Well, I suppose it does depend on the situation. I saw a Diadora Palermo at Sports Experts here in Canada on sale for $279 (regular price $350) that had an Altus front derailleur and Acera rear derailleur. I had V-brakes and a rigid fork. So, there was no risk of having a cheap suspension fork or cheap disc brakes. It was fairly light and looked like it had acceptable pedals and crankset. In other words, they were not largely made out of plastic. Had I switched the shifters to Falcon friction shifters and replaced the brake levers with Shimano Deore, I think it would have been a very nice bike. Of course, being a little materialistic and perfectionist, I would have changed the seatpost and bars to silver/chrome ones and of course replaced the saddle. But, who doesn't want to replace the saddle on a complete bike?