That's an extended headtube, commonly used by tourists to allow raising the bars even with or a bit higher than the saddle without using a long quill stem like Technomic. Rivendell uses these a lot. However, this one is "over the top" in that the extension is about twice as much as one commonly sees. I don't understand his comment about this being for "extra pannier support".
Regards,
Jerry Moos Houston, TX
Rob Williams <robww@isomedia.com> wrote: Apologies for the off topic but this is KOF stuff. What's up with the head tube on this Mercian Vincitore on E-bay, why is it finished so far above the top tube? Rob Williams Sunny Seattle (http://ebay.com/<blah> 52372312&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW)