1. High-ten steel and Walmart-level quality are not synonymous. Not sure where this misunderstanding arose from.
2. The Lane is what it is: a hefty base-model CX bike being billed as a tough jack-of-all-trades bike. They're not trying to win awards for lightness or uber ride quality.
3. The price isn't that crazy... similar to a Novara Randonee or a complete Surly CrossCheck, but with STI brake/shift levers instead of bar-cons. Trek does spend a lot (and slay a lot of trees) printing catalogs the size of a small phone book, and that money has to come from somewhere, so you do pay something for the brand name.
There's a Lane where I work, if you have any questions (what's it weigh, etc) just fire away.
If you want a "nicer" steel CX frameset, maybe a
Soma Double Cross would be more your speed. Tange Prestige heat-treated main triangle, butted Cr-Mo stays, optional matching steel fork. Looks like the frame and fork would set you back around $450ish shipped.