Old Fat-Ass Racing Team

UPDATE!
The Vitus 979 was sold on Ebay. Thanks, Thomas M., for your purchase!

Okay, with much reluctance, I’m going to give up my 1985 Vitus 979. This frame was purchased new-old-stock in 2005, when Bike Nashbar got their hands on a pile of them. Since then, it’s been hanging on my wall as I collected parts for it that accurately reflect it’s heritage as one of the first viable aluminum racing bicycles. As such, the bicycle has been babied and loved, if not ridden.

I know it’s not COMPLETELY period correct. The headset, bottom bracket, and saddle are certainly new. The wheelset, too. I think it’s a nice combination, however, and one that could either be built upon by the period collector, or ridden as simply a nice bike.

The specs:

• 59cm C-to-C ST
• 57.5cm C-to-C TT
• Mavic 631 “Starfish” crankset, 175mm arms, 52/42 chainrings - some scratches
• Mavic 840 rear derailleur
• Mavic SSC front derailleur installed, but will include matching Mavic braze-on front derailleur (don’t have the right size clamp)
• Mavic downtube shifters, friction
• Mavic 440 brakes (manufacturer by Modolo) with aero levers
• American Classic 25.0 seatpost
• Cinelli Criterium bars (42cm, C-to-C) and Cinelli stem
• Mavic 646 clipless pedals, LOOK-compatible
• Mavic Helium wheels with Bontrager Race Lite tires (tires are new, never ridden)
• Selle Italia SLR Gel Flow saddle in yellow (new, never ridden)
• Ritchey headset
• Shimano sealed bottom bracket

Although not completely period-correct yet, this is a nice bike. It’s been alternately described as “one of the most interesting bikes [I’ve] seen,” and “clown vomit.” I’ll admit–it IS colorful.

Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments.

More photos. Click to enlarge!

EDIT (October 5, 2008): Thomas M., the purchaser of this Vitus, dropped me a line with a photo of the new build and another nice Vitus 979. He did properly berate me for “having such a cheap headset on such a nice frame.” That was certainly well-deserved. In my defense, I intended to replace it with a Mavic headset that I sold some time back, but just never got around to doing it before I decided to sell. Anyway, he’s got MUCH more flair and style than I do–check out the fade tape and sweet saddle! Thanks, Thomas!

This entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 7:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.