Vitus (bicycles)
Encyclopedia
Vitus is a French
bicycle manufacturer best known for its steel cycle frame tubing, and its frames built with aluminium
tubes joined to aluminium lugs by bonding - a construction method the company pioneered in the late 1970s . Compared to modern aluminium bicycle frames, early Vitus aluminium frames, such as the 979, offered more comfort because of the small diameter of the tubes.. As a result, the frames lacked some degree of lateral stiffness compared to their steel counterparts. The Vitus 992 improved on the 979 design by pinching the aluminuim tubes into an ovoid shape at certain critical places, greatly improving stiffness. In the early 1980s Vitus begun producing frames using carbon fiber
tubing - but did so in keeping with the company's method of using small diameter tubing and bonding lugs. The company later expanded its product offering with carbon fiber semi-monocoque
frames (made with more than one monocoque
element), like the ZX-1.
Vitus also supplies tubing to other bicycle manufacturers. It is based near St. Etienne, France
.
http://schutt.org/velo/vitus/
http://highflange.com/2010/03/23/from-frame-to-fixie-to-french-glory/
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
bicycle manufacturer best known for its steel cycle frame tubing, and its frames built with aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
tubes joined to aluminium lugs by bonding - a construction method the company pioneered in the late 1970s . Compared to modern aluminium bicycle frames, early Vitus aluminium frames, such as the 979, offered more comfort because of the small diameter of the tubes.. As a result, the frames lacked some degree of lateral stiffness compared to their steel counterparts. The Vitus 992 improved on the 979 design by pinching the aluminuim tubes into an ovoid shape at certain critical places, greatly improving stiffness. In the early 1980s Vitus begun producing frames using carbon fiber
Carbon fiber
Carbon fiber, alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of fibers about 5–10 μm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...
tubing - but did so in keeping with the company's method of using small diameter tubing and bonding lugs. The company later expanded its product offering with carbon fiber semi-monocoque
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...
frames (made with more than one monocoque
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...
element), like the ZX-1.
Vitus also supplies tubing to other bicycle manufacturers. It is based near St. Etienne, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
External links
http://www.vitusbikes.com/http://schutt.org/velo/vitus/
http://highflange.com/2010/03/23/from-frame-to-fixie-to-french-glory/