Hey, well I...strongly disagree with you on #2, though to be fair there's a difference between a "chain guard" - like the long one that's really obvious you have it on your bike - and a chain ring that you don't really notice unless you're really looking at the parts on the bike. I was able to get a chainring on my commuter bike - it's awesome, I just don't have to worry about wearing jeans with it, it just works. I can see where you're coming from with the chain guard (though there's always the possibility of someone taking it off for their weekend riding), but I can see a chain ring.

I can definitely see the same thing with #3.

I think part of our disagreement is that you're coming from a perspective about someone "needing" a 52t front ring. Yeah, I agree, for the most part they don't "need" to have one. But I can't even find a dura-ace single ring online (from performancebike or competitive cyclist) - do they even sell them separately? All I find is $500 cranksets. If I can personally definitely see someone buying a bike to ride in spandex with their club on the weekend, but also wanting to be able to ride it more casually to work during the week. Do they need to spend $500 on a new crankset to replace the one that came with their bike? Seems kinda crazy. I'd rather have an extra plastic ring on my crankset than drop that kind of cash and not have the extra high gears on the weekend. I mean...of course you're welcome to have a different opinion.