You made the right choice. I was still in school and didn't have much disposable income. A seat stay of my rusted out Trek 660 broke on the trainer so I needed a new bike. The boyfriend of a classmate worked at a bike shop and gave me deal. Some of the bearings literally did fall out of the cassette. I brought the bike home on Amtrak for spring break and then brought it back. As I was riding home from the train station up a long climb I kept hearing little pings, and the cassette got wobbly. Didn't realize what had happened until I reached my apartment. IIRC, they were SunTour components.