Originally Posted by superstator

It's just been my experience with automotive parts that stainless hardware is generally considered "hardware store junk" with no tensile strength and an obnoxious tendency to gall and cause corrosion around aluminum parts. Obviously on a bike galling and galvanic corrosion are less of a concern, and if Reynolds has some fancy new alloys that solve the strength issues then good for them. Still seems like a lot of money to spend on a material that isn't bringing much new to the table vs alu/scandium/etc. I am curious, is your frame lugged, or are they able to join the tubing together adequately with fillet welds?

"similar wall thicknesses, tube diameters, and butting profiles" is a pretty key caveat. Unless they can shape 953 tubing as drastically as the stays on one of those alu Tiemeyers, for instance, they'll never match it for stiffness in the end product without using much thicker walls and consequently increasing weight.