The seat posts way out like Mr. Clem von Jones's Scott 29er make me cringe. The forces at work on that seatpost tube are magnified if the frame isn't triangulated by supporting seat stays near the top of the seatpost tube. This comment is for non suspended MTB's. Suspension helps to soften the forces at work on a long seat post out of a frame. I have seen rigid steel frames fail due to the seatpost loadings on the seatpost clamp or the tube itself. That said a MTB should have adequate clearance over the top bar to limit the frame from highsiding the rider on narrow trails with a steep side angle. If you get hung up on a top tube before your feet hit the ground you can fall. Tough choices but I like to see less seatpost extension out of frames. Having raced MTB's here in Northern California I saw all the early attempts to put drop bars on mountain bicycles and race them. For MTB racing the drop bars did not work out. Ease up on the harshness of the off roading and you get gravel roading and drop bars work great for that. I checked out the Jones website and that is a very cool bicycle. Big fat tires really don't need suspension unless you are racing and maybe not even then. I really like their ability to traverse sand, loose gravel, and other very hard to deal with riding surfaces and be comfortable at the same time.