You're probably right for road bikes. Money buys you carbon.
But for mountain bikes, the high-end seems to be titanium.
But for mountain bikes, the high-end seems to be titanium.
For both road bikes and mountain bikes, Ti is a vanity product. Carbon dominates mountain bike industry at every price-point above about $3,500 right now.
There are certainly a few high end ti bikes, but carbon is king and very few people still argue ti is superior in terms of performance.
Every major brand uses carbon fiber in their high end bikes.
Last time I bought one ~2011 I swear it was a little steel, mostly aluminum and a tiny fraction of titanium.
It's a custom frame which costs much less than a commercial carbon fibre frame. Titanium is only expensive because there aren't that many vendors that make them, and they all want to position themselves as high-end.