People ride a lot on other than dry smooth pavement. Some ride 1000's of miles a year in gravel, dust, and and dirt with or without moisture or water and mud. You are not telling them something they do not already know or deal with and have direct experience with. They are not dying off and spending any appreciable amount more money keeping their gear going. Someone telling me I am lucky to be alive or I am bankrupting myself or spending to much time keeping it going does not make sense. I ride the bike and think of my enjoyment and experience first, I don't care what the chain, cassette, or some random bearing is going though. Until that chain or cassette eventually impacts my experience then I will deal with it and it's cheap and quick to resolve myself. Me first, bike second. In my case, I'll just get wet or dirty. Decent workout/biking clothes can only hold a finite amount of water and its not much. I am not commuting. On that note though.. I was in Puget Sound for about 6 months and rode my bike back and forth to work (plus a ferry ride), maybe 5 miles each way. I swear it rained every single day I was there. I paid $25 for the bike when I got there and sold it for $25 when I left. I don't recall doing anything to it but topping off with air and some chain lube.