It seems like a lot of money for a bike missing many features now considered essential: disc brakes, and lots of gears namely. The article says it only has 4 s

It seems like a lot of money for a bike missing many features now considered essential: disc brakes, and lots of gears namely. The article says it only has 4 speeds; that's really pathetic for a modern bicycle, and it sounds like it would be horrible for hilly terrain. Disc brakes are also a must-have on a modern road bike (costing $3600), though I guess if you're not riding on any hills maybe it won't seem so important. The frame is also ugly and probably doesn't have any of the aerodynamic or compliance features that are now normal on bikes in that price range, since he doesn't have the resources of a company like Trek to do simulation and wind tunnel testing. Maybe he should have set his sights lower, and made a lower-cost, low-performance bike with this drivetrain instead. An aluminum-frame city bike with this would make more sense to at least get it out there.