Well, as it turned out, there were no readily-accessible ti welders.
The latest as of today: Litespeed is willing to work with the local Performance shop to handle the return. They no longer sell Litespeed, the manager says (paraphrasing), 'you bought it here, we want to take care of you.' He/they rock. It took a while to get everything worked out, partly because it happened the week of the 4th, and a lot of people at ABG (Litespeed) were on vacation. Now, it's just a matter of time, I hope. Meanwhile, my CX/commuter is serving double duty with the help of a wheelset with skinny tires.