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by A_D_E_P_T 573 days ago
Magnesium, especially a casting, can be something like an order of magnitude cheaper. Carbon fiber is an intrinsically more expensive material, and manufacturing complex engineering parts solely with CF, to high quality standards, is almost an artisanal process.
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> Magnesium, especially a casting, can be something like an order of magnitude cheaper.

That doesn't seem to be borne out by bike prices - it's entirely possible to buy a very usable carbon fibre bike for approx £1000 but I can't recall seeing a magnesium framed bike for £100.

Edit: looking at cheap frames on AliExpress, you're not too far off. I saw a magnesium alloy frame for approx £80 and a carbon fibre frame for £350. Not quite an order of magnitude though.