nicrump - thanks for the link which addresses why it looks painted afterwards:
Notably, BMC originally painted the shells and tubes before assembly, using 6-axis robots. But today, shells and tubes are assembled first, then hand sprayed. “Our geometries were really too complex for the robot,” says Kaenzig. Until robots demonstrate sufficient agility and suitable quality-assurance measures can be developed, he says, “it is faster for us to paint by hand and have 100 percent assurance of the quality we need.”

It also explains why the flickr link in my first post looks better, as that was a first gen model with the red seat post.

Monkeyboy - the shot straight down on the top tube - the node is not squared off.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54067629@N ... otostream/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38573046@N ... 639011171/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


prendrefeu - how does free frame, $4k shipping sound?

Now that's funny!