Vitus 979

In article said:

I'm trying to get back into cycling on a seriously small and restricted budget. I've found what
looks to be a nice frame at a good price (unless it gets jacked up on eBay). The frame is a Vitus
979. Bonded Dural aluminum tubing.

Are these safe and rideable?

Yes, unless the joints have loosened up. It was more common on the carbon Vituses than on the 979.

I put > 30k miles on a 979 that I still have. In the day it was a very common frame in the pro
peloton, often painted to look like a product of the purported bike sponsor. It was light, not very
expensive, and comfortable.

The frame, especially in the larger sizes, was not very stiff on the bottom bracket. It never
bothered me but some people find it unnerving. They also have a pretty steep steering head angle
which makes for quick steering.

It won't take 130mm (9-10 speed) rear hubs and it can't safely be spread. 126mm only.

Eric

I've been spreading my rear chainstays to accept a 130mm for a long time without any problems. In
fact, I swap back and forth between my 8 speed hub and 126mm 7 speed without any problems.

John

"Eric Murray" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Bill Graham <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm trying to get back into cycling on a seriously small and restricted budget. I've found what
looks to be a nice frame at a good price (unless

it

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

gets jacked up on eBay). The frame is a Vitus 979. Bonded Dural aluminum tubing.

Are these safe and rideable?

Yes, unless the joints have loosened up. It was more common on the carbon Vituses than on the 979.

I put > 30k miles on a 979 that I still have. In the day it was a very common frame in the pro
peloton, often painted to look like a product of the purported bike sponsor. It was light, not
very expensive, and comfortable.

The frame, especially in the larger sizes, was not very stiff on the bottom bracket. It never
bothered me but some people find it unnerving. They also have a pretty steep steering head angle
which makes for quick steering.

It won't take 130mm (9-10 speed) rear hubs and it can't safely be spread. 126mm only.

Eric

i think vitus frames are way cool and were a way ahead of their time design. if you are really
strong (say 180 lbs of muscle) i'd worry a bit about it flexing all the time.

I am 170 lbs of largely lard, not a hard rider. i could not ride mine no hands above 15 mph- it
shimmied really bad if i did. Also, on fast curvy descents, when I would hit bumps I could feel the
wheels go out of plane with each other- it would twist a bit over the bumps. I haven't heard of any
failing suddenly- they do develop cracks at the joints I've heard. They ride good, smoothly. The
anodized finish lasts incredibly well- 20 year old bikes look great.

Bill Graham said:

I'm trying to get back into cycling on a seriously small and restricted budget. I've found what
looks to be a nice frame at a good price (unless it gets jacked up on eBay). The frame is a Vitus
979. Bonded Dural aluminum tubing.

Are these safe and rideable?

Thanks,

Bill Graham

Amazing bikes... I've got one... still lighter and stiffer than most I see on club rides. Sorry it's
on e-bay ... any idea what year?

Not the bike for me then. I'm 190. I should be 170 to be cycling svelte. I don't exactly ride really
hard, sometime maybe. I do like to head to the mountains and seek out long climbs and long descents
though. This frame sounds a little scary for that.

Quoted message said:

i think vitus frames are way cool and were a way ahead of their time design. if you are really
strong (say 180 lbs of muscle) i'd worry a bit about it flexing all the time.

I am 170 lbs of largely lard, not a hard rider. i could not ride mine no hands above 15 mph- it
shimmied really bad if i did. Also, on fast curvy descents, when I would hit bumps I could feel
the wheels go out of plane with each other- it would twist a bit over the bumps. I haven't heard
of any failing suddenly- they do develop cracks at the joints I've heard. They ride good,
smoothly. The anodized finish lasts incredibly well- 20 year old bikes look great.

Not sure of the year, but it looks pristine. Black one.

Quoted message said:

Bill Graham said:

I'm trying to get back into cycling on a seriously small and restricted budget. I've found what
looks to be a nice frame at a good price (unless it gets jacked up on eBay). The frame is a Vitus
979. Bonded Dural aluminum tubing.

Are these safe and rideable?

Thanks,

Bill Graham

Amazing bikes... I've got one... still lighter and stiffer than most I see on club rides. Sorry
it's on e-bay ... any idea what year?

Bill Graham said:

Not sure of the year, but it looks pristine. Black one.

snip.. I saw that one on ebay... it's in switzerland..

Bill Graham said:

Not the bike for me then. I'm 190. I should be 170 to be cycling svelte. I don't exactly ride
really hard, sometime maybe. I do like to head to the mountains and seek out long climbs and long
descents though. This frame sounds a little scary for that.

Not that scary. I have a friend who weighs upwards of 200# and has been riding his 979 (his only
road bike) for about 15 years and thousands and thousands of miles. So far so good.

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net home.earthlink.net~jeverett3Open ↗

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I'm trying to get back into cycling on a seriously small and restricted budget. I've found what
looks to be a nice frame at a good price (unless it gets jacked up on eBay). The frame is a Vitus
979. Bonded Dural aluminum tubing. Are these safe and rideable?

I had one for many years and it was a good bike for me. It's to tough say if the bike you are
getting will be safe and rideable. Some of these did come apart at the joints.
-----------------
Alex __O _-\<,_ (_)/ (_)

In article said:

Not the bike for me then. I'm 190. I should be 170 to be cycling svelte. I don't exactly ride
really hard, sometime maybe. I do like to head to the mountains and seek out long climbs and long
descents though. This frame sounds a little scary for that.

It's really not that bad.

The shimmy thing only happens around 13 mph on mine, and it is only a problem when taking both hands
off the bars. I used to take off my outer jersey while riding. As long as I was either under or over
13 mph it was fine. If I slowed down to 13 mph I could feel the bars slowly start to wiggle.. there
is always plenty of time to put a hand on them and then it stops.

The downhill handling thing isn't an issue as long as you have proper form. If you don't the bike
will let you know, not by crashing but by feeling unstable.

Both will be better on a smaller frame (mine's a 59cm, nearly the largest they made). Since the
tubes were the same diameter on all the sizes, the larger ones were flexier than the smaller ones.

I did and still do a lot of big climbs and descents and the 979 never let me down. In fact I was
much faster up hill and down on the 979 but I don't think that's due to the bike. I do like the
Airborne Zeppelin I ride now better than the 979. But the 979 isn't bad. If you're tall you may be a
little large for the 979.

BTW, it may well be less expensive to buy a complete bike than to assemble one from parts, unless
you already have a significant amount of parts.

Eric