Parts prices is again marketing, I would hardly say top end parts are mass produced, not like the lower end parts in the range, where economy of scale plays a large part. A lot is marketing, and you will always get some people who have more money than sense.
Regards the average wage, of course it includes the top end earners that drag the average up, as well as the bottom end earners that drag the average down, that's why its the average. What other figure would be a better example of average wage than the average of all wages?
Regards forks, if you went and rode a modern cheap fork such as a RS xc28 (£100) and compared that to a quadra 21r (£275 IIRC?) you will find the modern product superior in every respect. So although they may be not great by todays standards they're not that bad.
Regards the average wage, of course it includes the top end earners that drag the average up, as well as the bottom end earners that drag the average down, that's why its the average. What other figure would be a better example of average wage than the average of all wages?
Regards forks, if you went and rode a modern cheap fork such as a RS xc28 (£100) and compared that to a quadra 21r (£275 IIRC?) you will find the modern product superior in every respect. So although they may be not great by todays standards they're not that bad.