Originally Posted by coelcanth
bikes are often sold without bartape, saddles, or pedals because these three contact points are usually decided according to personal preference...
I've never seen this.
EVERY bike that i've seen that is "missing" a part is usually sold without the pedals, but with bar tape and a saddle. This is usually on upper mid-higher end road bikes- most of the low-mid end ones just come with stock cheap clipless pedals, or clips/straps on the really cheap ones.
Presuambly mountain bikes would follow a similar pattern, but i'm not too qualified to comment on those.