I got tired of wearing through rims and replacing too many parts of a derailleur drivetrain so I bought a nashbar steel commuter and made a "few" modifications.

Dumped the silly flat fenders for full SKS versions. Replaced the rear rack with an axiom journey so it matches the rest of my commuters and makes mounting my backrollers a snap. Switched the slicks for Nokian 106's. Pulled the rear hub apart and added grease to help waterproof it. Pulled the rear wheel apart and greased where the nipples sit on the rim and added anti-sieze to the spoke threads. Pulled the front rim and rebuilt around a SA drum brake (grease between nipple and rim, anti-sieze between spoke and nipple). Dumped the rear brake and added a roller brake (no more rim wear on either wheel). Applied frame saver. Pulled the headset apart and repacked with ample grease. Pulled the seat post and stem to apply grease. Pulled the bottom bracket and applied anti-sieze. pulled pretty much every fastner (peddles, water bottle cages etc) and applied anti-sieze.

Guess I'm at the other end of the spectrum, but I'm fairly happy with it so far and I know things aren't going to corrode together.