It's all just a pricing game. It probably costs Shimano pennies on the dollar to mass produce Dura Ace stuff over Sora stuff, but then how could they justify the 10 fold price difference? Oh, and for those who have so astutely pointed out status...uh...duh? Hello? This is cycling we are talking about. Road cycling at that! 90% of it is status. Women and their Coach bags...cycling dudes and their Capo kits. It's the uniform that says "hey I'm cool and trendy"!