Quote:
Originally Posted by jyl
Guys, tell me about the old Vitus frames, the lugged aluminum 979 and similar 1980's vintage frames. I listed after these back in the day, but I was into mountain biking then, so I bought my mountain bike instead. I think the 979 bikes cost over $2K then, too rich then and too rich now. I see those Vitus frames go for $150-250 on eBay now. Whippy? Comfy? I'm not a serious cyclist, this will be basically a posing around town bike - there, being honest. 180 lbs or will be soon, with the leg muscle of an anemic 120 pounder - who's 90 years old.
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I love old Vitus bikes...I have three.
Here is my fixed gear hot rod - 3 tube carbon vitus. I freakin' love this thing. Its been my primary steed since I built it this spring. The wheels were the pricey bit of this bike...Mavic Open Pros laced with a Phil high flange 28 hole track hub in front. In the rear is a 32 hole White Industries ENO eccentric hub. The ENO is an expensive piece, but it is the only clean way to be able to adjust chain tension on a fixed gear conversion using a verticle dropout frame. Aside from wheels, most everything else came out of my personal parts stash. Handle bars are Scott Lite Flite AT3 mountain bike bars.
And I have this Vitus 979 built up with a full period-correct Campy Croce D'Aune group. I rode the Montauk Century on this bike earlier this year, its an all-day comfortable machine:
The third vitus I built up is one for my wife...
Vitus have a reputation of being stupidly flexible, but I find them to be great riding bikes and have no issues with them. The springiness helps soak up bumps and vibrations. Full disclosure I am 5'8" 140-145 lbs (my frames are 52cm and 53cm).
I happen to really like springy flexible frames...my mountain bike (now converted to urban assault/commuter work) is a Breezer Cloud 9 with Ritchey Logic Prestige Chromoly tubes that are so thin that you can almost dent them by squeezing hard with your thumb and fore finger.