Marketing wank vs marketing wank. One side thinks weight savings while still being "strong enough" is better, and another side thinks stronger parts and value is better.
Product quality starts at the foundry, where the quality of the source material is determined, from smelting, to casting, to working, to shipping. All sorts of details that can be stressed: minimizing impurities, source of the material (bauxite, scrap, etc.), alloying components, climate control (temp, air quality, moisture control, etc), processing (homogenization, shaping, heat treating, aging, annealing, storage and shipping).
The material likely has seen some sort of heated compression work before it sees the CNC machine. As long as it has been relieved of internal stress, it makes little difference if it was machined from a solid blank cut from a bar of tempered aluminum or from a near net shape forging that was heat treated afterwards. The forging is a cost savings step. Forging doesn't harden the material like a temper would; it work hardens only the areas that are compressed. Ideally the material should be in a softer state before forging, either softened by heat, or in a non tempered form, which didn't go through aging or heat treating.
Then there's the quality of the machines and tooling. Tool sharpness, how tight the workpiece is held in place, spindle load, etc. If the workpiece is clamped too tight or you're cutting through at ridiculous rate, the metal can come out with poor tolerances due to the elasticity in the material. Lower grade material, such as secondary sources of material (scrap remelt), can cause extra wear and tear on the machines and tooling.
All sorts of costs are passed down to the consumer, from higher quality materials to various inefficiencies that cause production time of the part take longer. Inefficiencies can include logistics (too much time in transport and handling), excessive administration roles (management, marketing, legal, etc.), conservative CNC programming, overhead and other operating costs, recouping the cost of R&D and other up-front costs (buying CNC machines), accounting for mistakes, defects, warranties, and long term warehousing, lack of process optimization and quick problem solving experience, etc.
Then there's the hot rodding and weight weenie culture. It started with machine shops not having anything to build, and just starting to make stuff for their hobbies. The **** these guys do/say to sell their stuff... stiffer, stronger, lighter, in any color you want... how stiff? How strong? Even getting harder to find weights. Lower weight most likely means less stiff and less strong, but people reason that it's stiff and strong enough if it's not breaking or is being raced by some celeb with success. Colors don't even match that closely and fade over time. Innovation? Convenience/user friendliness? At what cost? Why do they not say that modular crank designs and DM rings come at a cost of stiffness?
I'm over this game. I say make 'em reasonably overbuilt for reliability, make 'em outta sustainable and abundant material, make 'em perform, and make 'em affordable. Forget your incremental improvement and minor optimizations. I'd rather be that cranky old guy than Mr. Full Kit.
