If you shop intelligently, you get much more bike with far better components doing the build yourself than you do if you buy one from a shop. Rack bikes often have no name parts (Specialized and Cannondale are famous for their house brands) and they additionally mix and match component levels (DA shifters, Ultegra brakes.) I have built some pretty nice bikes, and every one of them has beaten retail by $200 to $1000 bucks. For example, I built a 2002 Bianchi Boron XL with Chorus and FSA wheels for about $1400, retail = $2200. You need to shop sales, eBay, use coupons and the like. Plus, you get to enjoy the process.