French tubing

[Doug Fattic]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

Where did you get Vitus tubing? I assume if I haunt French ebay I'll find some eventually, but it's not like there were tons of potential hobby builders buying tubing in Europe like there were in the U.S.

There was/is a frame builder in the Philadelphia area that used to stock it for sale to other framebuilders. Years ago I bought some Vitus tubing from him. I can't remember his name. He wasn't one that came to the Bina's Philly show. Or at least he didn't exhibit.

[merckx]

Originally Posted by Doug Fattic

There was/is a frame builder in the Philadelphia area that used to stock it for sale to other framebuilders. Years ago I bought some Vitus tubing from him. I can't remember his name. He wasn't one that came to the Bina's Philly show. Or at least he didn't exhibit.

That would be Harry H at HH Cycles in Media, PA.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by jemdet

It seems like there's a certain "essence" you're looking for. You should find some framebuilders and discuss the sort of ride that you want. But keep an open mind - every handbuilt frame is unique.

Agreed.

There are many paths that lead to Rome, don't get stuck with just one.

[Tandem Rider]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

Where did you get Vitus tubing? I assume if I haunt French ebay I'll find some eventually, but it's not like there were tons of potential hobby builders buying tubing in Europe like there were in the U.S.

I can't remember where I got it now, it was an American distributor, I think they must have had a small quantity. It was 30+ years ago.

Right before I figured out that I had limited time and I would rather spend it riding bikes than building bikes. I ended up giving my leftover tubes and bits to Tom and traded my taps and facers to someone else. I still think I made the right choice.

[Doug Fattic]

Originally Posted by merckx

That would be Harry H at HH Cycles in Media, PA.

Thanks, now I remember his full name Harry Havnoonian.

[gbcoupe]

Originally Posted by Doug Fattic

Thanks, now I remember his full name Harry Havnoonian.

He has some nice frame building materials on eBay from time to time.

[El Chaba]

There are a few French cycling forums that I follow from time to time. Anybody who has owned/spent significant time riding a nice, light French bike from the classic era knows that they have a great ride quality....Some people go a bit overboard and call it magical, etc. It is likely largely attributable to the light gauges of tubing that the French builders liked to use. Super Vitus was very light and of course a fair amount of Reynolds 753 was used in France, but they also liked to use Reynolds 531 in 0.5 and even 0.3 (referring to the thin section of the tubes in mm...0.7 was standard). The metric tubes are also slightly smaller in diameter, but the difference is so small that I can’t imagine that it contributes anything more to the ride quality, but who am I to doubt a princess and the pea? In any event, the subject comes up from time to time and the consensus is always that the metric diameter tubes are long gone. I have read Olivier Csuka mention it several times and that he is always looking ( likely for repairs)...

[texbike]

Although they're English, I wonder if someone like Mercian would have the tubes that you're looking for? They've been around since the 1940s and may have some old stock tubing. Plus, they could probably build you a bike from it if they have it.

https://www.merciancycles.co.uk/

Just a thought...

Texbike

[ibis]

https://dilectacycles.com/

Dilecta is being brought back to life. This could possibly be an option.

[Tandem Rider]

Originally Posted by Doug Fattic

Thanks, now I remember his full name Harry Havnoonian.

That sounds really familiar, that might be where I got it from. Thanks for the blast from the past!

[coelacant]

Ron Boi who used to build in the '70s-'80s, has an eBay store with some SV 980 tubing for sale. I bought fork blades and chainstays for future builds from him last year. I'm now convinced that metric size tubing and SV 980-983 make a perfect recipe for a really nice riding frame. I speak from having owned and ridden Gitanes of different models spanning 2 decades last year. Was trying to decipher what makes them so by riding them back to back, and comparing them with the current and latest and greatest offerings out there.
I'm now passing on some of those bikes for those who might be interested in the classified section.
FYI, Starting around '80's, high ends French bikes from Peugeot, Gitane, etc. used English threads to eliminate the hassles.