Three frames, Trek wins
I now have 3 bikes/frames:
1979 ~ 1984 Dawes Atlantis
1975 Peugeot PX60
1982 Trek 730
(and I'm STILL waiting for a 1976 Mercian frame to arrive, sent on 2nd Feb from the UK to Japan)
I've got down and dirty with all 3 of these frames, the latest my Dawes which I've been riding for 4 years in all weathers and needed stone chips and surface rust fixing. I want it to be impervious to its new role of 'rainy day bike'. It has eyelets for mudguards which the Trek doesn't. The Peugeot is to be my touring bike.
Of the 3, the Trek is definitely the best made. All its lugs are straight, unlike the Peugeot, and there isn't a painted-over solder splash anywhere to be seen, unlike both the Peugeot and the Dawes. The Dawes was so bad in this respect that I was sure rust was breaking through at the chain hanger bridge (the shortest tube on a bike, behind the BB). I was much relieved when I took a file to the are and brass solder was revealed. The lugs on the Peugeot headtube were all uneven and the points both ends of the crossbar are wonky.
I was thinking about this yesterday at the LBS where I was having Simplex Retrofriction shifters fitted. The Trek is just very, very well made and I'm surprised their chrome moly frames are not better known outside the US.
Hats off to Trek!