i think the nashbar stuff is pretty good for the quality, i knew a friend that raced mtb with one of them and he would win pretty regularly. i think he put 4k miles on it before selling the bike no problem

yes you get better quality for brand names , but the cost vs quality difference is not warranted. for the nashbar crank you pay 70 bucks , for the 105 you pay 210, the 105 is not 3 times better