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Seatpost is the last part I’d expect to fail, I wouldn’t buy a bike based on how easy it’s going to be finding a replacement seatpost in the middle of nowhere. The situations where I’d expect to break a seatpost, I imagine something else would be bust anyway like in a crash.
You’ve just got the wrong idea of what it’s supposed to be. It’s not a long distance tourer or expedition bike. It’s a lightweight, off road race bike.
If your concern is fixability in remote areas, you’d be confined to 700c, rim brakes, steel, square taper etc etc
The thread you’re after is FBNPNA, not gravel
PhilDAS-
Seatpost is the last part I’d expect to fail, I wouldn’t buy a bike based on how easy it’s going to be finding a replacement seatpost in the middle of nowhere. The situations where I’d expect to break a seatpost, I imagine something else would be bust anyway like in a crash.
Fair point. There are plenty of good bikes out there though and if it's a choice between two otherwise identical bikes I think you'd be mad to pick the one with the mast.
If your concern is fixability in remote areas, you’d be confined to 700c, rim brakes, steel, square taper etc etc
Sort of. Fixability is secondary to function though; (I think) it's an indisputable fact that disc brakes are better than rim brakes on a bike like this, so even though they're more difficult to replace when you're in Mongolia they're worth the hassle. The point is that this offers little functional advantage.
Anyway, I think we've pretty much done this topic now - I think it's stupid, others don't - so let's move on. Otherwise we're going to end up with pages and pages of seatpost discussion.
frankenbike
Haha, yeah, I suppose it does. I guess what I mean is that I like frankenbikes and old things found in people's sheds and so on. Not brand new $3000 bikes.
Absolutely not, I'm no retro-grouch. I'm 100% for innovation. I love disc brakes, fat tyres, 650b on road, aluminium frames, 29ers, (ultra-)compact cranksets and 1x drivetrains. The people in Facebook and Youtube comments who think 53/39 11-25 and road calipers are all you ever need are complete morons if you ask me.
But that seatpost does not seem to be an innovation at all. You have less adjustability than a seatpost, it's much more difficult to find spare parts, you can't just buy a frameset and reuse your old parts, you can't have a dropper post, you can't change from a comfy post to a lightweight one or vice versa, you can't remove the mast to pack the bike into a box, you're potentially risking a broken frame instead of a broken seatpost in a crash or transportation accident, you might be limiting your ability to fit bikepacking bags to it, your frame will have to go in the bin if Trek go bust and no one starts manufacturing a replacement, etc. In return you save a few grams on a bike that's designed to carry 3kg of water, you get "increased stiffness" (probably?) and you get rear microsuspension on a bike that supposedly clears >40mm tyres already.
I mean, sure, try it out I suppose. If it turns out they're better then I'll change my tune in 10 years when we're all riding them and they're available in every shop. Maybe you don't need spares; maybe in an emergency you can spend two hours and £100 in a bike shop cutting down an MTB seatpost and using an upside down seatclamp to replace your topper. But to me the miniscule advantages are not worth the hassle.
But they do still break!
Yeah, absolutely; ride whatever you want wherever you want. Don't let me stop you. I have a severely impractical bike of my own that I love.
Edit; oh boy, I wrote an essay