Fibber

Yesterday I met a very interesting gentlemen while responding to a Craigslist ad. I went looking for some hard anodized 700 wheels for a '89 Trek 1000 that I'm attempting to make roadworthy. The asking price was decent for what he had, but it was more than I really wanted to spend given the needs of the bike. He knew it, and was understanding. Seems that he had recently given up on conventional style bikes and had gone hardcore recumbent - and was liquidating much of his stock.

In the end, I offered him more than his $45 asking price given his level of generosity, but he refused the extra cash. I walked away with matching front and rear Arraya CTL-370 grey clincher rims on Suntour GPS hubs, with skewers & a close ratio Suntour 7 speed freewheel cluster, 4 usable 700c tires (two Conti's, two Vittoria), and about a dozen tubes (6 new in boxes).

We then got talking about road frames (Al vs steel), and he showed me an unfinished project bike of unusual (to me...) construction. An all silver LITAGE. The alloy tubing looks to be both bonded and rivet/screw fastened at all joints, dropouts, etc. The seat stay assembly is most unusual - multi-piece construction. Unfortunately, all of the castings have oxidized, so it looks more like white frosted ends to polished aluminum tubes! It was pretty complete other than missing a front wheel, and he again tossed it in free for parts or repair.

Any thoughts or experience with this frame? Worth the work to restore the polished silver look? How did these forks hold up? I'd like to avoid a 'death fork' style experience!

rotharpunc

pics? sounds rare, if nothing else

martl

Yep, they were around. Here is a Sakae Litage racing frame:






and his MTB brother (was mine)

unworthy1

I think this was an aluminum fork that had a much better track record than earlier AL fork attempts. May be the fork that was later marketed as a "Prism" or "Prizm" and came OEM on several brands, tho that one may have been mfg. in Taiwan. Personally, I would avoid an aluminum fork of any make, but that's just my preference.

2fast4u

Light but flexy.

WNG

I believe it was a later attempt at copying a Vitus 979, but the unions were also threaded not swaged.
Inspect the joints, if they aren't coming apart, I'd invest the sweat to polish it back to shiny condition. Though a lot of polishing is ahead of you.

Some pics of a very nice example...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/grbikin...7600259254635/

Fibber

That's the right frame, but the one shown on that flickr site has a much higher level of componentry. Any idea on the approximate date? Isn't that rear stay arrangement and how it is all bonded/screwed together pretty neat?

This has Mavic brakes, mid-line Shimano 7 speed index shifters, a Campy rear wheel, etc. One nice upgrade that I might use on another bike is a pair of Kelly Takeoffs.

I'm both attracted to it (all silver, very light), yet repulsed... as most of the rest of my collection is old steel! It is going to have to sit for a while until I decide which way to go.

WNG

Yes, the stays are a hoot! A cool evolution of the Bador's construction. There was a thread here on this frame....I think it mentioned late 80s to early 90s.
Sounds like you got quite a good deal from the seller. It is a period piece, and is unique, albeit not very practical, as compared to the longevity of steel. It is mechanized art. Should you grow weary of it, PM me.

PS...just noticed Dutchess County. I lived in Wappingers Falls for a little while. I was working at IBM

Fibber

Cool... Hopewell Junction area & same employer! What are you doing now?