Hi there,

Ive recently taken a curiosity into early aluminium frames for a new project and in the end I had found a Peugeot Comete which I bought, very excited for it to arrive. But while searching Ive noticed that early aluminium track frames seem very rare, with only a couple of Vitus 979 examples showing on an initial search. Im assuming lots of people can prove this wrong!

Would love to see any examples if people have them, or maybe know why they seem quite rare?

the Vitus piste frames were rare enough.
The majority of track frames were for sprint or mass start races.
Frames like the Vitus were probably best for pursuit work, a much smaller market.

Cannondale did some later, and MAYBE Klein.

Alan Pista, brochure from 1983. I'm sure some years before these were used on the track.

I don't think Alu frames were NJS certified. That alone would limit numbers.

What makes aluminium frames less suited for the sprinting? + suited for pursuit and the more common aluminium road frames?

Nice! Im surprised there arnt more of these type of frames around, I guess is was a small window before innovation moved onto carbon?

The comment was made in reference to the Vitus frames which used standard diameter metric tubing, The resulting frames were quite whippy., which is not the characteristic you want in a sprint fame. It reduces responsiveness to both pedal and steering input. Oversize aluminum frames solve this issue and are in a different league.

Whippy?....Aluminum frames from the 80's can certainly perform just as good or better than steel frames......
Just ask Sean Kelly, one of the best pro sprinters in the field in the 80's, did it on Vitus 979s......

To fix something, it’s gotta first be made. To me it’s a matter of money. How many track frames are made annually vs road? For a big makers, why tie up expensive tooling on your lowest volume product? For a small maker, aluminum would likely be a non starter for any frame due to cost , and space limitations.

don't ya know, the bike "planed".

It has been a while, but I recall the Alan frames being equal to standard diameters, the Vitus as I recall had a standard diameter seat tube, an oversized top tube and I forget on the downtube.

They did flex more. though less than the Alan.
On the track, I was so happy when I moved to steel bars and stem. Just felt more secure, not faster per se, but no anxiety that I was going to break something during a jump. no creaking. assurance.
My favorite track bike used PS tubing and the 24mm fork blades. Don't ask what it weighed. I did not want to know. Still don't.