Nope, not mine. To be honest mine looks very much like a stock one unless you get up close and see pretty much everything has been upgraded.

Hi all, another happy Genesis owner here!

After I’ve sold my On-one Inbred which was too heavy and stiff for my liking, I’ve purchased the High Latitude SS frame and built her up to this:

It’s a 34-18 with Reba forks, XT brakes, XT hubs with Mavic TN719 rims, SLX M665 cranks…all I can say is: I love this bike! Only ridden it a few times, hasn’t been to a proper off-road session yet, but I’m sure it’ll deliver!

Also, I’ve built the Fortitude frame, it’s a 3spd Sturmey with SP Dynamo up front, polished Stylo OCT cranks, Gussett chain and pedals, Salsa forks(that I will replace with the original Genesis Fortitude ones). Schwalbe Smart Sam tyres does a good job of being quite nippy on tarmac, yet provide enough grip on the towpaths etc.

…and in a SS mode with Big Apple tyres:

Just to prove that I’m a serious Genesis (s)nob here’s my iO SS:

Good, don’t see the point in making a nice comfy steel frame then wacking a drainpipe of a seatpost in.

Understand it for long travel bikes. but not really on a 29er like this.

Got it in one! Adding an oversize ST for dropper post compatibility is a fair point in theory but not as straightforward as that. It’s important to remember that’s not just the seatpost that adds to the ride, it is the frame itself and the tubes used (sum of all parts). Adding 32.5 seat tube adds significant frame stiffness and also means you have to increase size of top tube because of extra force on that tube. So two considerably bigger tubes adding quite a bit of weight, especially with 520 and all just to have dropper post option.

For example, a 3mm increase in tube diameter creates a tube that is 80% stiffer – which, over two tubes is a hell of a lot. Larger dia. tubes would be ok on longer travel frame (designed for 120mm plus) as usage is different, potential stresses are obviously more (especially on top tube) and stiffness would be more beneficial.

The key thing is strength of steel tubes is so massive that small changes have big effects, in stiffness and in weight, much more so than alloy or ti. It is far far stiffer (youngs modulus number) than both those materials, strength (i.e. Density) dictates this,but it is thus also a heavier metal (because of the density) and this is why steel tubes are much smaller and have that classic steel ride feel. Alloy or ti tubes at traditional steel diameter would fail very quickly as they do not have the strength.