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Latest Refurb. Vitus 979

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something else to consider, you can usually load up on 20-naughties Campagnolo components on ebay, because new riders don't want them, and they're not old enough to be collectible.
My Moser has Chorus brakes removed from a (carbon) floor bike so they could upgrade it to just-newer skeleton brakes and make the floor bike look newer - brand new brakes, $60.
My Centaur crankset was NOS, $125. They work perfectly on the 15-20-y-older frame
52/39T front, 13-26t rear. 8-sp Record cassette on C-record hubs.
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I went 8-speed with friction shifters (late 80s C-record), '94 Chorus RD, but it would be easy enough for you to match up brifters (if that's your choice) as long as you match Campagnolo number of rear cogs with the number of Campagnolo shifter speeds, and your Campagnolo RD is newer than about 1988.

Shimano is even easier to match up - shifters from '85 will work with current derailleurs and everything in between (everything except Dura Ace, which need to be matched by age).

Also, if you want to friction shift, 8- and 9-sp work just fine, and again if it's Campy, the friction shifters become critical - you'd need C-record shifters to get enough cable pull.
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Again, only friction shifting, but if you go with Triomphe or older on your Campy RD, any friction shifter will work.
 
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I have friction shifters on my Raleigh. I enjoy shifting that way but i don't need 2 bikes with friction shifters.

Keep in mind that I'm riding in Florida and the largest elevation change on my ride is 11 ft. And, that is a bridge going over a canal. Texas must be similar.

Keeping that in mind you're suggesting these two possibilities:

11-25 46/30
13-25 53/39

Am I following you correctly?

Richard Newton
 
yeah, that's basically right except for the part about Texas.
You will likely never use the 11t and 12t 130" and 120" gears unless your're drafting a car. Those gears are for 40-50 mph.
(I've done that going downhill on a 1200' drop, after climbing it of course - exceeded a 35 mph speed limit for over 4 miles and had a pickup truck following the whole way - I was on 108", the tallest gear on my Moser)
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Gearing taller than 120" is for descending Donner Pass on a tandem

here's Sheldon's gear calculator

You don't have any reason for a small chainring with no climbing to do, so no reason to have a gear below much 45", even in the worst headwind.

So for sure you want the 53/39T crankset

playing with the gear calculator, you could use a 12-23t cassette if you wanted a 116" fast gear in reserve.

All that said, if you're going 10 or 11 speed, you'll have enough gear choices and narrow steps that 11-25t cassette will probably do it for you with the crank as well.

So I'll apologize for distracting you - you wouldn't be wasting anything with your original choices.
I can also think of one advantage to the 11-25t cassette - you will never have a chain suck problem on your rear triangle - that tiny cog will prevent you from ever having the chain wedge between the small cog and the seat stay, which might happen with a 13t small cog.


I climb about 1000' or more every 20 mi here, but usualy not on a bike with that gearing.
I finish every ride with a 400' climb to my house.
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Here's a great vintage road bike I got from a customer recently. The bike just needed new decals, lots of TLC, and a better quality and matching seat, bars, stem. New cables and tape and she's good to go.
The Vitus 979 was the lightest road frame of its era and it won multiple sprinters jerseys at the our de France and won the Vuelta a Espana overall in 1988


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Very beautiful bike. I had a friend that bought one new in the late 80's and broke it at the BB about 4 months after owning it, so Vitus gave him a new frame which he broke again at the BB, but Vitus gave him another which my friend never rode that one and it sat in the garage. I did get to ride it once and it seemed unsettling noodly to me too, more so than Peugeot bikes. My friend weighed at the time at around 240 pounds and was a pro bodybuilder but there was no rider weight limit at the time when they came out that was mentioned to him by the LBS. I tried to buy that one off of him but he wouldn't sell it even though he never ride it, I just liked the looks of so much I really didn't care it was noodly, just ride it as a casual bike. But if it means anything or not he also broke 3 Kliens and 2 Cannondales all at the BB, but those took a lot longer to break than the Vitus.
 
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