#!markdown
I've heard the pitch Trek make for it before. The most amazing thing about it
is that on the larger (19.5 and up) bikes with it, the fork very, very nearly
clears the downtube if you remove the chip. If they'd just made the headtube a
few mm longer at the bottom (or set the bike up for an external lower headset,
or you fit an bigger crown race) they could have had their straight downtubes
and not needed it at all. I agree it's not noticeable riding the bikes, it
just "solves" a non-problem and I worry about damaging it and/or the frame in
a decent crash. It's not a big deal for me, but it is a classic bike industry
"feature" if ever I saw one.
Feb. 21, 2017, 7:06 a.m. - Neil Carnegie
#!markdown I've heard the pitch Trek make for it before. The most amazing thing about it is that on the larger (19.5 and up) bikes with it, the fork very, very nearly clears the downtube if you remove the chip. If they'd just made the headtube a few mm longer at the bottom (or set the bike up for an external lower headset, or you fit an bigger crown race) they could have had their straight downtubes and not needed it at all. I agree it's not noticeable riding the bikes, it just "solves" a non-problem and I worry about damaging it and/or the frame in a decent crash. It's not a big deal for me, but it is a classic bike industry "feature" if ever I saw one.