I agree, but I take it from another angle that you might find odd.

My first "real" bike was a 1982 Panasonic DX-4000. I was a Sophomore in high school and rode that thing like there was no tomorrow. My Huret Multito (remember those?) had 8,000+ miles showing after my first full season of riding. The problem was, I went through the Shimano 600 Arabesque rear derailleurs like they were candy. I think I went through five in that 8,000 mile stretch, at like $12 a pop. The old crusty dude at the bike shop finally said to me "Why don't you just get Campy and be done with it?"...a NR RD was $45, shifters something like $18 (I ended up getting Simplex Retrofrictions for $15), and FD was just over $20. So I saved my pennies, upgraded my drivetrain to NR, and never had another problem with it. Sure, it cost more money initially, but in the long run, it SAVED me money.

I'm still the same way. I'd rather spend a bit more and have a component last me a lot longer, rather than going the cheapest route possible. I'm not one of those guys who replaces his kit every season, I'm just now replacing some of the 10 year old 9s Ultegra STI stuff on my bike (with 9s Dura Ace STI...I've never been cutting edge). Another example is the wheels I ride every day. I originally bought the hubs (Mavic 571/2 cassette...they're like butter) in 1998, and have rebuilt the wheels around those hubs three times; the hubs were originally fairly expensive, but over 11 years of use, it's not so bad.

Pete