Originally Posted by
Salamandrine
...Is there any prior art on oversized aluminum tube frames, or was Hi-E the first? Seems like it was.
Aluminum frames go back to the 1890s too. The first commercially successful one was the 1893 Lu-Mi-Num, which used a cast frame. Not sure about the first oversize aluminum frame but I wouldn't be surprised if someone had tried it before Hi-E and Klein.