An interesting thread, certainly one with many angles.
My experiences:
Sometimes I am surprised how many bikes get sold without parting them out, a la carte has always been more money, Many a bike got parted out when it was young, and no one got upset.
Although many think a bike is "whole" now without pedals!?
IIRC, Charles was possibly successful in obtaining many of the removals on that serious DeRosa frame he won not so long ago, it does take commitment to recompile a bike...
Thank goodness for my wallet that the Gios I won somewhat recently was not sold a la carte, but small frames seem to fly below the radar, so my wife will benefit.
I don't like parting out, for non rational reasons, but there are degrees of damage, how many of us have changed a stem (perhaps with pantographing) to get a better fit?
Here is another interesting example, my 30 year old track bike will soon be on the track again, "the lumberyard" (the new velodrome at CSUDH) has steep banking, so new tires, new pedals, and if I were to race, modern wheels. Keeping the old stuff mind you, I think steel bars & stem are superior anyway, watching the Junior Worlds made me cringe to hear the modern stuff creaking under stress, not very confidence inspiring for me.
The new stuff has its seduction, better braking, more gears, more control (Ergo 8 was enough for me on a frame that was built to fit it. So just don't go spreading 120mm out to 130mm and everyone can be happy, & keep the correct take-offs for the future show.
John Jorgensen Palos Verdes Ca
Where my patio umbrella flew over the house this AM on the wind, and my heart did sink when I heard from a friend that he cut up a perfectly good pair of Scheeren Weltmeister sprint wheels for the hubs, as he was advised that "those old rims are not worth keeping". Rims got folded up to fit the trash can... Oh, the sorrow.