Andycapp

Looking for info and build sugestions on this. Sticker on the fork says 787 Futural. I assume this is the model? I've heard/read a lot on the 979s and others but very little on this one. The "mavic equipement" tells me its came with Mavic components originally. I'm wondering if this would have been all the parts or just the drivetrain more or less? The pics (sorry for quality, my memory card is screwed up and I'm stuck with the phone for now) shows it as received with the only mavic parts being brake calipers and BB. Since then I've acquired a Mavic 860 front derailleur but the rear seems to demand a pretty high price! (got one for me?) I'm loving the Stronglight crank but I wonder if I should be hunting for a set of "starfish" arms or another Mavic model. Stem and bars would be neat but the Atax peices are nice enogh and are appropriate enough for now Headset, 501 hubs, pedals? Rims are a no brainer, but what ones? I'm also considering stripping the paint (it's pretty beat) and polishing the rear triangle and lugs and either painting or anodizing the main tubes. Or just polish the whole thing. This of course would mean removing the mavic stickers and "releasing" me from sticking to those components. However I do have a new decal if I want to go that route anyway. I'm having a hard time deciding on a group to use in it's stead and am shying away from Japanese parts on this bike for some reason. Besides I'm more than half way there with the mavic stuff, right? What are your thoughts?

-Andy

randyjawa 

I had a Vitus 979 and it was a great riding bicycle. A lawyer in Texas owns it these days...



Spend some time riding and getting to know the bicycle before making any cosmetic decisions. Ask yourself Should I Paint My Bike? and listen to some of the answers. Often times a bicycle looses value when it is repainted.

Hope that is a help.

Alan Edwards

Yours is later then the 979, it has a monopost seatstay. They weren't made vary long, like the 979 was made for 20 years or so. Going Mavic is different and coool, I have a Sachs bike. For the rims you could go CD 4, MA 2, or open pro 4. Finding a RD is going to be hard, they seem to be expensive when I see them. The shifters are 6 or 7 speed index ????

Andycapp

Thanks guys! I assumed because of the lower number the 787 was earlier but that's why I'm here! Do you have a ball park year for this model? This bike does have some unique and cool features like the "recessed" groove under the top tube for the brake cable. The grub screw seat post thing is odd and i'm not sure how much I like it, The seat post that was with this frame has been re-positioned many times apparently and the resulting marks are pretty ugly. The square head bolt that's in there now I've learned from pictures, isn't original. I haven't removed it yet and I'm hoping it's not hiding stripped threads and I can put in a more correct grub-screw that'll tighten flush to the lug. When I first saw it I thought "Man, that's ugly. It's almost like they forgot they needed something to secure the post!". Now that I see the original hardware it makes more sense. This bike will not be a rider for me. It's being built to honor and remember the original owner as I imagine he would have. It's more than a bit small for me and will live at the machine shop as a memorial until a friend or family member lays claim to it. From what I understand he bought it for a girlfriend back in collage when they were on the school cycling team. If I remember his tale right they broke up, the coach got it after she graduated or quit the team and he ended up getting it back. Or something like that! For now it's in my care and I just can't leave it to gather dust, so as I come across correct parts it will be built up as i'm sure were his intentions. I may put some other parts on it for the time being so it can be a loner for anyone I can talk/trick into riding with me As far as paint/finish I'm still undecided. The existing paint is badly chipped all over, I know how gorgeous polished aluminium can be and I like the look of just the three main tubes painted that seems to be common on these frames. It'll probably wait until I get my hands on a decal set and I haven't seen one that's better than a "close" match.

-Andy

Italuminium

A few months ago I started a thread on reanodizing a bike, and the general advise was very clear: don't! It can't be done while the frame is assembled because the required chemicals eat away at the bonds, so if one were to do it it would take a certified vitus repairman to unbond and rebond the frame, and nobody does that anymore. So, my suggestion is to read Khatfull's thread on polishing alloy and get ready for some good rubbin'!

Anyway, congratulations on this nice find, i really like these monostays. Keep the mavic brakes. No need to replace the crank, it looks good as it is imho. If a mavic rear derailer is too dear, you might try to find a spidel, sachs or a simplex to keep things french.

Andycapp

Thanks for the anodizing info - I was afraid of that. Plan "B" - polish the whole thing and use a translucent paint on the main tubes to let the shine through. I don't know sounds like a lot of work! The stronglight crank will stay as it has no other home, it's French, and looks a lot like the SSC anyway. The factory drilled rings are just awesome too! My thoughts exactly on the derailleur, but still hoping for the Mavic to find it's way to me. Are/were there Mavic branded brake levers out there or are the Mafacs as close as I'm going to get?

Italuminium

Hm, wasn't the mavic unit a rebadged stronglight?

paulkal

That is a cool frame. It would look nice will a French build.
The 787 was introduced on 1987. Here are 2 scans from a 1989 Jan Janssen catalog, he was the Dutch importer for Vitus. French parts were not popular in Holland at that time.

Chombi

Nope. It's a crank made by Mavic. I don't remember exactly what the model number is, but I suspect that you are thinking about 630/630SSC fluted design that preceded their more controversial "Starfish" model 631 design.
You might be mistaking the crank on the bike to be a Stronglight 106 (that was also sold as a Spidel 106 and maybe also made with slight modifications for Galli). If you look closely at the details on the Mavic 630 crank in Velobase, it is a more robust design (thicker arm and spider sections) with more angular flutes spider and arm profiles than the Stronglight 106. One thing that the 106 had that many cranks didn't are the flutes on the back of the crank arms. Mavic and most other manufacturers just have this area flat. I think the Stronglight 106 was one of their best/most beautiful designs of that time and I would not hesistate installing it on any 80's C&V French bike. I actually like it much more than the more expensive Mavic 630 aesthetically.


Chombi

bbattle

I think there's a 787 on eBay right now.

Chombi

Yes,...saw that....NOS too, but it does not have the original fork. The one being sold with the frame looks good though and might be from a 992 from the looks of it.
I also wonder why they went down with the model numbering from the 979 as they went up with the other later ones like the 992. Could it be a different aluminum alloy for the tubing for the 787?
What is 979. I thought it was just a 6000 series aluminum alloy. Would 787 refer to a 7000 series alloy? Where do the numbers 979 come from then?

Chombi

Andycapp

Saw it too. Notice the two mounting holes for the rear brake? I've never seen that before. Mine is not like that. So that's a few votes to keep the stroglight crank (including mine!) so it stays after a buffing wheel treatment. What was the controversy on the starfish crank. Can't say I'm a big fan of them, I don't know where they are weight wise but they look pretty "bulky" to me. I just thought it would be the "correct" piece until I saw Randyjawas bike with the 630 crank. Diggin that bike by the way! Makes me consider skippin the decals all together. Or at least not letting them keep me from going forward with the polish job, they can always be added later anyhow.
-Andy

Chombi

I too found the double height brake mounting a bit unusual. Was it to provide for longer reach brakes, taller/fatter tires for cyclocross??
The Starfish crank was not everyone's cup of tea, as you noted, the first version did look massive and did weigh quite a bit, so it was not as popular as it might have been, specailly as Mavic's top of the line model crank. At the time the starfish crank came out, more people prefered the less radical aero looks of cranks like the Edco Competition. or the Stronglight 107, maybe because of their more subtle aero looks. Some riders did eventually warm up to the starfish design, especially when Mavic came out with a second version that does not look as massive as the first design and was probably significantly lighter.
Starfish crank prices are all over the place these days as demand for it has always been erratic, but do not expect to typically pay lower than 130ish dollars for a NOS set. It's only gonna get more expensive as supplies eventually dries out though.

Chombi

WNG

It was my understanding, 979 refers to Vitus 979 tubing. It's listed as Dural, or Duraluminium to the English. It's 7000 series and is not weldable. Hence the epoxy.
6000 is weaker and weldable.

The Futural probably is made from Vitus 787 tubing. I bet the each number relates to an alloying content.

paulkal

It is the year the frame was introduced.
979 1979
787 1987
992 1992.

robbied196

Hi andy, I had a thread going a while back to try and identify my Vitus. I've also had a 979 but the one I was looking for an ID on did turn out to be a 787. I really surprised yours isn't anodised though, every aluminium Vitus I've seen has been anodised. https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ity?highlight=

Chombi

OK, that maybe makes sense. The numbers do seem to be in the ballpark if when they might have been introduced......but then what's the first number then? Why aren't they all "9"??

Chombi

paulkal

I am not sure, maybe because the 787 was below the 979. If they had used a 9, then 787 would become 987, which is higher than 797 and imply a higher status.

Munny

I've found this post through the vintage aluminium post
I have a Futural frame that I bought new when they were just released.

The double height brake mounting was there to allow short or long reach brakes.
But ... a cyclocross version was also available with fork and stays for cantilever brakes

At the time, the already aging 979 was showing some limits in flexing and this is why they designed the futural with the monopost rear stay above the brake. This was to allow more rigidity.
Unfortunatelly for me, the maximum size was only 58 and I had to agree using a size that was a bit short for me.

Another difference was that initialy the 787 was painted vs the 979 with anodized tubes (or carbon)
If my memory is correct, 1 or 2 year later, you could have anodized 787 with these fancy colors.

I still use it now and you get used to craking noises.
The screw on the rear of the seat post is a bit weak and you need to pay attention with it

Andycapp

Hey thanks, Munny. This one was originally painted red completely, so I guess that makes it an early one. Another difference I noticed, is the lower head "lug" is longer, extending almost to the shift bosses. Any idea how long the 787 was produced? Discontinued with the introduction of the 992?

-Andy

Munny

Hi Andy,

I'm affraid I don't know but I think they were unrelated
Here a picture illustrating both the later anodized type and the cyclocross brakes
[img]https://deadrats.co.uk/wp-content/upl...DSC02808.1.jpg[/img]

And here a bad picture of mine
[img]https://lh4.ggpht.com/_ssUeJ3Nw6pk/TR...avIMG_6610.jpg[/img]
It uses a Shimano 105 color group

The 787 is extremely unusual compared to the 979 (this weekend, I was a bit too slow to buy a 80 Euro 979)
There were also 2 other even rarer beast : a montain bike frame and a bmx

Funktopus

Sorry to resurrect a long dead thread, but you don't happen to still have those scans do you? I also have a 787 and I'm dying to learn more about it. Unfortunately your photobucket uploads seem to have expired.

Thanks

paulkal

Here they are. The blue one is from the 1998 catalogue. The other from the 1989 catalogue.

Funktopus

Amazing, thank you. Seems like my one may not have original parts, or was a non standard model. I have a stronglight crankset, sachs-maillard Aris freewheel, saccon altex calipers (although I've now replaced these) and riser handlebars. I do have shimano 105 shifters and derailleurs, and the cinelli stem.

paulkal

The frames were also available separate, so it could have been build up by the first buyer, which was quite common to do back in the day.