Originally Posted by Little Darwin
The $900 to $700 difference is relatively easy to understand... have you seen the difference in cost for brifters and drop bars compared to flat bars and mountain style shifters? Throw in a little marketing since many people looking for drop bars are willing to drop more money on a bike and voila! $200 extra to go from flat bars to drop bars.
+1 I don't know if the cost difference is justified, but brifters are way more expensive than MTB shifters. Some of the high end Shimano 10-speed stuff costs more than a low end Trek mountain bike. It's crazy, but that's a large part of the difference. I've seen the same thing here in the states. Diamondback has a road bike with flat bars and a similiar bike with Sora and drop bars. To the best of my recollection, the price difference was about $150-200. There's a reason Wally World and Dawes (low end Dawes bikes only) don't put brifters on their bikes, Co$$$t.