Your comment about non-bike nuts who think the prices on fully equipped bicycles are crazy could have been a description of me a year or two ago. It took me a while to wrap my mind around what it would cost to get exactly what I wanted and to make decisions about where I was and was not willing to compromise. So this "willingness to pay" came to me slowly. What helped me wrap my mind around the price I finally paid was looking at less well equipped bikes and calculating what it would cost to add after-market improvements to brakes, lights, gearing, saddle, etc. to make the bike what I wanted. In every case, it came to within $100 or so of what I ended up paying for a bike that is exactly what I want (or will be -- I hope -- if it ever arrives).