I am involved in the distribution of very expensive bicycle components. The demand is massive. From my commercial experience, this sort of stuff has lots of s

I am involved in the distribution of very expensive bicycle components. The demand is massive. From my commercial experience, this sort of stuff has lots of similarities with other branded goods (bags, watches, designer clothes). It probably is built to a higher standard than mass-merchandise, but people buy it for more reasons than the tiny theoretical improvement in performance. I reckon more people buy a Rolex as a signaling device than because it more closely to Swiss Chronometer accuracy standards. I think the same for lots of bike stuff. Not really a value-judgement (I'm thankful for my customers) but in many cases, it's not a pure performance-per-dollar value calculation that they're making.