That store seller is an idiot, and if he isn't, then he's a crappy salesperson.
He basically trashed the brand his store was supposed to sell, tried to sell you on bikes that his shop doesn't carry, then made cracks at Taiwan, and guess what, he's wrong about everything. Either find a manager and complain, or never return to that LBS.
"Entry-level bikes don't last very long." My entry-level r200 just entered year #12 and it's working...okay (need to replace the wheels, but that's no fault of the bike). A bike is like any other machine, including your body: take good care of it, and it'll last. Any salesperson who doesn't mention this deserves to be shot with a Remington loaded with a box of Nerds.
Specialized has a limited lifetime warranty: the warranty is good so long as you are the original owner. This is a huge selling point for Specialized, and any salesperson who doesn't know this deserves to be shot again.
"Aluminum chains." Last time I checked, most chains were made out of steel, then plated in something like nickel.
The Taiwanese. Bike manufacturers don't go there primarily for the cheap labor, but because Taiwan has a huge aluminum and carbon manufacturing infrastructure that you'd either have to be a fool or an elitist (or both) to ignore. A lot of resentment about Taiwanese-made parts is based on the spillover from American resentment of the Chinese (for what reason, I can't tell: lost jobs, lost manufacturing plants, fake handbags and watches, something about the deficit and the unwillingness of China to re-evaluated the value of yuan, we're all slanty-eyed bastards who can't be trusted with anything but hocking fake goods on honest consumers, take your pick); this resentment is unfounded, as the Taiwanese dislike the Chinese nearly as much as Americans dislike the Chinese. A salesperson - no, human being - who can make the distinction between the two should be quick to point out the differences between the level of quality between the products of the two countries. Now because of differences between the two nations, Taiwan and China will be very different in many cases, but for the most part, Taiwanese-manufactured goods are, well...good.
Last edited by AK404; 09-23-12 at 12:46 PM.