Originally Posted by tatfiend

Agreed. The same thing was noted on the rootsradicals Xtracycle group.

The bike seems to be almost a clone of the Kona Ute with similar wheelbase, frame layout and material choice. The Trek does appear to have the cargo pannier mounted slightly further to the rear, a poor choice as you correctly point out.

Both the Kona Ute and Trek are compromizes between a normal bike and the longtail standard. The shortened wheelbase makes for easier storage but compromizes cargo hauling use.