If you're willing to go one more step down in Shimano's componentry hierarchy, the
KHS Tandemania Milano comes with Shimano Sora for a suggested retail of $1999. In the last year or two, Shimano upgraded Sora to 9 speeds and the standard Shimano-style shift lever (as opposed to the thumb shifter they used previously on Sora and currently on lower end shifters). That and the disc brakes I think make this a pretty good value for the money.