I've spent a lot of time looking at the market - as I have to. I have found that there is a common base of buyer to which "carbon wheels" will always represent a commodity. To them there is little differentiation regardless of the facts. ...this is funny though because carbon is simply a material - not a specific method of design and fabrication and carbon components of all types can be made in a myriad of ways.

For these buyers they are simply price buyers. No statement of anything else will ever really land home for them. That is to say there is no price elasticity in their demand. Cheapest or nothing.

There will always been someone searching to fill that market need. It's a race to the bottom - no one in the supply chain makes much, if anything on it and lots of all sorts of issues can arise. That's not to say inexpensive product that is good can't be found it's to say that the good stuff will eventually cost more than the bottom level stuff if it remains good. That's how it has always worked.

After having had supplier and supply issues with what are vetting Taiwanese companies - people shopping the lowest commodity level of this type of product can have it. I have no desire to play around in that mess.

Asking what you get in return for "higher priced wheels" - assuming.......ASSUMING that top level manufacturing processes are used and the product is near identical (as in you're not getting those super crappy foam cored delaminating monstrosities) then you're getting product that is reviewed an extra time as it's built by hand by someone outside of the OEM manufacturer who has to put their name and insurance on it.

I don't care what industry you're in - ask yourself if any of your suppliers in your real life have ever failed you but you caught it before it got to your customer....