Ooohhhh, now you have really peaked my interest in this "Ultimate Bike" thread! Or, maybe you can help me narrow my ideas. (I got your PM so no need to go into too much detail unless you want to keep others up to speed).

I like the idea of a Seven Ti because of the care in putting the bike together. It feels good to ride something that is put together well - - not sure why, but it does. That is somewhat like when you clean and wax your car if seems to run better I liked that about my Litespeed (although the Seven is much higher on that scale), but I didn't like the way the bike felt when I rode it - just didn't feel good to me (hard to describe). I much preferred my carbon Trek.

I don't have a "road" specific bike anymore and ride my Vaya mostly, which I would consider much more versatile. If I go with a new bike it will have similar versatility - that is, the ability to go touring (not fully loaded), do some trail riding, some longer recreational rides, and take me back and forth to work - all in a comfortably, but lively fashion. When I found a KVA SS and Reynolds 953 SS builder that said their "all-round" bike was popular I saved his website. However, his prices are similar to the Seven prices - ouch!

I like the idea of larger tires as I run 40mm wide Schwalbe Supremes now and would probably go with 35s next, even though that might hurt my riding in light sand. Therefore, the bike would need to be a little more robust than the typical touring bike (that usually only allows up to about 32 or 28mm). I guess much like my Vaya, but only nicer