Hi RawOne-
I am taking a marketing class right now, so let me see if the $4k I am spending on this crap is of any value to you. Two fundamental questions . . . is the market for carbon bicycle frames growing? and what is your firm's competitive advantage? I'd also like to note that what you mention is an ADVERTISING strategy, not a MARKETING strategy. You need to think in terms of the benefits you can provide your future clients and how you are going to reach them in an economical manner.
First, since the market for carbon bicycle frames is growing (at least I believe it is), this probably means you don't have to have a competitive advantage for the short term to make profits, but you still need one for the long-term.
In terms of competitive advantage, this does not need to be a technological advantage in your framesets (you obviously won't have one), but it needs to be somewhere. You mention trying to under-price everyone else and selling direct -- frankly, this strategy sucks if you really want to build a business. If you want to make a decent salary for a few years before having your business run into the ground, I guess go ahead.
So I would recommend that you segment the market and figure out where needs are being under-served or what benefits customers are looking for in their purchase process that they may not even realize they want. I guess the typical way to do this is to look at the resources you have, what benefits you can create with these resources, and how that corresponds to features in the bike or buying experience that your target market wants.
So anyway, I don't have any great ideas off the top of my head . . . sorry. I think there are enough triathletes on this web site that you could come up with a decent marketing survey and try to find some holes in the market. I'm sure they exist. Overall though, my advice is to try to find a way to differentiate your company on something other than price. Always think in terms of customer value and how you are beating your competitors on features/experience/etc.
Let me know if I can be of any use in your project.
Eric
Dimond Bikes Superfan