MBK Vitus GTI triple butted

[carpenter]

As I said in lightweight frame thread, I started looking a bit further afield for a frame and have bought this:







Lovely chap, Hugo "ridefromyourgrave" on eBay France (I had felt a bit cautious about buying from Europe, but delivery was fast and, apart from postage costs, I would recommend to others)

I had an MBK Mirage previously, liked it, but was persuaded to give it to my daughters boyfriend , so thought it would be good to go with the brand again.

This one is lighter than my old Mirage (~ 2.5KG without bottom bracket ), rather nice Stronglight A9 headset - never used a roller bearing before, seems very smooth, looking forward to seeing how it feels when being ridden.

I think that I will be going with a Shimano RX100 groupset on the build, will update as I go along.

 

[Paulus]

Nice colour. 😎

 

[carpenter]

must admit that attracted me more than it should have 😊

 

[raleighnut]

Very Nice

 

[biggs682]

Fantastic colour

 

[carpenter]

I couldn't resist putting some wheels on this morning just to get a better idea of how to build it up - I was surprised by the close clearances:





All dismantled again now, I have left the fork with "Nick's automotive paint supplies - Ipswich" to have some paint mixed to match so that I can cover a few chips - very good chap, he has made up match pots for me in the past (better than nail varnish imo )

 

[Smokin Joe]

rather nice Stronglight A9 headset - never used a roller bearing before, seems very smooth, looking forward to seeing how it feels when being ridden.

You'll never want to go back to ball bearings, in fact I doubt if you'll ever need to. Roller bearing headsets last forever.

 

[Poacher]

I couldn't resist putting some wheels on this morning just to get a better idea of how to build it up - I was surprised by the close clearances:

View attachment 554635 View attachment 554636 View attachment 554638

View attachment 554639

All dismantled again now, I have left the fork with "Nick's automotive paint supplies - Ipswich" to have some paint mixed to match so that I can cover a few chips - very good chap, he has made up match pots for me in the past (better than nail varnish imo )

Hate to mention it, but someone's made a right bog-up of lacing those spokes!

 

[BalkanExpress]

Lovely looking frame

There is not a lot of Vitus Gti out there and not a lot of information available either. I have a Gios with Gti frame and I like it a lot but then I like all my bikes a lot

One thing for sure, with that frame and that colour you have a bike that certainly stands out from the crowd.

 

[carpenter]

Thanks for the comments - I sold a CNC mixte (which I loved, but couldn't ride and my daughter outgrew), so I am using funds from that to build this one. Part of my thinking is get something different.
I may still sell a 653 frame to get more funds, free up some shed space (and stop some of the comments from my wife; she is right, I spend more time fiddling with my bikes than using them 😊)

About the only comments I have found about Vitus gti are that it is light, used with Gitane bikes and was one of the last steel tube sets produced by Atelier de la Rive.

It will be a while before I get it finished, but looking forward to seeing how I get on with it - anticipation is part of the "buzz"

 

[carpenter]

@BalkanExpress - any chance of photos of your Gios, we could start a Vitus Gti "lovefest"

 

[BalkanExpress]

@BalkanExpress - any chance of photos of your Gios, we could start a Vitus Gti "lovefest"

This thread here

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/another-lockdown-project.262719/

As said there is very little on line. there is the link below this and I'm looking for a table I saw somewhere wiht the various Vitus tubes. I think XO(?) is 'above" GTI but was a very light tube for TT bikes. There are a few Gitanes in GTI, When Stephan Roche rode for Sigma Histor they were on Gti framed Gitanes, it seems that Roche had a deal with Vitus, hence when he went to Tonton Tapis Gios used Gti tubing (and they were on Gios bikes through the Roger de Vlaeminck connetion as he was DS)

http://www.gitaneusa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=13118&sid=9b976a85babce01e0f8b72c43eb20f3a

 

[carpenter]

My memory , I liked the Gios and promptly forgot.

 

[carpenter]

I'm pleased with the progress so far. Nick's Automotive did a good job on making a spray can match (not perfect, but original was a silver coat followed by a coloured lacquer by the look of it).
I sprayed the forks to cover up missing paint - works well imo because there is then a natural break between original paint on the frame:



Lots of mucking around deciding on crank/gears/brakes, but decided on a full RX100 groupset (apart from the Tourney shifters):



Saddle is a Rivet "Diablo" - have one on my Mercian and get on with it well, and found that it is on offer at Carradice at the moment (about £70, so better value than trying to by a Brookes "Swallow" which it seems to be based on.

Just waiting on an RX100 braze on front derailleur (from France, NOS) hopefully with me by next Wednesday, then a ride .

My only concern at the moment is the unicorn fork - bit ugly imo, but hidden a bit by the front brake. It could be a future project to look out for a lugged front fork?

 

[Poacher]

My only concern at the moment is the unicorn fork - bit ugly imo, but hidden a bit by the front brake. It could be a future project to look out for a lugged front fork?

So THAT's where my unicorn went! Saves me having to write to the slithy Gove to find out what happened to it!