Oh yeah, and it is *always* more expensive to buy bike parts a-la-carte than to buy a complete bike.

By "buy a complete bike", I don't mean buy a cheap complete bike. There are lots of great mid-price-range bikes that are solid. When in doubt, stick to the major brands (Trek, Bianchi, Specialized, Lemond, Cannondale). They all have their pros and cons. But, they are all good bike manufacturers.

Also, don't mistake buying a bike to ride with buying status and credibility. Lots of people on this forum look down upon people that ride stock bikes because "they aren't unique." So what?

Now, if you ARE looking to be unique first and foremost, then that's a different story.