Vitus 979 Build - Revisited

[howlindawg]

I initially started this build almost a year ago but due to an illness that affected my balance and dexterity I was unable to continue and had to shelve the project temporarily. I've now recovered sufficiently so, let's try this again.

The starting point is a later model Vitus 979, 56cm frame.
In this pic the frame has been cleaned, polished and the bottom bracket has been refaced to accept a Mavic 610 sealed unit.

The frame is French threaded so a new Velo Orange headset has been fitted as I gave up on finding a suitable Mavic 305.

The replacement Vitus decals were sourced on eBay but are printed onto very light clear vinyl so they were not opaque. The result was that the blue anodizing showed through the yellow decal resulting in a lime green effect. Uhmmm.... yeuch.

So first job when I started again was to remove the decals and order better quality replacements.

The Mavic 440 SSC brake calipers were in near mint condition and needed little more than a wash and lube before being bolted on. Even the pads are the originals.

For the front Mech I have both an 810 and an 862 but chose to fit the 810 as it's a little more unusual without the anodizing.

I also fitted the supposedly 'excellent condition' retrofriction shift levers only to find that the RHS lever was non functional. I've opened them up and the spring is still intact so the most likely culprit is the the barrel that the spring presses onto that's worn. This is what the internals look like if anyone's interested.

And here they are reassembled and fitted.

The next instalment has me running amok with power tools and polishing mops. Updates to follow.

 

[John J]

Lovely. Signing in to watch this build progress.

 

[howlindawg]

Re:

So a bit more progress made over the weekend.

One of the awkward parts of building a French spec frame is that the French forks use a slightly narrower stem which can really restrict choices.

I was lucky to source a Cinelli 1R in excellent mechanical condition and hopefully the right length but with the usual wear, scratches and marks. So I stripped the anodising, smoothed down the worst of the low spots and polished with a polishing kit.

The Bars are Cinelli Criterium 65 - 40. I'm not entirely sure about these as I've never used this bend before but will put some miles on them before making a final decision. They may yet be swapped for Giro D'Italias.

I've fitted a Jagwire Road Pro cable kit (very nice), Wrapped in Fizik Metallic Blue bartape and finished with Hope alloy barends.

I got lucky sourcing a nice aero 25.0mm seatpin with this very clean Miche. There were the inevitable insertion marks so I polished up the pin but left the aero part alone in order to retain the printed Miche logo.

Plenty of greasy assembly smudges in evidence in these pics but c'est la vie.

 

[Jonny69]

NICE, especially with all the Mavic bits.

 

[borris4]

Love the blue and yellow colour scheme. Will look very smart.

 

[howlindawg]

Brrrr... Sub Zero temps and snowing outside made the man-cave rather uninviting yesterday but since the postman had arrived with a box of goodies I decided to start cleaning up the wheels. Only managed the front one before running back inside for a cuppa!

I'll be using a set of wheels that I bought new and had built up circa 25 years ago.
Hubs are Mavic SSC.
Spokes are DT Swiss DB stainless.
Rims are Mavic MA40.

A spray with MuckOff and a little work with a fine Scotchbrite pad brought the sheen back to the spokes. The hub needed just a gentle buffing with T-Cut and the rims cleaned up nicely. Skewers cleaned, polished and lightly oiled to be good as new. New rim tape, Schwalbe tubes and Ultrimo ZX 700x23c tyres completed the job.

Spokes are all still nice and tight, the rims run true and the hubs are smooth as butter so jobs a good'un.

Fingers crossed it's a little bit warmer tonight as I've still got the rear wheel to do.

 

[magas]

very nice and clean build - like it

reminds me to build up my NOS 979 frameset

 

[howlindawg]

A bit more progress yesterday.

The rear wheel cleaned up nicely despite needing significantly more effort than the front. The SSC Hub is smooth, spokes are tight and the rim is true but unfortunately it's offset about 3 or 4mm too close to the drive side so it'll be paying a visit to the LBS to be redished. That'll be the same LBS that initially built them up over 25 years ago.

The Mavic SSC 851 bolted straight on as it had already been cleaned up and serviced. I actually have two of these to choose from but this one is in slightly better condition. Oddly, the Mavic logo is upside down on this one. I bought it new back in the late eighties so that's the way it left the factory.

The freewheel is a six speed Shimano 600EX.
13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21

I expect this to be temporary as
a) I have another build in mind with a 600 tri-colour groupset that this would suit.
b) I'm building this bike to ride and these vintage gear ratios probably won't be particularly well suited to my vintage legs.

Gratuitous shallow depth of field shot.

 

[borris4]

Re:

Many thanks for the decals, they arrived this morning. Will put them on after later after a couple of hours on the bike in the Blackstairs.

 

[howlindawg]

Re: Re:

You're more than welcome, glad they'll be of some use.

Many thanks for the decals, they arrived this morning. Will put them on after later after a couple of hours on the bike in the Blackstairs.