Amazing " barn find. " Vitus and Campy experts please.

Agency_Scum

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My fab local butcher's unearthed his old Vitus ( pictures to follow soon ). Fabulous Dura Ace wheelset and headset with what looks like top-of-the-line Campy 7 speed indexed drivetrain and brakes with screw-on freewheel. Frame's lugged aluminium, coming away from the BB lug at the bottom of the seat tube ( gonna be fun fixing ). I'm off down there now with me camera....
 
Clean Vitus 979 or 992 frames (the alloy lugged ones) can be desirable. They are great frames despite the fears of bonding fails (I've never heard of one failing). If it's badged as a Vitus then great, alternatively it could be a TVT, KAS or Alan vitus-framed bike, if so then these can be worth more. Make sure you check for cracks in the alloy lugs before you buy, risk areas are dropouts and head tubes around headset. We'll need pics to determine Campagnolo kit but this could influence value vastly.
 
Forgot to mention it's not to buy but to help him restore. Frame number is 129681. Pics to follow when I get home....
 
More likely to be an ALAN if it has Campag parts fitted







Agency_Scum":1ia6pxul said:
Forgot to mention it's not to buy but to help him restore. ....



Hope he's not slipping you a sausage for your efforts :shock:






I'll get my coat :oops:
 
Agency_Scum":39of2pcm said:
Forgot to mention it's not to buy but to help him restore. Frame number is 129681. Pics to follow when I get home....

OK, sorry.

Looking forward to seeing the pics. Try to get close-up pics of brakes, gears, chainset and hubs
 
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The bike

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The damage, tube has come unstuck.

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Nice mech, never seen white jockeys before.

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Indexed 7 speed.

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Nice bits.
 
It's a Vitus 979 alright, still has the remnants of it's decals. The components are quite a mix, you have a nice Chorus 8sp r/mech with 7sp Athena downtube synro shifters plus Chorus/Athena brake levers. Your cranks 'look' like Athena too. The wheels seem later with newer style Dura Ace decals though I can't be certain. They look like they should be able to take an 8sp block as the clearance between large sprocket and spokes seems large so shouldn't be difficult to upgrade if that's your thing. Cinelli bars and stem are nice too. All-in-all an excellent find.

Does the downtube bond look dodgy, the fit should be tighter but your pic is unclear. It can be fixed if it's loose but it can be quite a performace.
 
Glue technology, like most technologies has moved on a lot since the late 70s and 80s. We use a 3m glue for laminating glass reinforced plastic to aluminium at work. The bond is so strong the alloy or GRP will give way before the bond. The problem you've got there is that is one of the worst joints to become separated. You need movement to be able to meticulously clean before rebonding. Separating the other joints to get the movement in the bottom bracket could be very difficult if the bonds are good.

Anyway, you should get the bike for free because that definitely isn't a butcher's bike :LOL:
 
That's the joint that usually goes, bit of a pain to fix without dismantling the other joints. There are a couple of companies who will do the repairs but not sure what the cost is. If the anodising on the rest of the frame is good and not all chips then it's worth spending money on.
 
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