Anthony Mezzatesta wrote:
>Just a note on the Vitus 971 tubing you had been discussing last
>week. I have built at least 25 frames out of that very fine tube set, mostly
>for sponsorship,
>and all were in metric (French for us Francophiles). Anyway, when I got the
>sets I contacted Harry Hovnannian to see if he had any composite info on the
>tubing. He contacted Alitier de le rive, the manufacturer, for me since the
>both of us were using the new chrom mo van steel they were making (the Super
>Vitus 983 series). They informed him that 971 was a light heat treated
>manganese molybdenum steel similar to Reynolds 753. However, because it was
>not treated as much as the Reynolds, it makes the 971 a more resilient tube
>set and, therefore, it is cold setable.
Thanks for the information Anthony. Do you (or anyone else on the list) have
any information on other Vitus grades? I have a 1979 Peugeot of Vitus 172,
and would be interested in knowing a bit more about it. I have been told
that the 172 is "similar" to 531, and also:
>The 172 was the touring bike tubing, while the 971 was the
>light weight set, and weighed less than most other advertised light
>weight tubing sets at the time.
Thanks,
Mark Battley.