I like that Redline too!

I looked at the Peter White site, again. I had not really considered that $2k could get me into that level of bike. There is now even a chance the budget will go up, so more option are opening perhaps?

irclean, the gearing is less important. This bike will be a commuter first. If I can tour, great. My main goals are steel frame with disc brakes. I'm starting to think the front rack braze-ons are less important, but I'm not there yet

My commute is on concrete urban trail. I only use the top 3-5 gears on my MTB turned commuter now, so I can live without hill gears until I can tour.

I really like the bikes with the Rolhoff hubs. I also say a bike, Arvon?, that had a rear hub spacing that allowed for a flip flop with no dish? That sounded cool. I could have the faster road gear for commuting and weekend rides, but still get the granny gears for touring later on.

This leads to a question...

Is it cheaper to get that custom frame, with rear hub spacing wide enough for a flip flop, or have two sets of wheels?