Originally Posted by Eyenigma

Makes sense, thank you all for taking the time. Really good advice in here, and I appreciate the input.
Without really sounding ignorant, how does one really choose a groupset? I can see why it's a logical place to start. It honestly seems a lot like choosing between Audi, Mercedes, and BWW. Really all of them make comparable products (according to reviews anyway) at various price points. You could almost flip a coin and wind up in something quite nice. So is that the answer? Find a groupset at a smoking deal (whatever the brand) and go from there?

As not to start a debate on that, are there general rules of thumb to follow or avoid? For instance it seems a lot of Italian frames are paired with Campagnolo given the country of origins. But I'm guessing there's no hard and fast rule as to what pairs with what. I assume it's all universal sizing and fit?

It would seem picking a popular brand like Giant or Felt
Propel Advanced SL Frameset (2016) | Giant Bicycles | United States
FRAMESET: AR FRD - Felt Bicycles

Would probably be silly to do a custom assembly given their packages come pretty well dialed. Is that fair to say? In thinking about this a bit more, I'm asking myself what it is I'd hope to gain by doing something custom.

It almost seems it's well suited to finding that rare frame and assembling something exotic. Or a frame on close-out where the price warrants the effort of trying to piece it together little by little.