Originally Posted by
58Kogswell
I suggest you call REI. Not the local store but the main office in WA. They will be happy to talk about something like that, and, unlike the folks here, they actually know the answer to your question rather than just speculating.
I agree with FBinNY's comment that this is poor advice. First, the executives at REI's headquarters are very unlikely to have first hand information on any specific product and particualrly not on the nuances of a bike frame's construction. Second, the answers here were not idle speculation, they were based on the photographs the OP provided and a fairly broad background in bicycle construction and experience.