..unlike the componentry of some of the more advanced concoctions - three of my bikes (2 bought new, 1 built) use the same 12-36 9 speed cassette but they are quite different bikes.
As you all already know, there is non linear increase in performance with a higher priced component. Paying ten times more for something might only give you a 5% performance gain.
I've got the Apollo for commuting (new £140), the Boardman Carbon Road bike (new £1000) and now the Voodoo for dry day commuting (new £450).
I'd say that the Voodoo is about 40% better than the Apollo for performance with the Boardman being about 15% better than the Voodoo.
The Apollo is cheap to fix. It has a Shimano Tourney groupset and the components are so cheap, I've got a complete set of spares so that if anything goes wrong, I won't need to wait for parts. The Tourney set up works quite well and is easy to maintain and set up. The groupsets on the Voodoo and the Boardman are double and triple in price compared to the Apollo but maybe only 10% and 20% sweeter. I'm not about to spend ten grand on a new bike for maybe a 10% increase in performance.
But like with anything we buy, one mans expensive is another mans cheap.
You won't see Simon Cowell lining up at Halfrods to collect his £135 Indi Mtb.
And you won't see me riding around on a £16,500 Swindon Powertrain .
But, bottom line is, if I won the lottery tonight, I'd probably go out and buy the most expensive and advanced bike ever made and I'd throw my peasant bikes to the local poor people.