Originally Posted by Grasschopper

Well the profit margin is probably more but not $1100 worth. Remember due to the quantity of Shimano SKUs Specialized has they will be paying significantly less for that product than say your typical online retailer will. You can't just go find the best online price for each grouppo and assume that is their price difference. Plus unless they (the Record bikes) are build to order only there is some assumed risk that they wont sell all the Campy bikes due to the higher cost so they loose some of the margin to the overheard of stocking the Campy.

Basically what I am trying to say is that it is more complex than just Record costs X on the street and Dura Ace costs Z so why is the price different. The cost delta to SPecialized is no doubt larger than the street price delta and after you factor in all the hastle Specialized isn't going to loose money on the deal so the difference loks wacky and it is. It comes down to the question of: is it cheaper to buy the frame and grouppo and build it yourself? If so do it rather than having Specialized do it.