i agree with you on the paint. however mine is fine. i got the rim brake version and the paint job is good. no drips no bubbles or imperfections. they may have bad qc
In my understanding when you buy a frame from china (winspace aside), you have 50% chance of geting a "workable" frame. I believe sometimes they don't give a SHITE what they send or they have the team split in half, on mondays, wednesdays and friday they send the left overs and on the rest of the week the other team (rested 3 days) ships good frames. I was inclined to order from velobuild a few moonths ago but i wasn't quit sure on what day it was... And now i do believe that The Great Hambini will force them to check a bit more the quality of their work. I believe they can do much better than that. Or now they will stop painting the frames in the roof and let them dry the wind. ANOTHER GREAT VIDEO HAMBINI
You should manufacture bikes, Mr Hambini. Thank you for revealing dysfunctional structures of bike and its component industry. I think this level of engineering regression you reveal can be extended to many sectors.
I would call this "underpriced" in the sense that they should charge more, BUT also provide more. Putting a few cents more into refreshing the cutting tips on the BB thread cutter, and taking a bit longer in masking the paint, and improving the quality of the paint.
They could probably still provide a cheap bike, maybe $100 more cost to really improve and get this bike across the goal line.
I agree 100%
yea but that cant make it to good or the "brand that shall not be name" may get pissed. the small imperfection are need to justify the base price.
@rollinrat4850 In the west most assemblers do get paid by the hour and an expected output is usually determined by time and motion of previous workers or by an assembly line speed. Piece work or being paid per unit has gone afaik, in the west hourly legal minimum wages are the norm now. It may be different in China but Taiwan, Japan and Korea have base wages.
@@glennoc8585 I've read in a few places many Chinese factories are pay per unit
The bottom bracket reamer they used was completely dull, that's what caused the galling.
In Asia, we cut our BB threads with a handheld Dremmel tool. Can't you just appreciate the effort?
🤣Underrated comment. Chapeau.
Overhere in the Netherlands in a cyclingclub I know about many Chinarello's, fake Bianchi's and nobody of these guys ever had problems with braking or cracking frames. Working in a bike shop I saw enough Pinarello and Trek frames cracking. Often also other brands and they had issues with the seattube where the clamp didn't function or the tube cracked.
Of course you did...
A BMC Timemachine I worked on a few months back had a cracked seatpost despite the wedge clamp being torqued to spec (5 Nm). Torquing it to 4 Nm created no damage.
It is sad that real one is in worse quality than fake ones.
@@Reanimator999 they’re not, it’s simply anecdotal evidence of a relatively small sample 🤦♂️
@@Reanimator999 it would be silly to think the big companies are lower quality than these. Those companies sell WAY more with very high levels of quality assurance. Plus the real ones are built to higher levels of performance which requires higher level of skill. These fakes don’t perform nearly as well and they can make it simple since it’s cheap and pros at the highest level aren’t constantly comparing them to other top end bikes
I've seen genuine Pinarello with similar issues. Genuine Pinarello have an Italian threaded bb but you have to run a tape through them to get the bbs in nice. I dont understand why cut/facing a frame is seen as a lack of quality these days. Frames have had to cut and faced forever
Exactly. I have chased and faced every bike frame I have ever bought since the late 80s. It is what you have to do for a proper bike build.
Can confirm, bought another VeloBuild model as an experiment. Yes, it builds badly.
* Had to retap the BB thread.
* Seat clamp only came in oval rail setup, but swaps out perfectly with a Trek Mount, so extra $$$.
* Fork wheel alignment is not 100% perpendicular (either the wheel goes straight or the bike goes straight 🤨)
* Rear chain stays are off. When in granny gear, the rear derailleur catches the rear spokes.
* Handlebar spacers did not match the frame.
* Paint job was suspect.
* BB Area has loose carbon fiber strands. Really shitty moulding job.
Given the amount of defects, I chose to not ride this bike. I made this a trainer-only setup, which is still cheaper than Tacx, Wahoo, Stages or any other trainer bike. Also I save my good bikes from trainer abuse.
I worked in a company where spotty manufacturing gave the QA people fits. The people doing the work were either deprived of the right tools or procedures needed to get consistently good results. The QA people were given only a few seconds per item for inspection. Therefore a lot of defects made it through simply because there wasn't time to inspect known problem areas. I brought this up to management several times with no results. I quit shortly after.
In my recent experience this frame represents a very good example for VB. They sell a lot of, as you say "unforgivably bad" stuff these days. Unless you're prepared to bin the frame or immediately relegate it to the trainer (and then with issues), I wouldn't recommend VB to anybody. Note - I'd recommend quite a number of the other Chinese brands.
Yeah that seems to be the running theme, there are a few Chinese brands that actually want to compete against big names prime examples being Win Space, ICAN and TriFox. I wouldn't be half surprised to see Win Space fielding a team in the pro peloton in a few years. And you have the rest that are basically like this VeloBuild, knock off of a big name frame but a total crap shoot in terms of quality.
@@mrvwbug4423 Trifox are scraping the bottom of the barrel, though better than VB. Similar to TanTan. SPCyles and BXT inhabit a similar tier. ICAN and LongTeng are better but you may still have major problems - Yoeleo probably place around here too, as does their OEM Miracle. DengFu and Workswell are good. Speeder, Elves and Carbonda very good. Seka similar tier but more expensive. WinSpace is mostly Speeder stuff straight from the catalogue but at a significant markup.
Velobuild and TopCarbon / Lexon are the absolute worst.
@@pmcmpc I built an SPCycle frame a couple years ago. Got matte black so can't really comment on paint quality. The only "major" issue was the rear hub spacing is off by about 1mm leading to chain rub on the chainstay in the small cog (fixed with a pedal washer). This past summer I had two significant crashes (bone breakers) but the frame came out unscathed. The company even sent me a free replacement derailleur hanger to replace mine which bent in crash #2. The biggest advantage I found was that I spent $350, I wasn't overly worried about damaging the frame in the crashes - I would have been in panic mode if I was on a $5K frame. Is it perfect, no, but it's $350 and fantastic for that price.
I have a velobuild 068 frame that is so bad that the rear wheel literally works itself loose under high power meaning I crash. First time it happened I figured I must have somehow had the QR loose, changed the wheels and every ride onwards checked it was tight. Second time it happened and a broken thumb I realised there was something very very wrong with the frame.
Did you get back to your supplier about it?? Rgr
@@borano2031 dawg it's a 300$ velobuild frame straight from china, their customer service or lack of it is a joke unless you just bought something. Secondly they ain't giving my money back so at best they give a replacement frame which I wouldn't trust either, their qc is just non existent
Bought a cheap blue anodised Bike Bearing Tools Set off fleabay. Checked the bb (Token) on my road bike after replacing the freehub on wheel and the left bearing had almost seized, glad I check my bearings regularly. Replaced with a Praxis HTII (wish I could afford a Hambini bb, maybe after the next crypto bull-run). Will change the bearings in the old bb with my trusty Hope HTT178 BB Tool.
I just finished my build in the same frame. BB was a struggle. I ended up threading an extra GXP steel BSA BB with WD40, 1 full turn in, 1 full turn out, with my BB wrench, to basically “rethread” the BB. making sure not to cross thread. after fully doing that on both sides, i was able to Screw the BB by hand and i put in my Sram Dub BB as the final BB very easily.
I've just upgraded from a Carrera TDF frame to a (BNIBox) Boardman Road Sport frame....£25 off of Ebay and only one of those dreadful internal cable thingies...Paint and engineering looks way better than any of the stuff you've had the misfortune to cut up and review lol
From my experience talking to bike mechanics, all disc bikes can require facing so that leaves the paint and BB. The paint is cosmetic so you probably can say “well it is cheap” but the bottom bracket is poor, a thread that is not clean could lead to damage in assembly and not having the pieces fit flush may lead to misalignment.
Unfortunately a bike can appear to be like a chain, it is only as good as the weakest link, this being the BB. A shame, as this I would see as a easy QC fix in the manufacturing.
You really think there's any QC on these VB frames? The QC amounts to putting a QC passed sticker on them.
I feel shortchanged - Reammus Interruptus, if you will. Can we please have a followup when the bike is built ?
Hambini I would like to see a review on an original itilian frame and compare the difference in both frame...this way consumers can see whether buying a frame 10x the price of the Chinese version....always wondered this myself whether it's really worth to buy name brand carbon bikes that depreciate 75% of its value in 4yrs...
It seems the Chinese frames.now.post covid are quickly available for shipment than the original brand names one
I bought a proper Chinarello, I've had it 6 years now and it's been fabulous, except that one of the bottle cages pulled the fitting out of the frame.
I have a cheap Chinese frame. It has problems - there is a bit of carbon fibre and resin in the lower headset race, I filed it away. The bolts for the gear hanger were too long, sawed them to size, the bearing race on the forks didn't seat; I filed it to shape and its OK. The whole thing cost me £450, didn't have to pay tax or import duty ! Fitting the press-fit BB was a pain, but it was fine and the facing was good. It was my mistake for trying to fit extra shims but they were not needed !
I have got 2 frames from aliexpress, 5 years apart, and both had trash BSA threads. Eventually got them to work. The rest of the bikes have been great
Send it over dude, we will do a vid on the fixes, build it up and test ride. What could possibly go wrong 😂
it's gone off to it's final destination already!
@@Hambini May it Rest in Peace
Love the face and arms under the handlebars :-)
thx for the review, brother
I paid an extra £30 for paint on my Chinese Track frame as I didn't have time to spray..........I got a 30 quid paint job 🙈 about 2 hours work with the wet n dry and rubbing compound got it ok ish. Frame is good though.
They can't all be easy. This was fair.
I feel like if I bought ten of them, I'd get one really good one. But I don't want to deal with returning nine frames to China.
The Winspace gave me more confidence that I could buy only one. So I'd choose the Winspace - if the disc version were available.
2-3 hour lunch brake is the most important civilization value in the world.
That bolt underneath the BB makes me laugh
I've got their GF-001 gravel frame. My paint job (British Racing Green) looks much better, so don't think all came out like yours did. The only issues I have is the seat post keeps slipping and I can't fix it, probably partly my fault being 17 stone (looking to loose a few this year), and the other being the front brake. Squeezing the lever just produces a juddering with little confidence in stopping power, I've gone through two different calipers and 3 different discs but none fix it. They don't look like they need facing, but something isn't right. At the moment the bike just lives in the garage. BTW, my BB threads were the same.
A question Hambini, wouldn't you like to build it up and let the local 85kg 5 watts per kilo guy, kick it up a few climbs for a couple of months and see how it performed.
I'm thinking more about getting it in metal Mickey's press to see how it fairs
I did a build of this frame with custom paint which is much better that what you got. I have a build documentary on my channel. I would say the biggest let down is the other bits such as plastic parts. However I do found the customer service is quite alright and they offer to send additional spacers and other small bits.
Just got done doing some research on Ms Harper. I'm exhausted.
I have VB-R-177. Paint was better than yours, but not perfect. There is a nice thread in chinertown numbering all the sins. A little summary that I faced:
1. Headset play: your handlebar gets loose and your front wheel will be pointing elsewhere. They sent a new bearing press for the concerned owners.
2. Misaligned front caliper: People was creative fixing this, I ended up torquing one of the bolts to the specs and the other slightly under
3. Slipping seatpost: piece of soda can inside to make for the "tolerances"
4. Bolts tend to undo on the frame. Happened to rear derrailleur hanger and then to the front derrailleur
5. A bottle cage mount hole got stripped when... removing the screw.
Something that I haven't faced is a flexible handlebar
But the most TERRIBLE thing was the velobuild wheels. rear wheel cracked, cut the tub and exploded in a downhill after just 350 Kms. Upon inspection the cracks developed from the spoke holes. and WORSE: Velobuild denied warranty claiming a "road accident" with the bike frame and spokes in pristine condition.
I would not buy nor recommend this brand to anyone
I've seen a couple of other people on UA-cam build up frames from them who also had an issue with the bottom bracket. It looks like they just don't change out their tooling often enough and use worn out bits. I wonder if that is from lack of training, lack of care from the people doing it, laziness, or does the company push them too hard. Maybe a combination of all?
It's simple. These are cheap chinese products. You don't expect quality from a place that sells you something at bottom bin prices.
The ICAN definitely seems like a better deal, slightly more expensive, but much better quality. Though it doesn't look like a certain Italian bike with a frame that is $9000 by itself where this one does.
We have this kind of frames as well being sold here in the philippines, I've seen one in person, the paint is quite rather well unlike what velobuild has.
But mind you guys they actually use the real branding of it... Its not just Pinarello, they also have bianchi, treck, spez. I'm not joking here.
Oh the knockoffs. They could stay in SE Asia, but once they get delivered to the States with that copyright logo, they'll get screwed. I saw it happened with fake Louis Vuitton bags sold in flea market in 90's.
@@Reanimator999 the actual vendor is quite secretive of it now, they usually post those things for sale casually in their page but now, you have to go to their website with special access pass.
Velobuild cost 500$ but they sell it double. Pinarello F copy is sold orund 1k$
Thank you for this video!👏🏿 First, I found way to soften eardrum blowout by listening to singers like Sammy Davis Jr's Second Best secret Agent theme song!(I love that movie) Cher's singing also works! 🤜🏿🤛🏿
I've been considering one more build, Winspace at top of list, but keep wondering about these cheap frame sets on AliExpress, I'd love to save some $$$ plus have something my clubmates don't have! There's one with the name THRUST (the innuendo just tickles me)
Priced at $300 but I wonder about it's build quality!
Hi, could you review an original dogma F frame and compare it with the quality of this one?
I have to say I'm quite relieved 😅. I really like my VB-R-068 rim brake, even if I like a 12 hrs lunch break I still went for the Venge replica. I could not thread the BB as well, had to get a shop to put the bike together. Yes, some imperfections and also a bit of tyre rub as well on one side. But for the price it rides and look great!
don't get too upset, I take the pee out of France, anywhere in southern England and public school goers too.
@@Hambini Southern England How dare you H .Ted from Eastbourne 😂😂
How the hell is tire rub ever acceptable? That's just basic functionality to not rub.
@@lastfm4477 to be fair the frame has got a tight clearance and Velobuild said max 25c tyres. My wheel was slightly out of dish and I run carbon ones with a wide channel and maybe some flex. So it might not happen with other set ups.
So it is heavier than an alu frame, and it has none of what makes a Pinarello frame flexible in the right places?
It is about as much of a bike as a kit car shell slapped atop any clunker is the car it looks like from afar.
You probably found the framset in the trash, that's why such quality?
I really appreciate this analysis as I’m thinking of building a new bike in the spring. Velo was being considered, but maybe not anymore.
How much time do you spend analyzing a bike like this? The time spent on reviewing the internals must take forever.
I'd say less than 1 hour without filming with this style of analyze. Since he doesn't have to do any ultrasound scan, it wouldn't take much time.
I have just built up a VB-R-066, rim brake, light weight endurance frame. Everything fit and whent to gether as expected, for a quality frame. I have had it out for about 5 km and the seat post never slipped Very happy so far, just waiting for the weather to warm up.
Has that been painted with Chinese halfords rattle cans in a Chinese shed? I've just got a Yoeleo R11 and the finish is top notch.
Funny facts is the original one has the same imperfection sometimes worst resin and thinner fiber in it. The Chinarello some of their manufacturer has a thicker fiber. I do not support the replicas but paying 18000 for a real pinarello are kinda over price. Buy 10 chinarello and check them 1 by 1 for quality check I am sure 5 our of 10 will be in better condition than the original one.
Engineer: I've made a perfect bike! How can I enhance it?
His dog: Woof! Woof! Drill an extra holes in fork, preferably in steerer tube!
Any opinions on titanium frames for commuting/gravel/bikepacking in a wet country near the ocean + a heavy rider? I've been looking at the Planet X Tempest or Goldrush bikes and wondering...
Buy whatever bike makes you happy and fits the purpose
Ti isn’t that much lighter than steel once you’ve built it into a frame, but also it’s fine if it is made well
I have Titus Ti goldrush with 10000km . Any questions I can answer 🙏
@@jimhize It's not about the weight. It's the salts in the air, road and water you need to worry about when living near the sea. Steel bikes rusts. Titanium doesn't.
I would like to the channel do an analysis on an unbranded frame from China. Like a trace Velo special. My time trial bike is unbranded bike id like to know am I really risking my neck compared to if I had bought the frame from a reputable manufacturer. Great content btw
In this case the Velobuild is more of a CanUbuild?.
Maybe wobbly treads are the new standard, and we have not caught up yet. That image at 11:30 makes it obvious even to the untrained eye.
I spaced out for a sec, and when I focused up I saw what looked like the inside of an elephant's truck, and I'm thinking, "why's Hambini showing us that, that's weird?" No, apparently that was the interior fork...
Marvellous Mr H, say hi to the hairdresser 😘
10:13 Lol u dont understand, this is new 2024 GOLF AERO (Zipp style) desing, saving 0.6 W
Update: I seemed to have lucked out. The BB has good alignment. the paint is ok for what you pay. Only issue was just a little clean up on the brake mounts. You get what you pay for. Not the best but not bad. the paint on mine is better.
I am getting one of these soon... Same frame. And I thought They fixed the threading issues BB. The one here is utter shit... Did they cut it with a dull tap..... And the paint. I mean if you are paying for custom paint. it shouldnt be like that. The facing is just part of the deal. I know a lot of the bargin bikes that are like that. However paint is bad. Like I can paint better blind folded. That runs and the paint by the bb is just crap. I guess it s get out the 1500 git paper for me. I hope I dont have to redo that paint. Its really just inexcusable.
I found this to be an interesting watch on my extended banana break👍
please create a video about Ltwoo or Sensah
I'm actually worried for the day the pen is not working anymore
Velobuild has a rim brake version of this bike [2022 VB-R-218. Is it as passable?
Judging by comments, it seems okay
@@Hambini gonna buy one
Hello hambini have you ever worked on an Argon 18? Is the frame quality shite?
I imagine the BB thread is BSA?! Looks like the old Campagnolo wooden box workshop frame finishing kit needs to come out of hibernation. Especially on those shitty threads and bb face.
Did you try to re-tap the bottom bracket threads?
I think Yolieo isn't much more expensive but much better. It's hard to say how consistent quality is in Chinese products...
Yoeleo is basically the same price as Winspace (a tad cheaper) and has shit customer service. They also have terrible customer service having dealt with them directly.
Yoleo, Winspace, Pardus, Polygon, Seka, probably it is the right price of a hi-quality product.
Even gazzalion dollar big brand got embarassing quality.
They are 3 version of China quality:
1) Level quality on par to big brand quality such Yoeleo, Pardus, Polygon, Seka, Winspace, Elves. Polygon and Pardus already in LTD race. Variety of frame to choose and material type. Polygon made in Indonesia.
2) Like Trifox, Triaero, Ican, etc. Eventhough its a copy but still they put a trust on their own branding and quality. They will try to care the quality, otherwise the brand will go down. The quality is not bad for the price. If you enter your national race, if you good enough, you will win if you use one of those frame. Our ex national rider use 400usd china crap and win. Other rider use 5Kusd and above frameset price.
3) 100% copy big brand without any branding. Just plain like chinarello in the above video. This kind of quality you should worry, probably just visual inspection without any r&d and standard testing.
In conclusion, I will buy either Pardus, Elves or Polygon. Pardus & Polygon already race in LTD. Most of the frame 1/3 the price of those big brand. If you give me free big brand flagship frameset, I will sell it and buy Pardus, Elves or Polygon. Buy any other performance parts with surplus money except absolute bs aero OSPW 🤣 This OSPW is another level of unnescessary bs. Exaggerated marketing bs same goes to big brand frameset.
Maybe the old quality sentiment of China that make you total reject the Asian made bike.
Hey, one more thing, most big brand made in Asia 🤌🏻
The only thing that make you fast is the engine. Anddd the engine of a bike is the man behind it.
@@apair4002 Nobody has ever gotten a badly made Japanese bike. Asian quality isn't the issue, and nobody said it was.
@@cccpkingu About China/Asian's bad quality, the OP already said it.
do velobuild actually have there own moulds these days or are they still a middle man for smaller factories ?
no idea, i'm sure someone on here will know
I used to know and forgot. They work with a factory for their gravel bikes, a well established one, and for the road ones I'm not sure where they come from but the latest model that looks like a Scott is foam molded and people are loving it. The specialized clone and pinarello clone have lots of happy users, but more QC problems.
Either way, VB sells. They don't make.
Longteng. I checked my notes. They make at least the vb gf002 and gf003 for vb. I have three of those in the mail so i hope I'll be happy :)
They bought the moulds together or something. Other brands do sell very very very similar frames. Whether it's the exact same mold or not, idk. Lots of happy people with the gf002. The gf003 came out a few weeks ago so it's yet to be reviewed by people.
@@pierrex3226 interesting ive been looking at the GF models. i actually quite like the GF-001 even though it is really old its got a nice racey CX fit.
@@abedfo88 i don't think you'll be disappointed. I've heavily geeked out on the vb topic. You should trust a stranger on the internet :D
Was that "in the shitment"?
Hambini time!!!
I just noticed your review on this Hamb... We built exact same bike at start of December but it was rim brake (c'mon suckers & n0obers... rim brakes for road bikes!! disc for MTB's!! or gravel) So, we didn't have the problems you have faced, nor with BB... Our paint job was the simple BoB colour and it was very good (obviously cause mostly it is left as bare carbon) I've ridden this bike myself and was very happy and actually slashed a few PB's on first ride. We did encounter a small problem when we were trying to cable the rear brake within the frame itself... but nothing drastic...If you remember me, I emailed you a few times about my real Pinarello F8 and the BB casing... total shite! and totally corroded!! and no, Pinarello didn't cover it with any warranty!! noone was interested!! So, even buying the real frame at their exuberant prices (£5k. I think I recall!) means diddley squat! For me, if you like the look of a F, then this frame is a no brainer! If you remember this simple thing - RIM BRAKES FOR ROAD BIKES!! lol..My m8 has the 'real' F... and side by side.. absolutely NO difference... I have mine with all my components from my prior 'real' f8, so Dura-Ace, lightweight meilenstein wheels (22mm tubs) Absolute Shite oval sub compact rings- so, noone would really ever know as who would put all that kinda gear on a 'copy' frame?? ME!! For me, I'd NEVER buy another Western Corporations inflated prices for any bike frame!! Weare currently doing an eMTB build, Frame set and motor, bars and wheelset all from China (like where ALL the big boys do their shopping too!! lol) and I expect this eMTB to be a top top contender on par with 1 of the 'corporations' €13.5k bikes!!! and all for a measily €4k!! Another no brainer... (sure, I'm sticking some western branded components on it.. but that's only because the chinese ain't got their shit together on that yet.. but I think they soon shall) I do think it is a lottery when buying from China though... and can be very stressful... not for most I'd say!! Happy New Year!
PPS - I don't think there is a need to compare this frame to a Winspace T1500 when it is more than double the price ? For me, Winspace has gotten a touch of the Western Corporations disease going on there... as €1600 is way way too much for a BICYCLE frame!!! Now, lightweight carbon do very good frames, e have bought a few and from start to finish they are good to deal with (at Least Wendy was) and their frames are spot on... I know ALOT of very good cyclists riding their lightweight climbing frame in the Alps and they are raving about them!! and Durianrider raves about that very same frame also just the other week (and long before) For me, €750-€850 is maximum any bicycle frame should be sold for!! We picked up an eMTB carbon frame for €650, which is being given rave reviews online...anything over them prices then IMO, your 2 bits short in yer head!! and obviously have way too much money to waste!
PPPS - Lastly - You really shouldn't be buying carbon framesets from China if your not prepared to spend a little effort to correct any misdemeanours, full stop!! Your best to pay them Western Corporations ridiculous prices instead for their bikes!! (and still have the chance of it failing too!!!) If you use a little bit of that thing between your ears, you can invent a way to ensure the chinese seller at leasts makes an effort to send you a checked over/decent frame....(but that's for you to work out...yea.. use the brain cell u have) - this is not directed at you Hamb.. this is directed at the 99%
A Chinarello😀
Pics and a link to one of Hannah's tube sites or we're not believing you Hambini!
Any experience with the VBR-077? I've seen good things about it on forums and I think Ribble sold it as the SL LTK-118 in 2018.
i have 15k miles on one including some crit races, BSA. no issues whatsoever. it's a very famous open mould frame design unlike the one reviewed in this video and VB are resellers so at this point i think you are unlikely to run into major QC issues with one
@@WHAT_1400 Thanks for the insight. Fingers crossed mine has minimal issues, I have an unpainted BSA BB one arriving next week.
@@ScottVanHorne one thing to note is that it is not quite as light as advertised, i have an XS and my frame is about 840g, which is still very light and IMO there are better places to save weight than on the frame honestly.
@@WHAT_1400 Interesting, I'll have to weigh mine once it arrives. I'm not too worried either way though, my current bike frame weighs more than double.
mine works good, 20K on it, bought from LTK with no issues
4:55 Did that crown just slip in there that easily? I don't know how good the headset is going to feel. I know it's a split crown but you should still have to manhandle it a bit to get it on.
Its a split crown race, it will crush the steerer tube eventually
@@janeblogs324 Oh you mean it compresses. It's not ideal though, I couldn't accept that on a race bike. The only compression component I can tolerate is the top ring, everything else must be as tight as virgin
@@janeblogs324 I want to add that I've never used a split crown like that, I've always thought that they don't compress, rather expand to make installation easier. Correct me though.
@@Megadeth6633 every single bump your wheel feels...compresses it.
@@Megadeth6633 every carbon fork I've owned had an aluminium sleeve over the steerer tube base to prevent crushing.
The upper compression ring in the to headset bearing only gets crushed by the weight of the front wheel, yet we still get "the ring of death" on our upper steerer tubes after 5 years
My cat isn't used to having airplane ears on mid-week HELLOOOO HAMBINI FANS over breakfast. He digs the pen though.
I think that for the money versus quality of the frame that you get, you are perhaps more kind to Velobuild than they may deserve. On the other hand, I thought their email was very good, being an English speaker myself. So, what's next? Will Velobuild make good with the frame? Any customer in your position would expect nothing less, considering what they sent you.
But did I win the guess?
I did say it wasn't a Pinerello and although it may not have been obvious, I was implying it looked Pinarello from the inside!
Hambini when you go balls deep into the hairdresser, are these ceramic or steel?
Steel is real
New to the channel and loving the videos….
Question-is the table cover Barbie or The Little Mermaid?
I would love to see a model that is a bit more expensive, but beter build, still more cheaper than a real pina
Axis country in Southern Europe that take 3 hour lunch breaks!😂
If by "hint" of sarcasm and wit, you mean enough to fill one of those giant mining trucks that operates in Australia, then yes that's a fair description!
I'll take that as a compliment
It's very very wobbly isn't it....
😎ENJOYED THIS VID! 💯
Almost looks like they've used a drill to clean out the brake hose hole in the fork and its hit the carbon on the inside causing that little splinter. Just the tip. Only for a minute.
Wow, whatever 11 year old was painting that day must have had some defective spray cans.
Gaul appalled by galling