But I didn't see that (a) the bike's owner was complaining the cost nor (b) that he was asking for permission to buy the bike. He didn't even claim that his was the *best* method to achieve his aims, just that it was the way he wanted to approach the task he had in mind.

He didn't spec something for us. He spec'd it for himself.

Personally, I'm not aware of an off-the-shelf bike that combines the features that this bike's owner requested. He had a vision; he found a builder; he ran into some problems that got fixed; he's off to a great adventure.

I'll bet some other folks who are considering custom builders are learning something from this thread.