I was told by a local shop owner who has a lot of racing cyclists come through his shop that people seemed to get a lot more wear out of their assos gear, three or four times as much as Pearl Izumi, if not more. If the price is three times as high for four or five times as much life, then it certainly seems to make sense to me.

That said, I have exactly three assos items: knee warmers (small price differential), competitivecyclist.com clearance assos CSC jersey (really nice, and $40), and a pair of FI.13 S2 bibs (ebay.) They are all really phenomenal, and I do understand why folks will pay more, though I will continue to hunt for discounts on general principle