1st ride on my finished winter project
#1
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1st ride on my finished winter project
I got the last piece needed for my winter project on Saturday so Sunday it was ready for it's inaugural ride.
It's a 1985 Vitus 979.
Back in the 80's all you heard was how whippy and noodley these bikes were, so I decided to subject a 60cm frame to my 210# and find out.
28mm tires fit, but I was concerned about chainstay rub so I installed 26mm just in case.
Guess what, it's not a noodle! Granted, I'm not doing any bunch sprints and I'm not really a masher, but I didn't experience any ghost shifts or front der rub. I didn't push any corners hard, because they are still pretty sandy here.
I really like the way this bike rode. It was a windy day, so I got to do some 53x16 spinning with the tailwind. I'm looking forward to more miles on this iconic 80's bike.
Jim in Mpls
The Dura Ace shifters didn't work with the shifter bosses on this frame, but luckily I had these for a plan b
I still think this is one of the best looking cranks ever!
I dug up my old Avocet for the finishing touch
It's a 1985 Vitus 979.
Back in the 80's all you heard was how whippy and noodley these bikes were, so I decided to subject a 60cm frame to my 210# and find out.
28mm tires fit, but I was concerned about chainstay rub so I installed 26mm just in case.
Guess what, it's not a noodle! Granted, I'm not doing any bunch sprints and I'm not really a masher, but I didn't experience any ghost shifts or front der rub. I didn't push any corners hard, because they are still pretty sandy here.
I really like the way this bike rode. It was a windy day, so I got to do some 53x16 spinning with the tailwind. I'm looking forward to more miles on this iconic 80's bike.
Jim in Mpls
The Dura Ace shifters didn't work with the shifter bosses on this frame, but luckily I had these for a plan b
I still think this is one of the best looking cranks ever!
I dug up my old Avocet for the finishing touch
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#2
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That blue color really pops, and the bright cranks match the lugs.
Cool that there is room for gravel tires!
Cool that there is room for gravel tires!
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Cool bike and you have a functioning Avocet bike computer. How cool is that?
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Beautiful bike and well done! However...
Unless that steering stem has a long reach into the steering tube, you are risking damaging one of the weakest parts of the Vitus - the head tube lugs. They are prone to cracking and if the steering stem is not inserted enough, into the steering tube, then the leverage is great, dramatically increasing the chances of doing serious damage to the frame. Is such damage occurs, while riding, one might do some serious damage to the rider, should he or she loose control of the bike.
By the way, I loved the ride qualities of both my Vitus and my ALAN. Sadly, for fat old me, the frames were a bit too flexible to accept my weight and strength.
Unless that steering stem has a long reach into the steering tube, you are risking damaging one of the weakest parts of the Vitus - the head tube lugs. They are prone to cracking and if the steering stem is not inserted enough, into the steering tube, then the leverage is great, dramatically increasing the chances of doing serious damage to the frame. Is such damage occurs, while riding, one might do some serious damage to the rider, should he or she loose control of the bike.
By the way, I loved the ride qualities of both my Vitus and my ALAN. Sadly, for fat old me, the frames were a bit too flexible to accept my weight and strength.
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^Looks like one of the long Nitto Technomic stems, so presuming it's okay.
My first race bike was a Vitus 979, in sky blue. I still have a soft place in my heart for those frames. Your build looks great. As I recall, the lugs on mine were anodized, thus not able to be polished like yours. It was a long time ago, so I may be mis-remembering. (I never bothered polishing anything back then. As long as adjusted properly, I was good to go.) Did you have to strip the lugs, or did some of these come polished like that?
I appreciate the French-themed zip ties.
My first race bike was a Vitus 979, in sky blue. I still have a soft place in my heart for those frames. Your build looks great. As I recall, the lugs on mine were anodized, thus not able to be polished like yours. It was a long time ago, so I may be mis-remembering. (I never bothered polishing anything back then. As long as adjusted properly, I was good to go.) Did you have to strip the lugs, or did some of these come polished like that?
I appreciate the French-themed zip ties.
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^Looks like one of the long Nitto Technomic stems, so presuming it's okay.
My first race bike was a Vitus 979, in sky blue. I still have a soft place in my heart for those frames. Your build looks great. As I recall, the lugs on mine were anodized, thus not able to be polished like yours. It was a long time ago, so I may be mis-remembering. (I never bothered polishing anything back then. As long as adjusted properly, I was good to go.) Did you have to strip the lugs, or did some of these come polished like that?
I appreciate the French-themed zip ties.
My first race bike was a Vitus 979, in sky blue. I still have a soft place in my heart for those frames. Your build looks great. As I recall, the lugs on mine were anodized, thus not able to be polished like yours. It was a long time ago, so I may be mis-remembering. (I never bothered polishing anything back then. As long as adjusted properly, I was good to go.) Did you have to strip the lugs, or did some of these come polished like that?
I appreciate the French-themed zip ties.
I polished the lugs with aluminum polish. They shined up right nice!
And thanks for noticing the zip ties-I was pretty pleased with myself when I came up with that!
Jim
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Very cool Vitus!
Very cool Vitus!
#12
Beautiful bike and well done! However...
Unless that steering stem has a long reach into the steering tube, you are risking damaging one of the weakest parts of the Vitus - the head tube lugs. They are prone to cracking and if the steering stem is not inserted enough, into the steering tube, then the leverage is great, dramatically increasing the chances of doing serious damage to the frame. Is such damage occurs, while riding, one might do some serious damage to the rider, should he or she loose control of the bike.
By the way, I loved the ride qualities of both my Vitus and my ALAN. Sadly, for fat old me, the frames were a bit too flexible to accept my weight and strength.
Unless that steering stem has a long reach into the steering tube, you are risking damaging one of the weakest parts of the Vitus - the head tube lugs. They are prone to cracking and if the steering stem is not inserted enough, into the steering tube, then the leverage is great, dramatically increasing the chances of doing serious damage to the frame. Is such damage occurs, while riding, one might do some serious damage to the rider, should he or she loose control of the bike.
By the way, I loved the ride qualities of both my Vitus and my ALAN. Sadly, for fat old me, the frames were a bit too flexible to accept my weight and strength.
I've seen lots of ALAN'S with cracked head lugs, but never really seen a Vitus 979, 992, 787 or Carbone with a cracked aluminum headstock.....
Last edited by Chombi1; 03-14-21 at 08:49 PM.
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I think you might have been meaning to refer to ALAN's head tube lug cracking problems? I don't think Vitus had head lug cracking problems, because they had that hefly, one piece aluminum headstock design that got rid of having to use lugs at that high stress area.
I've seen lots of ALAN'S with cracked head lugs, but never really seen a Vitus 979, 992, 787 or Carbone with a cracked aluminum headstock.....
I've seen lots of ALAN'S with cracked head lugs, but never really seen a Vitus 979, 992, 787 or Carbone with a cracked aluminum headstock.....
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"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".
"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".