FInish4Finn

Thanks for the link on that one. I think the long distance discomfort is due to the wrong type of saddle and positioning. As strange as it sounds, getting yourself fitted for the bike will give an idea of where to set the seat post and position of the handlebars. If you look at how he seats it, all the weight goes into his perineum in a leasure positioning. That would attribute to pain, numbness and discomfort for longer rides. Wish there was a close up at the shifter and breaks or a break down of the bike to see the parts used. But, it is likely the parts are generic as Tern, Dahon and Brompton in terms of single speed bolt crankset, breaks and saddle. Shove a Brooks B17 and some tweeking and you have a good urban bike to run down to the store or work. You do get what you pay for with the accesories. Bike manufacturers usually up the price for putting together a little better bike, but still residing with older cycling parts, ignoring the vast improvements to save cost. I don't think it's the cost of aluminum that drives up the price for bikes in general. I think its the plastic parts they put on bikes to hike up the demand for a more priced bicycle in the quest for a quality built purchase. It creates the economical standards of "entry level" and "high end" market.
If you put out a badly made frame you will get a lawsuit and bad reviews and lose your bike business. If you build a good frame, but cut corners to put in cheeper parts you can save small expenses while create a supply and demand for "better". Comanies like Dahon do this while popping out a $5000 bike that weighs and functions as much as their entry levels. It just feels better. And talking about the Genesis, it's easier and less expensive to buy an entry level such as this and switch out break levers and change the seat and you are likely to have a better bike than the mid level bikes $300 more, and for $80 more for something like an Adamo saddle and break levers off Amazon you get a better comfort for long rides than the mid-level with the same "feels better" euphoria you get with quality accessories they come with
And yes, I do realize bike makers do make the mistake of cutting too many corners, folding bikes snapping in half and such, but even high end Tern and Brompton have histories of this. Whether it be cutting corners or fault of production line it happens. I think the Genesis is an example of quality build of an entry level bike, but ended up closing shop where other bike manufacturers would have cut corners. They were trying to build something good and expand. Either they failed or got bought out by competition.