Originally Posted by maydog .
"High Quality" bikes can certainly be found for under $1000. Once you get out of the big box, department store bikes price range, generally all of the reputable brands offerings are pretty high quality. Higher prices get you lighter weight, more bling, more gears, newer tech, more customization, better aerodynamics and perhaps crisper operation. Entry level bikes and most of the mid level bikes I have seen come with cheap and poorly built wheelsets - but they can be brought up to snuff with a little tlc, cone wrenches and a truing wrench.
Its pretty hard to quantify the performance difference between a properly adjusted $500 bike and $2000 bike with similar geometry. Plenty of my riding buddies have upgraded in the past year, DI2 systems, full carbon, tubless tires, etc. I am still riding my cheap craigslist bike with cheap wheels, I am a bit envious - but they are really not any faster.