$88 per wheel is indeed on the way-totally-extreme low end of road bike wheel prices. IMO, the sweet spot as far as price vs. quality is in the $500-800 range for a pair of wheels. And yes, a lot of technology and engineering and R&D expense goes into creating a such a light wheelset that is capable of safely carrying the weight of a bike plus rider. But also a lot of what you pay for a quality wheel is paying for brand and bling-factor. However, I think that the price variance between road wheels and MTB wheels tends to even out over time when you consider that the sort of use that the road wheels typically see doesn't usually result in the need to true, repair or replace as much as their MTB counterparts. If you have enough semi-frequent crashes on a road bike that result in the need for wheel repair/replacement, you aren't doing it right.