racingpain, I've read about the upgrades you have put into your Trek (and also some of the flak you've received for doing it). There is something very gratifying about taking something that needs some work and putting in effort to make it better, whether it is overhauling a bike or upgrading a lower level bike to something of higher quality. You don't get that when you buy a brand new bike outright. My first "real" bike was a Schwinn High Plains MTB from '95. That bike went through three paint jobs and so many part upgrades over the years that the only thing original left on it was the frame and the seatpost. Interestingly that was the first and last time I bought a complete bike from a shop. Everything since has been a "project" of some sort.

-Jeff