I come from this era in cycling loved those frames but could not afford one, used to do all that work with eyes shut but all these years later had to think, but I instantly picked up your gear shift error!..nice wheels I had a hand built Bob Jackson 531 Pro frame suntour superbe pro groupset mavic rims, thanks, look forward to part 2
Thanks! It was the first time I was putting proper downtube shifters, hence the trial and error. But they shift great in the end. I've ridden more than 100 miles already and hadn't have any problems. I'm curious about your Bob Jackson. Do you have any videos? The part 2 of this Vitus 979 build video is almost finished, I'm planning to put the voice-over and I'm experimenting with the audio setup.
@@polishTinkerer I'm 64 now but if I got on a new bike I would be looking for gear shift on down tube all the time! I was a road runner but due to persistent injuries I took up a bike and got hooked on it joined my local club. No good mind! Just an average all rounder!..first bike was a Dawes imperial, second hand , which they all laughed at with my 36/50 chain set (but they never knew about my running/injury) I am in west cornwall so can stop and admire the views when I got shattered.... Frequently
@@polishTinkerer oh no i only have a photo of it 23.5 inch frame i can remember the guy in my local bike shop measuring me up for it i ordered it and had it delivered to the shop and i bought some components from bike mags and the rest in the shop and then he put it all together
1a cinelli stem cinelli 42 bars iscaselle saddle 28 spoke mavic rims (i had 28 and not 36 as in my area west cornwall the roads are very heavy so stiffer ride so as not to have the rims out of line so much) i had the very first white look clip racing pedals still got all this gear in my shed
I am building up a 979 myself. and I am having problems fitting the rear derailleur. I have tried to fit a modern Sensah deraiileur and a vintage Campagnolo derailleur. The mounting bolt does not seem to fit. Do the Vitus frames of that period use a different mounting bolt from the M10 x 1 that fits later bikes? I know I had to sand down a quill steam to fit the steerer tube for example. I am wondering if the the derailleur hanger bolt was unique for French bikes and more specifically the Vitus frames of that era. I have the same seat post binder arrangement for the seat post. That is an indication of a frame built between 1979 and 1986 I believe.
I don't suppose that the derailleur mounting thread is different than the standard one. I've simply used the bolt, that came together with the campa derailleur. And it fit without any problems.
I have a similar bike frame from Vitus but with the central screw for the seat post in red color. And I am riding it for 5 years now equipped with Shimano parts: Dura Ace drive with rear and front derailleur, bar end shifters, 600 hubs and brakes. It is a light weight beauty. You should have carefully polished the frame before you start and exchanged the seat post screw which seems to be rusty. Not sure about the steering head bearing, is this a plastic cover outside or just painted white? Otherwise, good job with a good looking result.
@Stsstz - I was thinking about polishing the frame and decided not to - it will ruin any coating that is present there and bare aluminium, even polished, is prone to becoming dull. And I favour the sort of "patina" look on the bike. The seat post screw was rusty indeed, it broke when I was tightening the seat post. It will be replaced. The headset was Shimano, and that white thing was plastic cap that was broken. I'll be replacing it in part 2.
@@polishTinkerer - For enough, don't ruin things if you are not sure how to do. I have just repainted a frame, in parallel have bought different polish tools for my car. So I m getting more experience with painting and polishing. But it I not an easy task, first time often goes wrong.
Mike K - Fair enough, if you are not sure that your treatment will be successful you should avoid it. I have painted a bike frame twice because first time it was looking not nice and it scratched very easy. Now, it is more durable. It is always an experiment if you start a project first time.
Hi there. I’ve just bought a Vitus 1984 mint condition bike. Hardly ridden. Worried about the glued frame after all these years having dried up. Any advice? All the parts are Dura Ace which I could transfer to another steel frame of the same era...love the video very helpful
Hi Paul, Thanks. Not much of an advice, some experience and general knowledge though. I've ridden only 200 km after building that bike and I don't see any loose parts or such. I have another Vitus frame, it's from late '80s, also no signs of dry glue. From what I've heard it's sort of 2 component epoxy-like compound used in aeronautics at that times. The Internet does not report any problems with those frames except for breaking saddle clamps ears. Vitus improved this design later on. Anyway, I see many Vitus aluminium frames for sale and none of them was damaged - unlike Alan, where often steerer tube lug is broken. If I were you I would simply ride this bike, especially on Eroica California where they claim to check for rust on the frames.
I rode a Vitus frame for twenty years no issues. I t boned a Renault which was crossing a cycle lane which unfortunately bent the down tube and the top tube but the joints were still solid.
I read all of the comments. Nobody questioned you about oil on the BB threads? That is not that bad, there is a guy in France who is greasing the tapers of his crank arm. NOO00 Not oil on the taper.... The crank arm dust cap should be greased or oiled. They can get stuck. In the States Park Tools is the big manufacturer of bicycle specific tools. What is the manufacture of professional tools in the UK?
As far as I can remember, I used a rag and some degreaser. I didn't polish it as it wasn't that damaged and I didn't want to ruin the aluminium coating.
Hola, no hablo español. Vitus was and still is a French bike manufacturer. They started with aluminium frames in the late '70s. They still produce very nice bikes. I am not affiliated with them in any way.
Es una colaboración FrancoItaliana de Artesanos en bicicletas en Duraluminio (Aluminio aeronaútico). La Italiana es Marca ALAN, la Francesa es Marca VITUS. Creo es más linda la VITUS.
I come from this era in cycling loved those frames but could not afford one, used to do all that work with eyes shut but all these years later had to think, but I instantly picked up your gear shift error!..nice wheels I had a hand built Bob Jackson 531 Pro frame suntour superbe pro groupset mavic rims, thanks, look forward to part 2
Thanks! It was the first time I was putting proper downtube shifters, hence the trial and error. But they shift great in the end. I've ridden more than 100 miles already and hadn't have any problems. I'm curious about your Bob Jackson. Do you have any videos?
The part 2 of this Vitus 979 build video is almost finished, I'm planning to put the voice-over and I'm experimenting with the audio setup.
@@polishTinkerer I'm 64 now but if I got on a new bike I would be looking for gear shift on down tube all the time! I was a road runner but due to persistent injuries I took up a bike and got hooked on it joined my local club. No good mind! Just an average all rounder!..first bike was a Dawes imperial, second hand , which they all laughed at with my 36/50 chain set (but they never knew about my running/injury) I am in west cornwall so can stop and admire the views when I got shattered.... Frequently
@@polishTinkerer oh no i only have a photo of it 23.5 inch frame i can remember the guy in my local bike shop measuring me up for it i ordered it and had it delivered to the shop and i bought some components from bike mags and the rest in the shop and then he put it all together
1a cinelli stem cinelli 42 bars iscaselle saddle 28 spoke mavic rims (i had 28 and not 36 as in my area west cornwall the roads are very heavy so stiffer ride so as not to have the rims out of line so much) i had the very first white look clip racing pedals still got all this gear in my shed
Cool. Campagnolo Victory with first gen Athena brakes!
I am building up a 979 myself. and I am having problems fitting the rear derailleur. I have tried to fit a modern Sensah deraiileur and a vintage Campagnolo derailleur. The mounting bolt does not seem to fit. Do the Vitus frames of that period use a different mounting bolt from the M10 x 1 that fits later bikes? I know I had to sand down a quill steam to fit the steerer tube for example. I am wondering if the the derailleur hanger bolt was unique for French bikes and more specifically the Vitus frames of that era. I have the same seat post binder arrangement for the seat post. That is an indication of a frame built between 1979 and 1986 I believe.
I don't suppose that the derailleur mounting thread is different than the standard one. I've simply used the bolt, that came together with the campa derailleur. And it fit without any problems.
Keine Alu Bikes bei EROIKA😢 bis auf die vielen Kratzer am Alu Rahmen sehr schön❤
Yes, they are allowed as long as the tubes are not welded.
I have a similar bike frame from Vitus but with the central screw for the seat post in red color. And I am riding it for 5 years now equipped with Shimano parts: Dura Ace drive with rear and front derailleur, bar end shifters, 600 hubs and brakes. It is a light weight beauty.
You should have carefully polished the frame before you start and exchanged the seat post screw which seems to be rusty. Not sure about the steering head bearing, is this a plastic cover outside or just painted white?
Otherwise, good job with a good looking result.
@Stsstz - I was thinking about polishing the frame and decided not to - it will ruin any coating that is present there and bare aluminium, even polished, is prone to becoming dull. And I favour the sort of "patina" look on the bike. The seat post screw was rusty indeed, it broke when I was tightening the seat post. It will be replaced. The headset was Shimano, and that white thing was plastic cap that was broken. I'll be replacing it in part 2.
@@polishTinkerer - For enough, don't ruin things if you are not sure how to do. I have just repainted a frame, in parallel have bought different polish tools for my car. So I m getting more experience with painting and polishing. But it I not an easy task, first time often goes wrong.
Mike K - Fair enough, if you are not sure that your treatment will be successful you should avoid it. I have painted a bike frame twice because first time it was looking not nice and it scratched very easy. Now, it is more durable. It is always an experiment if you start a project first time.
Tengo una con componentes campagnolo, es hermosa, modelito 80 jaja
Hi there. I’ve just bought a Vitus 1984 mint condition bike. Hardly ridden. Worried about the glued frame after all these years having dried up. Any advice? All the parts are Dura Ace which I could transfer to another steel frame of the same era...love the video very helpful
Hi Paul,
Thanks. Not much of an advice, some experience and general knowledge though. I've ridden only 200 km after building that bike and I don't see any loose parts or such. I have another Vitus frame, it's from late '80s, also no signs of dry glue. From what I've heard it's sort of 2 component epoxy-like compound used in aeronautics at that times. The Internet does not report any problems with those frames except for breaking saddle clamps ears. Vitus improved this design later on. Anyway, I see many Vitus aluminium frames for sale and none of them was damaged - unlike Alan, where often steerer tube lug is broken.
If I were you I would simply ride this bike, especially on Eroica California where they claim to check for rust on the frames.
I rode a Vitus frame for twenty years no issues. I t boned a Renault which was crossing a cycle lane which unfortunately bent the down tube and the top tube but the joints were still solid.
I read all of the comments. Nobody questioned you about oil on the BB threads? That is not that bad, there is a guy in France who is greasing the tapers of his crank arm. NOO00 Not oil on the taper.... The crank arm dust cap should be greased or oiled. They can get stuck. In the States Park Tools is the big manufacturer of bicycle specific tools. What is the manufacture of professional tools in the UK?
How did you clean and polish the frame?
As far as I can remember, I used a rag and some degreaser. I didn't polish it as it wasn't that damaged and I didn't want to ruin the aluminium coating.
Buen trabajo, yo pondría unas ruedas con aros Mavic Open 4 CD. Más retro.
Hola, ¿qué país fabrica estas bicicletas?
Hola, no hablo español.
Vitus was and still is a French bike manufacturer. They started with aluminium frames in the late '70s. They still produce very nice bikes. I am not affiliated with them in any way.
Es una colaboración FrancoItaliana de Artesanos en bicicletas en Duraluminio (Aluminio aeronaútico).
La Italiana es Marca ALAN, la Francesa es Marca VITUS.
Creo es más linda la VITUS.
El cuadro es impresionante, dónde conseguir uno de ésos?
Which picture you mean?
@@polishTinkerer He means the frame.
Tengo uno todo el juego durace parece que el tiempo se detuvo en el ,como nueva la bisicleta
It’s a Vitus A line whatever that means
Specialiter des cadre vitus ces le decollage ,,,!
Из России с любовью
Beautiful bike !!! I ve got one too. A Bertin blue.
ua-cam.com/video/DdVV_5p0Hn8/v-deo.html