Huh. I've been riding steel bikes pretty much all my life too (from local cheap-made with national tubing to Columbus SL tubing and the like) and never have see

Huh. I've been riding steel bikes pretty much all my life too (from local cheap-made with national tubing to Columbus SL tubing and the like) and never have seen a single one failing at any weld. When they break, and in the rare event they happen to break, it's about corrosion.