Originally Posted by cyccommute

...You are missing the point. Most people…both the bike rider and a welder doing the repair…are unaware of how thin steel bicycle tubing is. People who are going to get a bike repaired in the middle of nowhere aren’t going to have a shop that specializes in thin tube, even if the bike owner knew that the bike uses thin tubing. The most common type of welding is going to be on those boiler parts (or tractor parts or car parts etc.) The welders doing the welding are going to be used to thicker parts and proceed accordingly unless the bicycle owner warns them first or they have prior knowledge of bicycles. If the welder isn’t warned, they are likely to treat the bike as if it were a piece of pipe with 1/4” (6mm) wall. The broken tube is more likely to end up as a pile of rust than repaired.

Originally Posted by saddlesores

situation depends on where you tour.
if you live/tour in asialand, steel repair is not going to be a problem.

Originally Posted by saddlesores

....we're not talkin' 'bout metal foundries or boiler making plants y'know. these are common shops you'll find in the hundreds in modest sized cities....

Originally Posted by saddlesores

...ya walks into a local shop that specializes in thin-wall steel tubing...and chat with the workers who spend years.......cutting and shaping and welding thin steel tubes....