Originally Posted by urbanescapee

Aside from generally being stronger, that is, able to carry more weight, the other reason I have read for why so many cyclists (tourists) recommend steel racks is that in the unlikely even that you were far from an otherwise convenient replacement option, they can be repaired by just about anyone who knows anything about welding. I have already replaced my steel rack that was damaged as a result of a collision with a car, but I still have it (tubus logo). The car hit me my bicycle square on the side of the rack (which saved the rest of the bike). The rack did become misaligned ( leaning more to the left than to the right, not centered) and in an attempt to salvage it, I tried forcing it back in the other direction basically by bracing the frame of the bike with my hands and carefully applying force with my leg to bend it back. It mostly worked, except that the welds (brazings?) where the tubes cross each other cracked in a couple places in the process.

What I'm getting at is, have any of you actually had a steel rack repaired? Particularly one that has failed at the welds? I understand that many would consider this not to be worth the time or the money but I'm just sitting on this thing because I feel like it would be such a shame to throw it out.