Vitus Belleri and diameters help please.
06-09-13, 11:06 AM
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Vitus Belleri and diameters help please.
Hi All. I've recently aquired an early Vitus 979, pre internal cable routing and grub screw. The stem is fubar and I'm looking for a replacement but I've no clue what the diameter of the steerer end for a vitus is nor the clamping area for Belleri bars. Any help is much appreciated.
06-10-13, 07:22 PM
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Why not just polish out those scratches on the stem....if that's all that's wrong with it and if it's the right size for you as it's a very nice looking one. Especially with the Belleri pantographed script on it....
Most likely a 25mm diameter bar. The stem might be 22mm French diameter neck....being its an early Vitus 979 bike it's on......
Most likely a 25mm diameter bar. The stem might be 22mm French diameter neck....being its an early Vitus 979 bike it's on......
Last edited by Chombi; 06-10-13 at 07:27 PM.
06-11-13, 07:44 AM
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A set of $10-$20 digital calipers (Harbor Freight is a good source) is your friend many times over in bike land.
Have you pulled the stem to see if it is marked on the bottom of the quill? Sometimes subtle. Cinelli placed a "countersink" on their 22.0mm stems.
Have you pulled the stem to see if it is marked on the bottom of the quill? Sometimes subtle. Cinelli placed a "countersink" on their 22.0mm stems.
06-17-13, 05:57 AM
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Thanks for the responses guys. The reason the stem needs replacement is it split right at the clamp as you can see in the pic.
I suspect it was fractured when I purchased the bike because when I adjusted the bar to swivel it up it didn't really clamp tight. Went for a test ride after the adjustment, reached for the brakes and bar swivels right down. That was fun! Brought it in, tightened the clamp up and got the split you see. Never had that happen before. Pulled the stem, but the only mark on it besides the min insertion line is a "110" stamp. I've ordered a replacement, without a measurement, of another 22 diameter belleri stem with 25 clamp. I also suspect it is french. We'll see. No harbor freight btw in germany.
But maybe I should invest in a caliper if I'm going to be messing around with a french bike...
On a related note has anyone ever seen a shimano 105 headset in french threading? The only ones I've seen on ebay are older dura ace and 600 stuff. The locknut is stamped HP-1050 BC1 which I believe means it's English threaded? I unscrewed the top threaded race and pulled the fork. The threaded race engages the threads without effort and does not appear to be crosss threaded but it also engages the threads looser than I think is normal. Once tightened down with the fork in place there is no play. The headset is obviously not original so I'm wondering if the previous owner did not realize what kind of headset the fork probably takes. The fork btw has an embossed vitus logo instead of the usual sticker, furthering my belief that it is quite an early 979. I think I may try to see if a lbs has the top threaded race of a french headset that I can borrow to see if it will screw on.
I suspect it was fractured when I purchased the bike because when I adjusted the bar to swivel it up it didn't really clamp tight. Went for a test ride after the adjustment, reached for the brakes and bar swivels right down. That was fun! Brought it in, tightened the clamp up and got the split you see. Never had that happen before. Pulled the stem, but the only mark on it besides the min insertion line is a "110" stamp. I've ordered a replacement, without a measurement, of another 22 diameter belleri stem with 25 clamp. I also suspect it is french. We'll see. No harbor freight btw in germany.
But maybe I should invest in a caliper if I'm going to be messing around with a french bike... On a related note has anyone ever seen a shimano 105 headset in french threading? The only ones I've seen on ebay are older dura ace and 600 stuff. The locknut is stamped HP-1050 BC1 which I believe means it's English threaded? I unscrewed the top threaded race and pulled the fork. The threaded race engages the threads without effort and does not appear to be crosss threaded but it also engages the threads looser than I think is normal. Once tightened down with the fork in place there is no play. The headset is obviously not original so I'm wondering if the previous owner did not realize what kind of headset the fork probably takes. The fork btw has an embossed vitus logo instead of the usual sticker, furthering my belief that it is quite an early 979. I think I may try to see if a lbs has the top threaded race of a french headset that I can borrow to see if it will screw on.
06-17-13, 06:26 AM
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Oi! That looks scary!......when stem bar clamps crack, it's usually somewhere around where the bar goes through and not the pinch bolt area where yours did. I suspect there was a flaw in the casting on that stem that cuased it. Kinda gives you an idea on how bad the QC was on some French stuff was back then.... I suspect that if those components did not come from France, people would have not bothered with them all for their bikes. I guess all the French cycling "Mystique" really carried a lot of French manufacturers longer in the cycling industry than they really deserved to be considering the questionable stuff some of them came out with...
06-17-13, 06:34 AM
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Sure was scary to reach for your brakes and not find them! I suspect you're right about a casting flaw. It seemed such a strange place for it to break and with no real force applied to it. This bike keeps surprising me, and not in a good way... Never meant for this to be the project it's turned in to.
