Originally Posted by 53-11_alltheway
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All frames were steel no matter what level bike it was. The downtube shifters were all the same (I'm sure a Record dt shifter was no better than the entry level dt shifter). Ok, maybe the hubs were better on the high-end bikes, but overall the differences were closer.
The difference between high-end butted tubing and the straight-gauge "gas pipe" is vast-- the good stuff is both lighter and stronger.
To say that steel frames share anything more than the ability to rust is just not fair.
You don't even have to take my word for it. Ride a well-maintained Peugeot px-10 and compare it yourself to a schwinn varsity!