One thing I've noticed today while looking at manufacturing video's for big name high dollar carbon bike frames. The people doing the work in the background are Chinese. At least one of the big names. I haven't seen them all.
Maybe the less expensive carbon parts use cheaper carbon fabric? Yeah, that's probably it. Everything else in the manufacturing process is the same. There is really only two ways to make them with slight variations in how many parts of the frame are cast & baked in one piece. The more individual parts, the lighter the frame will be. Fewer parts means excess carbon and epoxy inside frame and heavier overall weight. That only effects the weight quality. Strength is in what fabrics are used together. Less expensive fabrics need to be used along with the more expensive denser ones. Some of the big names would have you think that they only use the more expensive carbon fabric. If that were true, the frame would have very little strength, and would be very brittle.
This photo is from Scott. The carbon pre preg is set in the mold around expanding bladders inside the frame. The bladders get expanded when the mold is closed, the carbon takes the shape of the mold, then off to the oven to set the pre preg carbon. I'm thinking this is a old production run in the photo because they are casting the triangle in one piece. It's limited by the inability to remove the inflatable bladders. They get removed, but a multi piece triangle casting allows for more detailed inside dimensions eliminating waste epoxy and fiber which adds weight to the frame with no structural benefit.
You can see how the frame looks loose in this photo. This is how they look before
the mold is closed and the bladders are expanded for the trip into the curing oven.
Anyway, here's a couple video's that show the process much better than I can explain it.
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