Originally Posted by
63rickert
In olden times - and I don't know when the change occurred - the most common Reynolds 531 tube was 'Club Special' butted to 21/24 British Wire Gauge. That worked out to 0.81/0.56 in metric measure or 0.032"'0.022" proper Imperial measure. All three main tubes. So a good touch lighter than Columbus SL and very close to the 0.8 that would be considered an extralight tube. Combine that with pencil stays and the frames were plush. The Super Resilient fork was mostly for Froggy, some English builders had them.
Lots of basic slightly better French bikes were built with Vitus 888 which simply meant all three main tubes were 0.8mm straight gauge. Rides about same as a 0.8/0.5 tube only heavier. In larger frame sizes this meant Motobecane Grand Touring or any similar could be quite springy.
Thanks for sharing this info.
Just wanted to share my liking for my Vitus 888-tubed Motobecane Grand Sprint. Mine's a 23" frame, so not the largest, but it is a very comfortable bike. The fit probably has a lot to do with that in my case, but I really love the way it rides. I would call it plush compared to my Ironman, or my Columbus Cromor Puch, although the geometry is also different between the three. I'm not experienced enough to really understand the subtle differences between tube sets. I have mine setup with Campy NR shifters and derailleurs. I would encourage anyone to give a Vitus 888-tubed bike a good ride. Mine's a keeper.