I think the frame was cheaply-built with inferior materials. I've been around for a awhile and though I was primarily a runner back in the seventies, I had a friend who purchased one of the first lightweight Schwinns made from thin aluminum predating chromoly. It could withstand normal road torsion but if it hit anything head on it would crumble like matchsticks. The kind of damage in your picture is unusual. I crashed my Cannondale at over 30mph., flipping in midair and hitting a stone wall which broke my leg. My frame survived save from a few scratches.