Originally Posted by
79pmooney
But, for a weld you have a total area of the tubing diameter times the weld width (what? 1/4"?). For a lug you have the tubing diameter times an inchof lug or perhaps more. On top of that, you have on a quality build, contact between the mitered tubes and both the tube thickness and the lug thickness (which can be a lot more than the tube thickness). So far more material where it matters. No thinning of steel at the lug or braze border because it never go hot enough to flow, unlike the weld that takes the steel to very hot
Proof? Look at all the very old bikes out there that are lugged and doing just fine. A lot are older than the process of TIG welding steel.
Lugged frames were the best method at the time given the materials and technology availability. That doesn’t mean it’s the best currently because it is not, for steel, aluminum or titanium that would be tig welded. The affection for older or retro lugged frame fills a nostalgic need for some people. The sad truth is the classic frames we look back on such as Colnago, Cinnelli, Masi etc. were as mass produced as today’s carbon S-Works, there were tens of thousands produced and distributed around the world.