I got my Trek 4300 for $350. Are you looking at the disc version? And I would say those bikes are the Chevy of bikes. American, but not actually made in american, and not by any means luxury (they're not that expensive). But mine is pretty reliable, so I would only assume that the others would be as well. The 4300 and 4500 frames are the same, the difference is colors and components, if you wanted to go up to the 6000 series, the frame is the same for all of those, so you could always upgrade parts if you chose, bring your bike up to the level of upper 6000 series bikes.