I am a very average rider. I have a bike which I will admit I cannot do justice to, probably two bikes if I'm really honest. One is worth two and a half times the other. The high performance (lol) engine in both is the same, me. When I bought the 2 grand bike four years ago i was like a dog with two whatsits when I got my Cervelo I was like a dog with two whatsits. In their own time frames, both made me smile. I can't point to any performance gains that I get from the new and more expensive bike, but riding it makes me happy. I'm looking at aero wheels currently, I understand that they won't add too much in speed, but boy they will look good and that will make me smile too. Sometimes I feel that some get hung up on practicalities and value for money when dispensing advice or they simply get off on being condescending and dismissive. Now that wouldn't be a first for an internet forum, would it?