History of Lugged Steel Construction
From the late 19th century until the 1970s, this method of frame construction was favored because the lower temperatures of brazing (silver brazing in particular) had less of a negative impact on the tubing strength than high temperature welding, which can seriously weaken many steel alloys. Brazing thus allowed relatively thin walled, lightweight tubes to be used without loss of strength. However, recent advances in metallurgy have created steel tubing that is not adversely affected (or may even be improved) by high temperature welding. This has allowed both TIG and MIG welding to displace lugged steel construction, in large part because these methods lend themselves more easily to automation and reduce the cost by eliminating the lugs.
Conversely, lugged steel construction remains popular among builders of custom-fit bicycle frames, and among amateur framebuilders, since it is one of the simplest methods of constructing a bicycle frame by hand in a small workshop.
Read more about this topic: Lugged Steel Frame Construction
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