I think the main cause for the 'atitude' was your attempting a group ride without brakes, I think a lot of people would have a problem with that...

As far as your statemnet 'But These people are all riding on asian made crap. I sound like a broken record here but I am so sick of people appreciating injection molded plastic frames. There is no art. The engineering is pretty state of the art but the lack of art involved makes me sick' ... have you ever seen a Colnago C-50?

Ride whatever you enjoy... Just don't expect everyone to agree with your value judgements...