emeneff@earthlink.net wrote:
> I'm not positive, but I believe that those overdone ornate "headlugs"
> are really just a cheap and nasty one-piece stamped headtube assembly.
> Many cheapo italian bikes came with similiar pieces - notably the
> low-end Atala's of the same era.
[...]
> Large companies often used this trick to save a few pennies and some
> assembly time for the lower-end models. Even Trek did this for some of
> their less expensive bikes, back when they actually made bikes of METAL
> . . . remember that ?
Yup. Later, some of them used investment-cast one-piece head tubes!
The advantage was that these had a shoulder cast into the piece, which eliminated the need to miter the tube. Just cut it off straight at a pre-determined angle, and it fit right up against the shoulder to be brazed (using electromagnetic induction, rather than flame to heat the joints). The down side was that these pieces were quite heavy, being almost 3mm thick in the center. The seat lugs and bottom bracket were also investment cast in a similar manner to eliminate the need for mitering.
--
John (john@os2.dhs.org)
Appleton WI USA