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PJK

Forum Members:

Stumbled on this frame while looking for more vintage bikes here in France. I thought it could be a rare find as it was a Vitus 979 Duralinox frame with some pretty well-done Gitane decals. Now I will probably sell it. Before I post on eBay I thought I would offer it to anyone in the forum. Would also like to get some feedback on any guesses of its origin other than some clever Gitane fan!

Patrick

lofter

never seen a vitus gitane that looked like that , to me and this is just my opinion , those stickers seam out of place for that era of vitus frame. i could be wrong , but i dont think thats a gitane . the only gitane that was a vitus duralinox frame was in the 87 catalog
http://www.gitaneusa.com/images/catalog/1987_cover.jpg
that looks like a early bout 83 to 84 vitus frame cause of the seat tube clamp . vitus went to the set screw in the back of the seatube like the one in the 87 catalog after the clamp era . my degribaldy has the clamp type .

anybody else want to chime in ? please correct me if im wrong.

PJK

Yes, you are probably correct about it not being something Gitane put together. Thanks for the identity on the possible year of the frame. I am trying to get a history of it from the guy I bough it from a few weeks ago.

Patrick

verktyg · Last edited by verktyg on Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:14 pm; edited 1 time in total

Many Continental bike makers hung their names on Alan and Vitus aluminum frames at one time or another during the late 70s up through the mid 80s.

From the ones that I've seen, the decals used on Vitus frames didn't always match the bike manufacturers logos and designs. Perhaps they were supplied by Vitus (and/or Alan at the time).

The 1984 Bertin catalog shows both the Vitus 979 and Alan frames so they were concurrently available.

When those "screwed and glued" frames first came out there was a lot of speculation about durability. The tube ends were glued then screwed into the lugs.

There were some issues with the early model Vitus frames but they seemed to have worked through those problems as the Vitus 979 has withstood the test of time.

Alan frames became famous for use in Cyclocross racing so they speak for themselves too.

I briefly road tested an Alan frame bike back in the late 70s and it felt a little too flexible for my liking.

I've never been on a Vitus framed bike but most owners have reported that they liked them.

greyhundguy · Last edited by greyhundguy on Wed Jun 16, 2010 5:07 pm; edited 1 time in total

greyhundguy

Chas.,
Thank you for this full, more complete and proper EDIT of your original post which I had/have saved.

Respectfully,
Jay

verktyg (aka Chas.) wrote:
"Many Continental bike makers hung their names on Alan and Vitus aluminum frames at one time or another during the late 70s up through the mid 80s.

From the ones that I've seen, the decals used on Vitus frames didn't always match the bike manufacturers logos and designs. Perhaps they were supplied by Vitus (and/or Alan at the time).

The 1984 Bertin catalog shows both the Vitus 979 and Alan frames so they were concurrently available.

When those "screwed and glued" frames first came out there was a lot of speculation about durability. The tube ends were glued then screwed into the lugs.

There were some issues with the early model Vitus frames but they seemed to have worked through those problems as the Vitus 979 has withstood the test of time.

Alan frames became famous for use in Cyclocross racing so they speak for themselves too.

I briefly road tested an Alan frame bike back in the late 70s and it felt a little too flexible for my liking.

I've never been on a Vitus framed bike but most owners have reported that they liked them."

Last edited by verktyg on Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
_________________
Chas.
==============
1969 TdF
1971 TdF
1974 TdF Foil Decal
1974 TdF Yellow Decal
1984 TdF x 2
1970s SC
1972 SC
1984 SC
1984 Team Pro
1985 Professional
1990s Team Replica"

Chas.,
Thank you for this full, more complete and proper EDIT of your original post which I had/have saved.

Respectfully,
Jay

verktyg

I will try to be more civil and less humorous in my future posts. Embarassed

sandranian · Site Admin

Huh?

"Don't make me pull this car over!"