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  1. the fit of the frame
  2. the quality of the moving components
  3. quality of the fixed components
  4. the quality of the frame

If the size of the frame is way too small/big for you, then there's not a lot you can do about it. Ride quality - handling characteristics and comfort will always suffer to some degree.

But once you have a frame that's a reasonable fit, then in daily use there's not that much difference in practical terms between a high-end frame and a budget frame.

A high end frame will be lighter, might flex less or soak up road vibrations better. It might even be more aerodynamic.

All of this is of course nice, and important if you're racing or riding a lot. But it doesn't matter much if your main intention is to go from A to B. Even in racing you have to be pretty good before you can credibly attribute a victory or a loss to your choice of frame.

Assuming you have a frame that's a reasonable fit, then what will influence your daily ride quite a lot is the quality of the moving components. Better components have less internal losses and snappier responses to your actions. They tend to keep working better/longer when covered in crud than simpler stuff. With some exceptions, they last longer too.

Last part can be summarized as weight. All else being equal, a lighter bike is always nicer than a heavier bike. So for all the bits that basically just have to be there(seat post, saddle, handlebar etc) having them all as light as possible will influence the feel of the bike. In practical terms it doesn't influence the usefulness of the bike much, unless you ride in mountainous areas, or perhaps race.

Oh, and do remember that bike parts are always cheapest to buy when they're part of a bike.

Buying a bike with the intention of upgrading is later is false economy, it will cost you more money to do it that way. Better then to put off buying the bike a few months and save up so you can buy the bike with the spec you want already from the beginning.

The only possible exceptions to this is:

  1. you can get parts below cost, though eBay deals or whatever.
  2. you're able to only upgrade when parts are actually worn out. Trouble with this is that something like a heavy seat post never wears out.
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