Originally Posted by Ken Cox
This thread has provided me with more options than I thought probable.
I don't understand the TIG vs Lug discussion, nor the message in Thylacine's posted photos.
I had assumed that lugged frames, albeit slightly heavier, do not heat distress the tubing as much as does TIG welding.
I suspect I don't understand TIG welding.
I'll do a quick search on TIG welding, and perhaps someone can make a few illuminating comments.
First, I am not a framebuilder but I do own a full custom bike (Rodriguez) and spent alot of time looking at options to better educate myself for the second largest purchase I was about to make. Though I love the look of a lugged frame, I chose tig for the reason mentioned by Thylacine .... I wanted the best bike for the money I had to spend.
Obviously, the tig process requires more heat than brazing but that's not necessarily a bad thing if you use 'air-hardened' tubing. The framebuilders here can explain it better, but my understsnding is that the final heat cycle of the hardening process is not performed at the factory, but at build time by the heat of the weld. This steel is stronger at the welds. For what it's worth, I chose Tru-Temper Ox Platinum tube and ....Oh my... really sweet.
Jim