Originally Posted by mander
Converting is definitely more expensive, unless you have a big parts bin you can cheat with. However you can think of the additional expense as tuition for bike school. You'll definitely learn a lot and have some fun.
it depends. a conversion can be as cheap as the cost of a new rear wheel, or way more expensive than an off the shelf bike if you start replacing a bunch of components.
univegas make great conversions too.