Rob, for you, that may work just fine, but for about 5 years when I lived in Vancouver I did not own a car, I rode one of my bikes everywhere, for two of those years I rode 16 km one way to UBC, 5 or 6 days a week, often on Sunday I went for a ride with buddies to Horseshoe bay, that was just over 110km round trip. I would easily put 10,000 km a year on my bikes.
I just simply wore stuff out. This bike had a cheap fork that lasted all of a week, I replaced it with a good quality Tange fork from Japan, and 22 years later, if I'd not let the bike sit so long in the rain
that fork would still be good to go, my fault. I would go through about at least 3 bottom brackets a year on this bike, yes, I rode it that much, and I did a LOT of off road riding, which is dirty and hard on the components. The first bottom bracket I had, the one that came with the bike was very CHEAP, it broke in two one day while riding, yes I was jumping the bike that day, but only a foot or two, nothing dramatic. I replaced that BB with a Shimano unit, and have not yet broken one, I've worn them out, but that came from use.
The shifters that I'm looking to replace, again if I had not let the bike sit for so long, they too would be just fine now, but the one got all rusty inside and is toast.
It is simple, if you are a weekend warrior and a sometime user, then you can get away with cheap parts, they will last long enough for you, but for me, back in the day, the cheap parts did not last long and often broke at the worst time.
Thus, I'm stuck on brands, Suntour makes nice stuff too, but for me, the Shimano stuff, the mid to higher end stuff is still made in Japan, and it is well made. I choose to spend my money on that stuff
YMMV
I'm waiting on parts, trust me, I want to get out there and ride this thing now