snipped:
>"...it was you who espoused the benefits of using pressed steel
>lugs because they made a better joint. Am I right? "


you're right - i said that in one context or another. but, in essence,
it's a dated concept; ORIGINALLY, in the 70s and 80s...
the steels/metals used for lug casting were completely dissimilar
to the tubes that were inside of these lugs. as a result, the transition
from thin wall tube to rock hard lug, NO MATTER HOW ORNATE
IT WAS OR WASN'T, ...the transition was too great for my liking.
through the years, the metallurgy changed, and i feel that foundries
now use steels to make cast lugs that create the homogeneous
joint that we seek as 'ideal'.
that ideal would be lugs made of metal similar to frame tubes.
if, BIG 'IF', i could make pretty os lugs from sheet steel, i would.
but after 30 years of doing this, i'd still go the current route.
i've had enough romance in my life. building "ye olde frames" by
candlelight doesn't work for me.

serenity now. serenity now.

e-RICHIE