I should clarify. What I mean is, it is getting increasingly difficult to find a good aluminum FRAMESET ONLY, for $1,000 or less. There are plenty of boutique frame builders (Vynl, Low, etc) who make great framesets, but I can't justify paying close to $2,000 for an aluminum frameset. And, yes, one can get some pretty good COMPLETE bikes, which have great framesets, but usually those bikes come with sub par wheels and/or components, which one would have to pay extra to replace, so that sort of defeats the point (unless one can find a used frameset).

I agree the CAAD 10 & 12 is cool. I've thought about it but the 25.4mm seatpost is sort of deal breaker for me. I have lots of nice spare seatposts laying around the garage, but nothing in 25.4mm. I also don't like how Shimano doesn't make a BB30 or a BB30A bottom bracket. Yes, I know there are adapters, but, to me, it's just not the same. It's just one more thing that requires more fiddling and that could potentially go wrong.

The Canyon AL frames are cool, too, but they are not available in the USA, as far as I know. The other issue I have with those is their over-sized stems, which limit one about as much as a 25.4mm seatpost. I guess I like to have seemingly endless possibilities for mixing and matching parts, so when a manufacturer does something like 25.4mm seatposts, it sort of rubs me the wrong way.