Hi Relya,
Thanks for your reply. I suppose my real purpose of posting my question was my concern about drilling holes into expensive bicycle tubing. Mercian produce steel bikes with traditional methods and I'm opting for hand-cut lugs which are expensive. I think it's interesting that before I pay the deposit, I have a unique moment to make choices that few people ever have. My natural instinct is to reject the idea of drilling nasty holes into the frame tubing just to hold bottles onto the frame. I don't drink sip sip sip like many people when riding. I stop, get off the bike and unscrew the bottle top and drink from the bottle like a cup and I don't like using the squirting method that these bottles offer. This is important because I naturally don't drink while riding.
What do you think about the drilling of holes into the tubes? Does it damage, weaken of otherwise negatively affect the integrity of the tubing? I also will not get bosses for cable stops because I've bought downtube friction shifters with clamps for 28.6 tubing. I will have bosses on the top tube for the rear brake. And I'm thinking of getting bosses for cantilever brakes instead of caliper brakes. What is your opinion? Perhaps you have a post about that already.
Thank you.
I rode steel frames that are older than me (and I am old LOL), and they're still rolling. If properly done, those mounting holes should not make the frame break - even though, strictly technically & theoretically speaking, they do make it a tad weaker.
Housing stops can make one's life simpler, since getting them aftermarket can be a hassle (I have a steel frame without those, full length housing, and it sucks in terms of robustness in foul weather compared to normal housing stops).
Similarly, watter bottle mounts can be used to mount all sorts of things - for example, mine is used to hold my lock (so I don't have to haul it in a bag on a rack or similar.
I like having those options, even when I don't use them (in that case, the mounting holes are "plugged" with matching bolts, with washers and
anti-seize applied, of course.
Note:
High quality steel frames with lugs holding the tubes and all the attachments brazed (not welded) can be repaired (damaged tube replaced and similar), and if built properly, those are very, very good frames.