Originally Posted by
markk900
Been thinking about this for a while and thought I would get the wisdom of the forum.....why did/do lugs (internal or external) persist so long on steel framed bicycles (not talking about new fangled aluminum here)? I have been around vintage motorcycles forever and one of the turning points for a manufacturer of mc frames is when they stopped using lugs (heavy cast bits) and started using "all-welded" construction, yet we continue to see lugged steel construction even today, on very lovely and high end frames.
But most motorcycle frames are made of what is known as gaspipe in bicycle circles. That stuff could be arc welded with no problems, just like the cheapest bicycles. (Well, okay, there were some racing frames made of chrome moly, but it was still welded and I never heard of 0.5mm thick double butted tubing being used to build motorcycle frames.) Okay, today there is lightweight high alloy steel that can be TIG welded, but those joints look like crap compared to lugs or fillet brazing. So today you have KOF (Keeper of the Flame) bikes that are lugged or fillet brazed because that's the traditional way and looks cool, not like a frame TIG welded on a robot production line in China.