If you ask most serious Roadies (that's a person who rides road bikes) about a Schwinn 10-speed you'll usually get the following response "heavy, slow, old" which to be fair is true for the most part.
The Vitus 979 was an experiment in the completely opposite directions.
Up to this point the large majority of bikes uses steel tubing of various weights, strength and diameter you had your 40lbs+ Schwinn on one hand and numerous higher end bikes that where in the mid to high 20lbs range.
Attempts at making bikes out of aluminum had been done before, but not in the way that Dural/Vitus made the 979s. They took aluminum tubing and made it the same outer diameter as your usual steep bike tubing, and used a heat activated epoxy that was similar to what was being used in aerospace applications to "glue" the tubing to the lugs. this created a bike that was extremely light for it's size and time (Frame by itself was 3.75 lbs), though some claim a bit flexible and squirmy. Sean Kelly rode a Vitus 979 for many of his professional races in the 1980s.
Current bike specs:
Frame- Vitus designed, Dural bonded 56cm size aluminum frame and form. Black anodized tubes, bare aluminum lugs, fork, seat and chain stays
Crank- SunTour Supurbe Pro crank and 38/52 chain rings
Derailiers: SunTour Supurbe Pro front and rear
Freewheel- SunTour New Winner 7-speed 13-15-16-17-18-19-21
Wheels- Mavic E-2 Aluminum rims
Tires- Continental Gatorskins 700x25c
Saddle- Bontrager Race
Handle bar- Cinelli Limited Edition Colorado drop bar, Cinelli aluminum stem
No comments:
Post a Comment