Schwinn spec'd their bikes with double butted OS Tange tubing, Columbus SL and SP tubing, Columbus private label tubing, unbranded cromoly, and more. This is in just a 10 year period of the 80s and early 90s and doesn't even get into the 853 tubing used in the late 90s or other tubing thru the decades.
You showing a generic Schwinn sticker and takong a dig at the brand name doesnt prove that unbranded/generic/private label tubing is worse than branded tubing. Such thinking is lazy.
What matters is the tube's details- diameter and butting profile, basically.
You claiming 520 tubing is somehow better is just laughable because you don't know the details of each. They are the same material and the difference will be in something none of us knows- the butting profile. Even then, i doubt you would speak competently on which is 'better'.
As for your ramble about generic tubing breaking, surely you understand that such a limited example set is pointless to use for drawing a conclusion. Otherwise, any OPEN frames that fail would, by your reasoning, make OPEN frame utter crap and unreliable.
I fully agree with you that the quality of tubing matters. 100% agree. You have no idea what the specs are for the Reynolds 520 tubing though. Its just butter cromoly for all we know.
Black Mountain Cycles spec's their frames with 8/5/8 heat treated tubing. Its generic. Heck, its not just generic, but its seamed too(eek!) since thst hasn't mattered for over 30 years. Heat treated, 8/5/8, and generic. Whats not to like? Why would that be worse than
520/525 8/5/8 or 8/6/8 tubing?...it wouldn't be. Its heat treated unlike the 5 series too.
You made fun of the pannier setup, only to have multiple posters respond that its a legit setup.
You made fun of the tubing, only to be told both bikes have the same effective tubing for all we know.
You claimed a failed generic tube is reason to not use it, yet you defend other 1 off failures.
You tried to support your point by making fun of a company that actually did use significantly nicer tubing than what you cited, on models that were appropriately priced.
The Trek bike can be made fun of for so many better reasons than you cite. The tubing claim was a funny one at least.