1985 Vitus 985 
#1 2012-11-09 4:31pm
- d.stroy
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1985 Vitus 985
1985 Vitus 985
So stoked to have this one!
Traded this thing for a rare italian road bycicle frame.
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#2 2012-11-09 7:17pm
- bikemagn8
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
WOW!!
I can't believe the way people mistreat bikes. It also amazes me how many people don't have any bikes and never ride them - poor miserable souls.
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#3 2012-11-10 1:10am
- Bambi
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
That is beautiful. Hubby was only talking about them just before when we were reading old bmx magazines. He was saying how much he would like to have one. Then this one appears 
Tusk. In its entirety. Just as Lindsay Buckingham intended it to be.
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#4 2012-11-10 4:57am
- d.stroy
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
Thanks guys!
i usually don't look into non italian bikes, but this little french had my attention since i discovered it, a bmx bike made like a road racing one!
if the owners of the other Vitus here are reading this, please add your frame number in the description, i'll add mine later (it's under the bb) so we can try to date them better
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#5 2012-11-10 5:56am
- TonyC
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
One of my old school buddies has one!
They called it The Secret weapon back then. I don't think they knew it was a Vitus.
I remember taking it for a ride. It was fairly long(for the time), flexy, and fast.
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#6 2012-11-10 2:19pm
- d.stroy
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
As you can see from this image on the top tube there is a Weinmann Auto Adjuster installed; at first i tought it was just thrown there for using that Balilla center pull from the 60's, so when i took it off i expected a sketchy threaded hole.
To my surprise, the hole has a reinforcing threaded steel rivet in wich the Auto Adj threads in, perfectly centered on the tube; has anyone any toughts on what kind of brake is supposed to be used, and if this was factory made? I tought i will close it with a grub screw but now i want to make it work!
My frame number is 1237, could please the other owners tell me your serial numbers and how you know the year of your Vitus? thanks!
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#7 2012-11-11 6:08am
- RetroBMX
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
d.stroy wrote:
has anyone any toughts on what kind of brake is supposed to be used, and if this was factory made?
Not sure if it was factory-made, but wouldn't you think that the centerpull brake that is on the bike is the brake that is supposed to be used? Looks like it was designed to perfectly work with the brake that is there. I am thinking that current bikes that run 990-style U-brakes could also be set up the same way, and I am wondering why this idea got lost over the years. Seems brilliant.
I always was attracted to the Vitus and the Alan road bikes of the 80's that used this style of bonded construction and Aluminum lugs. Back then, I never even knew that either of those companies made BMX bikes, so to find some of these in the Museum is quite mind-blowing! Awesome find. Are you going to clean this one up or are you going to leave it in survivor condition?
[img]http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g242/retroBMX/mnfaction.gif[/img]
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#8 2012-11-11 11:21am
- phusion X
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
Ive seen about 4 of these a year for sale, never seen a red one. the tubes were actually glued into the lugs. the bicycle standards industry that governs how bikes are made killed this bike, these aluminium forks are very dangerous to ride and often broke suddenly. On these bikes the lugs flex more than the tubing does, which is exact opposite of typical bikes. Id be pretty careful riding this as an adult.
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#9 2012-11-11 3:15pm
- d.stroy
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
RetroBMX wrote:
d.stroy wrote:
has anyone any toughts on what kind of brake is supposed to be used, and if this was factory made?
Not sure if it was factory-made, but wouldn't you think that the centerpull brake that is on the bike is the brake that is supposed to be used? Looks like it was designed to perfectly work with the brake that is there. I am thinking that current bikes that run 990-style U-brakes could also be set up the same way, and I am wondering why this idea got lost over the years. Seems brilliant.
I always was attracted to the Vitus and the Alan road bikes of the 80's that used this style of bonded construction and Aluminum lugs. Back then, I never even knew that either of those companies made BMX bikes, so to find some of these in the Museum is quite mind-blowing! Awesome find. Are you going to clean this one up or are you going to leave it in survivor condition?
I can tell you the brake is wrong because it's a Balilla brake from the 60's...
and i have to argue with you, this brake set up is all but brilliant, it'll be a nightmare to make the brake work without the cable hanger scratching on the top tube, but still having enough slack in the cable.
It'll be restored to his best with some NOS stuff like a DX lever and a set of real wheels!
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#10 2012-11-11 3:40pm
- RetroBMX
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
Ha, OK, then I think you have your answer. Not Factory!
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#11 2012-11-12 3:20am
- magma3311
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
your frame was made after December 84 birth date of this new frame without seat clamp
it's a 985 frame not 979
http://rothenbusch.free.fr/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7573
my Vitus Frame serial is 1192
pretty much rare with the Vitus fork
Last edited by magma3311 (2012-11-12 3:21am)
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#12 2012-11-12 2:22pm
- d.stroy
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
magma3311 wrote:
it's a 985 frame not 979
http://rothenbusch.free.fr/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7573
my Vitus Frame serial is 1192
pretty much rare with the Vitus fork
Thanks for the link! i'll try to read the ads but i really don't know french...
how can you tell from wich year it's from and what model it is? does 985 stands for 1985 and 984 for 1984 and so on?
and what do you think about the brake? I'll take a pic of the hole in the top tube and you'll see that who did the job knew how to do it.
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#13 2012-11-12 2:28pm
- d.stroy
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Re: 1985 Vitus 985
Now i understand:
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