What if, like me, you have a custom touring frame with relaxed angles but still need lots of layback? People have told me that this means 'your frame must be the wrong size'. But the bloke who measured me (a Serotta-trained bike fitter) insists that layback must be part of my equation. And the bloke who chose my frame dimensions (Dave Yates) seemed to agree. I can't remember the reason - it was complicated and I just accepted it because these people are experts and the idea that they would spec me a wrongly sized custom frame is a nonsense. Could it be something to do with me having long thighs and a short torso?
I think of myself as an averagely proportioned cyclist and would have thought that if I need layback even for a custom touring frame then many, many other people must need it too..so why are there so few layback posts on the market? I could only find two silver ones - the kinked Thomson and the beautiful VO, which I imagine is only sold in tiny numbers. It seems odd that decent looking seat posts with layback are not in every manufacturer's range.