Ever heard of a bike called Bifrato? Vitus 979 dural

[PerB]

An interesting alu framed vintage bike has turned up here I Norway, The seller calls it a Bifrato. I tried to Google this but nothing turned up.

The bike in question sees to be of late eighties vintage, the seller says its fully Campa equipped, from the pictures it seems to be Super Record gears. But the crank is Mavic.



The frame is labelled Vitus 979.


There is a lot of information of Vitus 979 framed bikes on the net but not one word of a Bifrato, does anyone know?

BRG

Per

 

[Old Ned]

Vitus 979 frames can turn up with all sorts of names on them. I think they probably supplied them without name decals so even a small nondescript shop could fit their own.

 

[PerB]

Thanks for the reply, whats the general value of a Vitus979 framed bike, on ebay they are for sale for anything from GBP 300 to 1300,- this one is in the lower end of the prices.

 

[Frankjorgen]

An interesting alu framed vintage bike has turned up here I Norway, The seller calls it a Bifrato. I tried to Google this but nothing turned up.

The bike in question sees to be of late eighties vintage, the seller says its fully Campa equipped, from the pictures it seems to be Super Record gears. But the crank is Mavic.



The frame is labelled Vitus 979.


There is a lot of information of Vitus 979 framed bikes on the net but not one word of a Bifrato, does anyone know?

BRG

Per

An interesting alu framed vintage bike has turned up here I Norway, The seller calls it a Bifrato. I tried to Google this but nothing turned up.

The bike in question sees to be of late eighties vintage, the seller says its fully Campa equipped, from the pictures it seems to be Super Record gears. But the crank is Mavic.



The frame is labelled Vitus 979.


There is a lot of information of Vitus 979 framed bikes on the net but not one word of a Bifrato, does anyone know?

BRG

Per

My name is Frank, my son Thorstein,my Wife Birgith. Bifrato come from the start of that 3 names, I sold them from my shop in Ringsted Denmark. I bild them I bild them whit my one frames or other frames if the costemer whant it. I chlose the store fore about 20 years ago.

 

[Jesper]

I also have a couple Vitus 979 frames that are badged with small shop names. Very common; ALAN did the same thing with their aluminium frames, as did many other companies with steel frames.
I will warn folks that getting these lugged alloy frames can be risky; especially larger ones which one would assume had a much heavier rider on them than smaller frames. Those frames were bonded with some sort of epoxy resin if I recall correctly and they can separate either due to their level of usage or age. The bonding material does break down over time. I would never ride one that looks like it already has much use and I am only 140 lbs. Also, they are somewhat prone to cracking at the lower head lug and /or bottom bracket as I have witnessed. The frames themselves can be re-bonded ( probably even better than the original given the advances throughout the past 40 years), and that would be my recommendation for anyone wanting to seriously ride these frames. The ALAN frames were a bit better as they would screw the tubing into the lugs along with using a bonding substance, but they are also prone to the same cracking as the Vitus frames. Take a close look at all conjunctions and make sure there are no visible cracks; I use a magnifying glass myself.

 

[Frankenorange]

My name is Frank, my son Thorstein,my Wife Birgith. Bifrato come from the start of that 3 names, I sold them from my shop in Ringsted Denmark. I bild them I bild them whit my one frames or other frames if the costemer whant it. I chlose the store fore about 20 years ago.

This forum is brilliant. Love it when things like this happen

 

[Jesper]

Thanks for the reply, whats the general value of a Vitus979 framed bike, on ebay they are for sale for anything from GBP 300 to 1300,- this one is in the lower end of the prices.

If the rear mech and front changer are Super record parts in good condition I would probably put it in the $400 to $500 USD range without knowledge of the rest of the components and function. Assuming there may be more SR parts (headset, bottom bracket assy, on it (the shifters are not Campagnolo) then the value would be based more on the components than the frame, but could still add a little to the value. Even with a full SR group if would not be valued over $700 in my market (USA). Vitus frames do not have any real artisan allure as hand built steel frames of the same period since it does not take nearly the skill to glue tubes together as it does to braze a frame.

 

[otherself]

Like other posters said they were all made by Vitus factory and re=badged. Graham Weigh cycles put his own decals on alloy Vitus frames back in the 80's and early 90's. They sold well because top rider Sean Kelly rode them at the time.

 

[Canuk]

I've got a 979 badged up 'Concorde', I'm just waiting to see a Team Raleigh version!

 

[Canuk]

How much are they looking for it?