I experienced this situation in reverse a couple of days ago. I purchased a fairly high end road bike in Nov. and rode with a couple of friends for the first time with the new bike on Tuesday. They have more entry level road bikes and, after commenting on my new one and asking if it was carbon, proceeded to discuss how it was the engine not the chassis, (or some similar terminology) and it would be silly for them to upgrade implying, of course, that it was silly for me to upgrade since I could have just worked harder like them.
I just smiled. I know they didn't mean to disparage my decision to get my bike, which was purely a luxury purchase for me. They just weren't thinking - and many of us do not far too often- of the full implications of their words.
Grits
2010 Trek 5.2 Madone WSD, SI Diva Gel Flow
2002 Terry Classic, Terry Liberator