Carbon-wrapped Aluminum seatpost? I have the seatpost shown in the pictures below. It came on a 2010 Specialized Tricross. It looks like Carbon fibre on the outside, but when you look at the open end of the tubing, it actually looks more like a thin layer of Carbon over a normal Aluminum tube. 





I have two questions:


Am I correct that this tube is mostly aluminum with just a bit of carbon outside? If so, why would they even bother adding the Carbon? Just for show? 
If it is mostly Aluminum, would it be acceptable for a long bike tour? From a durability perspective, that is. The reason I ask is I just got a new bike that came with a pretty basic metal tube with a hard to adjust seat clamp and less offset than this Carbon-wrapped one. I would prefer to use the Carbon seatpost from my Tricross since it has the offset I'm used to and a nicer seat clamp that's a bit easier to adjust fore/aft position and tilt separately.
1) It's for show, just like the carbon fiber insert on my Leatherman Skeletool CX. See this question. 

2) It's fine for touring provided its in good condition. However, you may still want to get a different seatpost depending on the adjustments available on this one.