The guy is not a bad engineer, really. He just comes from the mindset of "bikes are children's toys". Hence using wally bikes as an example. My commuter is a $500 Trek FX, and the math doesn't even take into account the intangible value of "lifestyle choice". One thing the guy also told me was the he couldn't understand why I didn't get an electric bike so I could go farther and faster. The whole "lifestyle choice" thing is so foreign to his experience that he thinks an electric bike would be "better".