Originally Posted by Andrew R Stewart

IIRC Harlen Mayer, of Hi E, built a few Al frames held together with rivets and a lot of bracketry way back in the dawn of bicycling (about 1980). A very different method of joining than the screwed and/or glued versions from Vitus and Alan (and Knesis/SR from Japan a few years later). Not many were made and, if like his hubs and rims, likely suffered from the Lotus racing sickness. Make a part so light it breaks then think about adding back a smidge more

I suspect that a frame held together only by rivets would end up being fairly heavy, likely be more flexible than other joining method result in and I would suspect the long term reliability of so many stress risers in a material that is known for very rapid crack growth. Andy