New Article Published "Light & Legendary: VITUS 979"

[kohl57@yahoo.com]

here is the Vitus 979 shifter boss assembly... don't think this changed over the years:

https://www.ebay.fr/itm/Kit-passage-man ... rk:20f:0

Peter Kohler
Washington DC USA

 

[Old Ned]

Peter, your 'Irish' Sean Yates mention is in the Sem section along with Sean Kelly, just above the photo of Sean's first Paris - Nice stage win in his white jersey. Don't worry, with such a long article probably written at intervals it's easy to make small errors. I've done it myself. Often.

I'll dig out the leaflet tomorrow, I think I know where it is. There's also a Peugeot catalogue but not sure of the year. I'll also try and brave the cold of the loft and check out the numbers on my frame.

 

[torqueless]

Re:

Apologies.. With daylight and a magnifying glass I find there is indeed the slotted head of a bolt down inside my non drive side shifter boss. A steel bolt I reckon.

Initial production beginning in June 1979 was 100 frames a day. On 10 December 1980 the 10,000th Vitus frame was completed.

Peter, I'm struggling to make sense of these figures.

Roughly, there are 78 weeks between (say) the 10th of June 1979, and the 10th of December 1980. Divide 10,000 by 78 and you get (roughly) 128. So that would be 128 frames per week. That is a long way from 100 frames per day, unless Bador/Vitus were working a one-and-a-quarter day week?

Are you sure that initial production was not rather one hundred frames per week?

If it was indeed one hundred per day it must have slowed down a hell of a lot to take until December 1980 to reach 10,000. That shouldn't have taken more than 100 (working) days? I guess even in France there are more than 100 working days in 78 weeks?

 

[kohl57@yahoo.com]

Re:

Sorry, that must be a mistake on my part or from the original source. I will delete it and stick to the annual production figures. By 1992 it was quoted as being 130,000 total and since production ended another five years later, it was probably about 145,000 total.

 

[torqueless]

Re:

Well, 1979 to 1992 is thirteen years, so 130,000 frames over that period is conveniently ten thousand frames per year. Divide 10,000 by 52(weeks in the year) and you get about 192. So, very simplistically, we're talking about 192 frames per week.

I have no idea as to whether production might have expanded or contracted over the years by any appreciable factor, or whether it was more or less 'steady state', but it seems to me that if you start out at 100 frames per week, eighteen months later you realise you've been making 128 frames per week, and thirteen years later you realise you've been making 192 frames per week... well.. that is a good business, and it sounds like a feasible scenario.

On the other hand, if you start out with the idea of making 100 frames per day, and eighteen months later you realise you've only made 18 frames per day, and thirteen years later you realise you've been making 27 frames per day... well.. that is prising a small success from the jaws of abject failure, and it doesn't sound feasible to me, but what do I know?

It does look suspiciously like somebody might've mistook 'le jour' for 'la semaine' It'd be a shame to delete the 'hundred per day' reference- It must have come from somewhere. You could instead note that the other production figures make it look possible that it's a week's production rather than a day's. That way someone might get back to you with clarification? But it's your call, of course.

 

[Little Al]

I spannered for the "Fangio" team 83/86 & they rode Vitus framesets badged "Fangio" some supplied frames for the 85 season were the "losange" but after a couple of the early classics we sere asked to strip off the kit & rebuild on 979's the "boy packed them in his van departed & returned with the same #of 979's after muttering from the riders. AFAIR the cable eyes gear lever bosses etc.were just epoxied in place but we used to used a very small counter sink drill & put a tiny indention in the down tube/gear lever bosses to have tiny points in the adhesive which reduced them getting knocked of in crashes From the beginning we used a 25mm seat post wth a wedge ar la Stem set up & just removed the clamp bolt ears & drilled & tapped the seat lug cleaning it up & a M5allen screw fastener

 

[kohl57@yahoo.com]

Excellent... many thanks for this added information. I knew that Fangio used Alans c. 1981 but wasn't aware they used 979s later. And documented used of Vitus "losange" is even better. I will update my article and hope to find some photos, too.

Peter Kohler
Washington, DC USA

 

[Old Ned]

There was a very interesting Vitus alloy frame/bike for sale yesteday at the jumble near Hull. It had an 'aero' head tube (tapering back into a shallow 'Vee' shape) and tubes flattened/ovalled at the ends like Columbus Max. Allen key grub screw for the seat post. A 58cm size but still with a 22" top tube. It was slightly to big for me which was a good excuse/reason for me not to buy it and incur the wroth of Mrs Ned!

Does the description fit anything you know about Peter? It was built with late '90's Campag components.

 

[kohl57@yahoo.com]

Yes, that sounds like the Vitus 992 introduced in... 1992 (Vitus was always so helpful in dating the introduction of their tube sets!) which sought to provide a more aero frame shape that also increased the diameter of the tubing at the ends to increase the rigidity. This was the last gasp of the bonded alloy frame and reasonably successful. Sean Kelly rode them extensively and achieved his last professional victory riding one in the 1992 Milano-San Remo. There's a photo of this in my article although more in reference to Kelly's Vitus association as this article is about the 979 not the 992.

Peter Kohler
Washington, DC USA

PS: Kelly's 92 Milano-San Remo may have also been the last classic won by rider wearing cleats and with toe clips and straps!

 

[Old Ned]

Better late than never! In January I promised a catalgue scan - but I didn't find it where I thought it was. This morning, looking for something else - guess what turned up! So here we are, 1983 and all that, in glorious colour and a variety of tube shapes from which to select.

















Interesting to note that the 'shapes' were only available in one specific colour and the colour 'chart' doesn't include the Peugeot 'Champagne' shade that mine is finished in.