I bought a pair of Carbon Beam 29" 30x30 rims for my ICAN build, put them on Venfort DT copies for a total built weight of 1425g. I chose the lightweight 315g for front and AM 360g for the rear. They are cheap at $130usd each including delivery.

However in less than 100km the rear is destroyed by a rock strike. Now I get that rock strikes aren't warranty, however when it comes down to it, the seller advertises these as AM with a weight rating of 120kg for mountain bike use. I didn't even hear the rock strike and have been pretty careful on this bike to ensure my riding isn't as enthusiastic so to speak as my heavier duty enduro bike. That said, I have destroyed several aluminium rims over the last couple of years, but they are a LOT cheaper too...

I had a look at Lightbicycle, they have a great writeup on different layups and light/standard/heavy duty layup options, however their rims come out to $366 ea delivered.

Is a $366 rim less prone to destruction from rock strike than a $130 rim?