Vitus Bikes

[shoemakerpom2010]

I have come accross an early Vitus bike from a friend and he has asked me if its worth anything. I have a read tons of posts around here and on the net and wanted a honest opinion if its worth listing it here or ebay or somewhere else. Its in original condition nothing broke but not clean with original components. It looks like this http://www.vitusbikes.com/vitus/heritag ... ZxNhXOkfR2 but with black tubes and all Shimano 600 except the bars are Cinelli and the stem is Cinelli and the seatpost is Campy. Any opinions are welcome.

[jlove123]

I have one. its bonded aluminum and it scares me. Its a cool bike, I just need to glue the tubulars and ride it more.Other than that I can't tell you much.

[KWalker]

I have come accross an early Vitus bike from a friend and he has asked me if its worth anything. I have a read tons of posts around here and on the net and wanted a honest opinion if its worth listing it here or ebay or somewhere else. Its in original condition nothing broke but not clean with original components. It looks like this http://www.vitusbikes.com/vitus/heritag ... ZxNhXOkfR2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; but with black tubes and all Shimano 600 except the bars are Cinelli and the stem is Cinelli and the seatpost is Campy. Any opinions are welcome.

They were widely used for one race by pros, then tossed. My Dad had one and it apparently cracked easily, as did many. For the most part they lost stiffness extremely fast and miiiiiight be a collector's item, but not a high dollar one.

[shoemakerpom2010]

I know what you mean by flexing. My buddy sat on it and I swear I could see the frame flex like a z-rim from 30 years ago. He took it to the shop and had them tune it a little. I am just thinking the frame would be the only thing someone would care about since the wheels and all the parts are corroded and probally 5 or 6 speed. If I list it what would a good price point be. I want to let him know if its even worth it to ship or go local. The problem with local I feel nobody in my area would be interested.

[JesseD]

Its a vitus 979, I had one and its a bit of a collectors item nowadays.

I'd love another one but my GFsays I am not allowed to add to my collection.

[shoemakerpom2010]

I will take pictures on Saturday and put it up here so maybe somebody wants a project to do. If it was me I would strip the frame minus the bb since that might be hard to get and build a ww special. The angles alone look very racy. Unfortunatley the funds don't allow another project for me at this time. thanks for the help fellows.

[eric]

Vitus 979s were actually quite durable. I used mine as my only bike- racing and training- for 5 years. I quit riding and put it in the attic, then got it back out 10 years later when I got back into riding. I used it for a while, then turned it into a rain bike.

The 979 Carbone was noted for the tubes coming unbonded. The regular dural aluminium ones didn't have that problem very often. Harry Havnoonian had a service of re-bonding Vitus frames and even made his own similar frame for a while.

The later 979s have a really stupid seat post fixing screw- it's a set screw that pushes on the post. It does have a flat end but it'll dent light seat posts (i.e. American Classic). The screw also seizes in the lug.

The ride is quite nice. It's comparable to my better riding carbon frame. The fork is aluminium and not as nice riding as a good carbon fork. The frame is flexy. It doesn't bother me, and it didn't bother the large number of pros who rode 979s in the 80s. Many teams got 979s painted to look like the sponsor frames. It was one of the lighter frames you could get back then. It's heavy now at 1600g.

You can modernize 979s with newer kit but the frame is 126mm and can't be cold set. I'm leery of just spreading it with a 130mm wheel, so I found an old 126mm wheel in the attic that takes hyperglide cogs and did a 8 of 9 on 7 setup. You could do 9 of 10 if you have 10sp kit. The BB shell is normal 68mm english.

[Franklin]

They were widely used for one race by pros, then tossed. .

I'm 99,99% sure thats a myth. There is no evidence for that story, actually, the evidence for catastrophic failures is also almost non-existent!

The reason is that if it fails, it fails at the bonds and this is announced by a lot of creaking. Nobody with a brain would ride on, you would need it to be rebonded.

[grydeklar]

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[ultimobici]

I have come accross an early Vitus bike from a friend and he has asked me if its worth anything. I have a read tons of posts around here and on the net and wanted a honest opinion if its worth listing it here or ebay or somewhere else. Its in original condition nothing broke but not clean with original components. It looks like this http://www.vitusbikes.com/vitus/heritag ... ZxNhXOkfR2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; but with black tubes and all Shimano 600 except the bars are Cinelli and the stem is Cinelli and the seatpost is Campy. Any opinions are welcome.

I think you are bullshitting us, if you have read tons of posts, you would know it is actually worth something, and why would you make such an effort if you didn't have a clue as to if its worth something, huh, and for a friend, come on man! If you don't know anything about the frame and its worth, how can you know about original components?

Funny enough there is a similar oost to this at cycling forums.com on the same date under the alias Big Ed. Check it out: http://www.cyclingforums.com/t/101342/n ... -vitus-979 only here he does not know the make of stem and handlebars and he does not know the make of hubs and other components,
snipped

Did you check the date of the posting you quoted? It's from March 2004 not June 2012. Suggest you revise or delete your post now before it offends.

[jpanspac]

It looks like 2012 to me. Not sure where you got 2004.

[Rick]

I would love to have a 979, if in near mint condition. I wouldn't worry about the bonds or flexing at all.
But that's just me, I guess.

[ultimobici]

It looks like 2012 to me. Not sure where you got 2004.

This link is to a 2004 posting on another forum http://www.cyclingforums.com/t/101342/n ... -vitus-979

[djwalker]

In the early '80s I had a Vitus 992. It was fairly flexible in the bottom bracket area. After about a year the seat tube failed by cracking straight across right at the rivet for the front derailleur hanger. I was riding to work and wondered why it suddenly felt like I had suspension. No creaking or anything beforehand. I just stood on the pedal and suddenly it was bouncing up and down.

[folano]

I had a 992, it was/is a great bike, felt like steel compared to modern alu frames, and ddin't notice it being flexy.
Sold it though cos the headset could not be replaced, it used a system of needle rollers as cups, once they were worn that was it.
Shame cos when it was polished up it has that delorean alloy shine, looked great.
They were very popular in the nineties, maybe because kelly rode one, and were as light as you could get until carbon came along.