Originally Posted by estasnyc

I understand this but will that strength be needed?

I'm by no means 100% sure but I suspect that I relieved much of the stress that created the crack when I bent back the frame-spacing. The direction of the crack actually leads me to believe that my weight on the bike may actually compress the broken ends together rather than pull them apart. I think that hitting something like a pothole with my rear wheel will be when I get screwed.

If welding costs (much) less than $50 and I knew where to go, I would do it.