it's a moot point if this is the same or different from knock off carbon rims, because one can show that he would be doing something ethically dubious without relying on a comparison to knock off rims.

the facts regarding issue at hand is that the person who posted is cognizant of potential quality issues and the dangers that may result. If he were to go ahead with purchasing the knockoff knowing full well that there are QC issues, then i'd call that a dirtbag move. Doing so only because it's a cost saving measure makes it worse.

the problem with analogies and comparisons is that it draws attention away from the issue at hand, and often the fact patterns are not the same between the comparisons.

As a side issue, if I know someone who's considering a knockoff rim that has a history of failures, i'd exhort the person not to buy that knockoff rim. And if the person were to continue with the purchase knowing of the QC issues, then that would be a dirtbag move