Lugged Steel Frame Vs Welded

When choosing a new bicycle the frame is arguably the most important individual part.

Lugged steel frame vs welded.

Also called continuously welded or fully welded the comer perimeter joints have all elements of the frame member continuously welded including soffits stops rabbet faces and returns. We often get asked what s better a lugged bicycle frame or a welded bicycle frame bike frames can be built of many things. If you masked off a lugged steel bike and a tigged bike installed the same components and tires on them i doubt that one rider in a hundred could reliably identify which was which by riding them. Steel aluminum carbon even cardboard.

How the individual pieces are joined together depends on the material and the builder. Cyclists can be categorized into two types. With a lugged construction the frame is made from columbus cromor steel tubing and features a 1 1 8 head tube and a lugged chromoly fork. In theory the butts more wall thickness at the end than the middle of the tube can be a little bit shorter since heat from tig welding is more localized.

Lugged steel frame construction is a method of building bicycle frames using steel tubing mated with socket like sleeves called lugs. You won t find downtube shifters here instead masi. Kd frames are the least expensive because they are shipped disassembled allowing them to be tightly packed for shipping and jobsite storage. Welded frames actually meld two tubes together by using heat while lugged frames fit straight tubes into lugs or sleeved sockets similar to pipe fittings.

For most of the bicycle s history steel has been the primary material for bicycle frames with lugged construction the primary assembling method. In this guide i outline the pros and cons of a steel vs. The frame greatly affects the bike s weight ride quality and handling. With a brazed lugged frame the heat spreads over a greater length of the tubing so the butts may be longer.