Vitus 979 frame
 

I am about to buy a Vitus frame with no bottom bracket, headset or seat post. Will I be able to find the proper sizes for these components? Can you advise me as to where I might buy them? Thanks a million for advice. The photo is of another frame that I own to show the vintage (1986). Not sure why two pics showed up.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=311666http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=311666

If you have a later 979 (at least the second gen) it most likely will need an ISO.BSC (English) sized headset. My 85 Carbone that uses pretty much the same head tube section as the 979s has a BSC headset and my BB shell is also threaded English. I think there were older 979s that did have French threading and headset size, and I suspect those were pre-85 frames. Only way to be sure is to measure the head tube opening with calipers. Your LBS can do that for you if you do not have calipers. Sheldon brown should have the different measurements for headset standards on his site. The better determinant of course is the threading on the steerer tube as you will know right away what headset you need if you test it with a headset locknut you know is a French or an English threaded headset, but note that Italian and English headset locknuts can be interchanged because their thread size is close enough.

A nice headset to put on the 979s would be the French made Stronglight's model A9 headset. You can still find the older needle bearing version NOS once in a while at eBay, but you will have to pay quite a bit for them. Easily over 70 bucks. You can also opt to get the new version of the headset that has sealed ball bearing cartridges on it. I have one on one of my bikes and its working very well. If you want a bargain version of a needle bearing headset, check out Miche's model Primato, which is pretty much a direct copy of Stronglight's needle bearing headsets. A bargain at under 40 bucks sometimes, brand new! I have the Primato on one of my other bikes too, and it's working just as well as my Stronglights.

Chombi

What's up with the fork?
Ask if the owner has the original still.


Hey chombi, what are the seat post sizing on these, I'm curious as well. It's not something crazy like 25.0 like on Alan's is it?

The seatpost is 25.0mm diameter. A little tougher to find than the norm for steel frames, but still out there. However, it's held in place by a set screw on the back, so a genuine Vitus seatpost is needed (I think). I bet Euro-Asia Imports still has then (see that thread for my comments).

As above, it's probably standard English bottom bracket and headset, but a good bike shop can verify that for you. If it's not, French and Italian BB's are still out there.

It is a 25mm seatpost for 979s. Not really that rare, there are always enough of them for sale at eBay everyday. The one on the Carbones are harder to find at 23mm...unless you want to use a straight post for a BMX bike which shares the same size, it's close to getting to be unobtainium. So never buy a Vitus Carbone frameset unless it includes the seatpost!

Chombi

Especially the ones that DON'T have the set screw behind the seat post, mine is like a quill stem, makes it difficult to adjust seat height that's for sure.

My Vitus 979 that I bought new in 1986 uses a normal seatpost binder bolt and I use a Dura-Ace 25.0mm seat post. 1" ISO threaded headset and English bottom bracket.

Interesting. The 979 frames that I saw at Euro-Asia in 1987-1989 all had the set-screw type seatpost binder.

The grub screw anchored seatpost actually worked well as used on the 979s and Carbones as they used a grub screw with a special pivoting bearing nose that maximized contact with a flat machined strip at the back of the proprietary seatpost made for Vitus by a seatpost company named "Rubis".
For the system to work best, one should use the special post, but I guess one can also have a flat strip machined into most other brand post if a proper Rubis post cannot be found for the frame.

The grub screw seatpost pinching system started appearing on Vitus frames in 1985 as a solution to pinch clamp cracking problems that was happening to Vitus framesets.

Chombi

My 979 BB is English thread. The Headset is a pretty rare Mavic-310. It could be French standard threading. I have serviced the set, but I never mic'ed up the cupps or the steerer tube. But, I had no trouble finding a Nitto quill stem to replace the Cinelli 1R that was originally in their. The seatpost is a Nitto Crystal but I can't remember the size.

I used to think that all 979's were ISO/English, but the more I find tidbits floating around the net from time to time, the more eccentric the story seems to become. If the epoxied, interference fitted lugs are intact and you are not a clyde, go for it and deal with the issues as they come up. They are great frames to own and enjoy.

(DON'T COLD—SET the stays. Heavily wax the "lugs" or joints if you are riding in the wet.)

I broke a rear axle on mine and ended up replacing the wheel with a modern one with 10 speed cassette. It was a minor stretch to spread the stays from 126 to 130 mm. I have had no problems after several thousand miles, but I am not a powerhouse rider either.

The frame in the photos looks like the same model as mine (judging by the seatpost binder, at least). Mine has an Italian BB, DA7400 headset, and you don't need a special seatpost, so you're probably good to go for parts.

Thanks for all of the comments. I found a seat post on Ebay, not the vintag I hoped for, but it will do for now. FYI, the bottom bracket was english threaded and the seat post clamp is pretty standard on this year.

I just picked up what I think is an early 90's 979, good to see the excellent info and positive comments here. It's all there but it's currently in strip down mode for a deep cleaning and R&R, it has a complete 105 gruppo with Biopace C/R!. I'm chomping to get it on the road and check out the new vintage tech! BTW, nice blue frame Lightfoot21!

I have a Vitus 979 with an Italian bottom bracket. Can I install a shimano compatible bottom bracket that is not a V2? V2 crank sets are hard to find.
Thanks