A lugless fillet brazed frame with proper mitering should be at least as strong as lugged. The lug is not supposed to provide much strength while the fillet obviously strengthens the joint area. In terms of rugged frames there were few if any tougher than the fillet brazed Schwinn Sports Tourer or Superior in their day. Many riders used these for expedition type touring before better gear was available. Also consider fillet brazed tandems like the Santana and Jack Taylor.
The leading proponent of fillet brazing these days is probably Landshark and they charge more for the fillet models than lugged.
Joe
At 01:00 PM 7/18/01 GMT, rfitzger@emeraldis.com wrote:
>O fellow classicists,
>
>Here's a wierd question, as I work with a ride buddy - traditionally, are
>lugless brazed frames considered as strong as lugged ones? I would think
they
>would be equivalent in strength, but the rider in question is over 200 lbs.,
>and he'd be happier knowing the bike he is looking at would hold up well
under
>him.
>
>Thanks
>Russ Fitzgerald
>rfitzger@emeraldis.com
>
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