Fair enough, but if we're not the demographic for a high end steel frame with chrome lugs and a quill stem, who is?

Regarding the cost of a custom frame, I see your point but I think there's some point at which the target customer has enough money to say "If I'm going to spend X dollars for this, I may as well spend 4X dollars for that." Or, conversely, "I wish I could afford to spend X dollars for this, but I can get that for 0.25X dollars." In the first case, "that" is a custom frame. In the second case, "that" is a used LeMond with an 853 frame. But there are probably people in between for whom this is exactly what they want.