Yes Genius, watches. It was an analogy to why I may spend on a particular brand or item knowing that a cheaper product can be as good.

As far as the recall and the inconvenience, the 09 Rival is backordered until mid January and the frame is sitting on my dining room table. Looking at the fork steerer right now, It doesn't look any differnt than my others and I wouldn't be too worried about riding it with the Ritchey Stem I am ordering as it wasn't on the list of stems that Isaac said was an issue.

Isaac IS NOT REPLACING anything other than the compression plug. The only thing that sucks about that is if you are a weightweenie, the new expander is longer and probably weighs more by 30 grams.