You have a lot of questions that, unfortunately can probably be better answer through taking the start here thread and cross posting to the commuter forums.

The price point statement is valid to some degree. The Raleigh is geared, at least on their website. So you lose quality elsewhere to get a crappy DR. Frame material pays into cost as well. So while you can make a blanket statement to some degree, there are a lot more variables to take into consideration. Felt makes a nice bike, I have no knowledge phat cycles.