Are the SL's tubulars? Did the Elite's have tires on?

The difference in weight, depending on which year the Elite's were, should be i the range of about 80-170 grams, aka about a 1/4 pound or less. That may very well still be a noticeable difference to a lot of people, especially in the wheels, and plenty of people on BF have spent a lot more than $400 lose less than that, but this shop sounds shady.