N-plus-one
Devout Dirtbag
I really like your sentiments, apart from 2:Okay, I'm parachuting in on page 30 so I'm probably repeating things so here's my insider view....
First, this gives me a warm fuzzy feeling for my oh-so-unfashionable monthly Bike Jumble.
Second, I called it the David Brailsford ( " marginal gains " ) effect in the past where marketing focused on a thing THAT WAS INCREDIBLY EXPENSIVE ( a widget, weight-saving, internal routing, 1mm difference etc ) where people are now seeing the emporer's new clothes.
Third and final. You don't spend £15k on a bike. You spend a maximum of £2k on the best retro bike ever made and the rest on your family or holdays or education or a pet giraffe but not a bl00dy bicycle that's unservicable by you because of internal cable routing.
1. 4k max for the bike.
2. High costs associated with pet giraffes. Prob better off with a pet Llama or something less vertically challenged.