Wow! Look at the legs on this thread! Who'd of thought the topic would draw this much attention. So I guess I'll add my two cents... Today a couple went by in the opposite direction on their bikes. I was on mine going toward home at the end of my ride. I religiously will wave and say "Hi" when I see someone (bike, walking, rollerblades ... even a guy on a farm tractor once) but today was different. I was really beat - I mean really, really doggin' ... the couple said "Hi" first and by the time I actually got my arm in the air and some breath in my chest, enough to puff out a pretty sorry "hel-lohhhhhh", they had past missing the entire effort - which was major!
Now, I don't ride a fancy bike and my outfit is so not-roadie (any ol shorts and a big t-shirt for comfort) and hopefully they saw the look of exaushtion and understood - but if not and if my mount was a bright shiney three thousand dollar bike that ends in a vowel, I'd imagine they might think me a "snob". And believe me, had I run into anyone when I finally stopped, I wasn't talkin' to them either.
Point is, there's many reasons why someone may seem "snobby". And in a sport that puts the hurt on ya' like cycling, I'd imagine it's pretty common to be in a situation that might make you look like snob even if you're the nicest person on earth.
Second point, fancy road bikes are like fancy cars -- everyone wants one and those that have them are proud of them and love them. Sometimes folks get carried away and say things that may seem insulting. For example, "My last sports car was an english car, what a piece of crap" is gonna sting like hell for anyone currently driving an english sports car. Same is true of bikes "downtube shifters were such a pia, I dumped that whole bike and bought one with an Ergo group" is gonna sting if you're riding a downtube shifter bike. It's not intentionally insulting, but unless someone is aware, it's easy to step in a big stinky by just stating a fact.
Sometimes we all can be too sensitive about ourselves and not sensitive enough to others. Snobs or not, we've all done it.
Third point, stopping to help someone in a situation like Khoun was in (during some sort of an event with support apparently readily available) doesn't seem like a necessity, does it? I doubt I would have stopped unless flagged down, even if I knew the guy. Seems a lot different than on a trail or road far from support where I'd say stopping is a must and is one of those karma based things -- do it to be helpful or do it cause some day you're gonna need someone to stop for you, just do it ;-)