I hear you. I think we have to focus on the primary purpose of a bicycle. Not the bicycle in a general kind of way, but the specific one you're working on. Is it transportation? Is it athletic equipment? Is it an art project? Is it a museum piece? Is it a time machine? Of course these are not mutually exclusive, and there are many other purposes a bicycle might serve. My bikes are mostly a compromise between two or more of those alternatives. But it helps to keep them in mind.