Originally Posted by
Bacciagalupe
And I'm explaining to you that your perceptions of costs are skewed.
Specialized can't go on eBay and order up a bunch of NOS SRAM Red derailleurs. They have to buy them from SRAM or distributors, they have to buy tens of thousands of them, they have to ship them to a factory, they have to be there on a set schedule. And as Bob Dopalina pointed out earlier, a tiny increase in the price of a single part can blow the budget for a production line.
As I pointed out, the people who pay the big bucks generally DO get the lighter bike.
The exception is when they are paying for some other function, feature or quality. E.g. DA Di2 or high-end wheels carry a big price premium. "Aero" road bikes like the Specialized Venge are optimized for narrow uses, and focus on aerodynamics and/or stiffness rather than low weight.
...and again, what you fail to realize is that your experiences are not a valid point of comparison.
What you perceive as "room for improvement" are costs that you, as a person buying stuff as cheaply as possible, taking your time, and building the bike only for yourself, don't have to pay -- and the manufacturer does.
It'd be like buying a used Ferrari 428 for $75k and pouring another $25k into it, and saying "why can't Ferrari sell the new 428's for $100k instead of $220k? If I can whack $120k off the costs, surely Ferrari can as well."
I surely understand what you are saying. Not knowing all you folks' backgrounds there is no way for me to know who may or may not be really expert on this topic, i.e. who may actually project manager for Trek or some such thing and be truly authoritative. Even so I grant that what you say should not be discounted out of hand. Of the answers I have received, however, I find the one about limiting liability stemming from over-lightening the bikes and the need to "fit" a bike to a wide variety of rider weights and styles to be the more convincing. My own belief is that wholesale pricing of mass purchased bike parts and the cost of Asian labor being what they are, there is plenty of room in the budget for upgrades that result in lightening. But enough said. We should most likely agree to disagree. Thanks for your input. It is truly appreciated.