Vitus carbon 9 bonding issue

Easy_Rider · Jul 1, 2010

Good idea with the epoxy.

The previous owner said he believed that the downtube/BB had come unstuck, but to me the only suspect one is the TT.

I cannot see any play or movement whatsoever. The slight whitening at the end of the tubes which I initially thought may be glue could well be slight oxidisation of the aluminium.

Would the frame fail catastrophically or would I get some warning, like a loose twangy bike?

Would be a real shame to turn this into a wall hanger

wired99 · Jul 1, 2010

I had an aluminium frame that had little bubbles where the tubes boneded to the lugs. It looked like it had been rebonded, albeit pretty shoddily.

chipper · Jul 1, 2010

I used the standard alloy 979 for racing for the latter half of the eighties,they suited me fine,being 65 KG at the time,but I did change the frames more or less yearly just as a precaution.But I was always put off buying a carbon one,mainly by the stories of how many Sean Kelly used to go through a season

I read somewhere that the problems caused by the carbon fiber main tubes being so stiff, all the frame flex gets concentrated at the joints, causing premature structural fatigue.Not sure if they just start to 'unbond' or actually crack. :?

Old Ned · Jul 2, 2010

chipper":11rw1hz8 said:
I used the standard alloy 979 for racing for the latter half of the eighties,they suited me fine,being 65 KG at the time,but I did change the frames more or less yearly just as a precaution.But I was always put off buying a carbon one,mainly by the stories of how many Sean Kelly used to go through a season
I read somewhere that the problems caused by the carbon fiber main tubes being so stiff, all the frame flex gets concentrated at the joints, causing premature structural fatigue.Not sure if they just start to 'unbond' or actually crack. :?

That's the sort of thing I was thinking about. Mr K rode one to many wins - but was it just the one?! Highly probably not! I know where there is a very nice NOS one and I've been sorely tempted as I really like my 979 bike - and I could hopefully trust it hasn't been 'abused'.

To answer the question, yes, I believe they are a carbon wrapped aluminium tube (but if I'm wrong - somebody pleae tell me!)

Vitus carbon 9 bonding issue

Easy_Rider

wired99

chipper

Retro Guru

Old Ned

Old School Grand Master

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