What is the ergonomic and biomechanical basis for the notion that high-performance road cycling necessitates the use of the most expensive bikes, and can a case be made that the incremental gains in power output and aerodynamic efficiency afforded by such high-end machines are sufficient to justify the substantial financial outlay, or is the phenomenon of high-end bike dependency among serious road cyclists more a product of marketing and status-driven cultural influences rather than a genuine performance imperative?