Come to think of it, this is kind of a bizarro version of my bike, down to the same city. I just can't bring myself to ride a threaded fork, or a chrome fork, for that matter. Deep Vs? No can do.

I know people are big fans of the top-down approach, starting with a quality frame, but a bottom-up approach, done incrementally over time, has been my personal favorite way of approaching bikes. I don't think I've ever not upgraded the wheelset on a stock bike as some point in it's lifetime.

And what he's got on that bike, color coordination issues notwithstanding, is a quality wheelset and headset. I had a Chris King headset I used on three seperate mountain bikes back in the late 90s, probably still under warranty.

Provided he had enough foresight to save the original components, he'll eventually have two bikes, one a quality stock bike, and the other, pretty ****in' amazing.

That said, take the Mr. Blackwell approach to choosing components on the next go 'round - you can't go wrong with black, white or silver. Blue, pink, purple or red? Not so much.