Evening all, I’m looking at having my local Specialized Concept Store build up an S-Works Tarmac with Ultegra. I asked for a quote with mechanical and Di2 (preference is Di2 but I’m not hardover) and they’ve come back with a £1200 difference which is WAY more than I expected, does this seem right?
If anyone is interested the frame I’m going for was posted up over here:
Thanks to @Ramon_Thompson for helping me decide with some pictures of his setup.
Seems off - retail price difference for those groupsets is only around GBP500.
May not be a fair comparison without all of the little details, but for comparison, this is the groupset prices from Merlin. Mech @ £619.99 and Di2 @ £999.00. I didn’t go through item by item to see if they are complete, but I can’t see another £800 worth of difference
Lol @ that price difference.
Man I wish eTap AXS was as cheap as Di2. I know it’s a newer release for the 12-speed AXS stuff, but even Force is like double the price of Ultegra Di2.
Merlin was my main comparison, the upgrade kit is only £750 so might by that and put the mech components on my winter bike 
Is this a mech vs di2 disc? Or is this mech vs di2 rim? They could be comparing mech disc vs di2 hydro, also consider that they might be quoting a complete build; typically if you go stock you obviously have upgraded parts, so this could include wheels or some other accessory as well. If its mech vs di2 rim brake then yea its high. If its comparing mech rim to disc then that could be why the cost is so different. If its mech disc vs hydro disc di2, then that could also explain it.
It is mech vs Di2 rim to build up a frameset. All other components are exactly the same 
Now I’m done with today’s workout I’ll do some Googling and see what I can come up with before emailing them back…
I would guess its a pre made setup with like an upgraded wheelset. Otherwise ya thats steep
Nope, I’m not buying wheels and the only frame in this colour they have is a lone frame set which I’ve asked them the build. I’m wondering if it’s a typo.
Seems quite steep. I paid basically what Merlin is showing for a hydro Di2 set. Installed most of the parts my self and just had the shop finish everything off (roughly $200).
I’m waiting for a price to come back from Sigma Sports too. The benefit of going to the Concept Store is its local(ish) so easier to pop back if there are any snags.
I was going to build it up myself but the labour cost seems minimal so I may as well save some time I could be spending with my kids.
Tempted to just get the mechanical, wait for the new Ultegra to be announced and try to get a bargain upgrade kit. I’ve been thinking about upgrading my TT bike anyway (currently 10-speed Ultegra).
I guess the real question is: how much is Di2 worth? I’ve always liked the idea of it but having never ridden a Di2 bike I’m not sure I’ll miss it.
See if you can get the price closer on the Di2 set up. You will love Di2.
I’ll see what I can do. At the moment I’m speccing it without wheels (have some Mavics which I can use for the time being) but the shop has a set of CLX50s on offer for about £1300 which would get my money ahead of Di2 at the current price…
That sounds like they have forgotten to deduct the cost of the standard ultegra from the second quote to me.
Think the total cost of Di2 would be around £1200 - not £1200 more than standard.
A di2 groupset from Madison is £1050 and the mechanical is £600. so expect a ~£500 increase, any more and they are ripping you off.
If a shop was building up a bike for me and sourcing the frame and all the components themselves I think I’d expect the labour to be free, as it should be more than offset by the product margin they’ll be making.
If they’re charging for labour as well, maybe just see what it would cost for a good local mechanic to build up the frame with components that you source from Merlin or wherever else is selling them cheaper? I did this last year when I got a good deal on a frame and didn’t fancy doing the build myself. Trick is to find a mechanic you can deal with directly who operates from home, or maybe one of those mobile van services. Go through a LBS and the cost goes through the roof due to the overheads
Have you tried calling another concept store to price same builds? To the best of my knowledge they aren’t run by Specialized, or at least not all are. For example Chelmsford is part of Thomas’s cycle group up in Colchester (Evolution/Revolution). They are a good team there by the way, did a great job on a friend’s Tarmac build and have dealt with niggles well (for example his wheels had to go back to Mavic, they sorted it all with a smile).
For the price they’ve given me (sub-£3.5k for the R8000 build) I don’t think they can be charging for labour. I know a couple of good mechanics locally so will definitely look at the quote more closely just in case!
I’ve not as I think all of the local(ish) stores are the same non-Specialized group. The price they’ve quoted is good (sub-£3.5k for complete build, no wheels) I was just shocked at the Di2 delta. The chap I’m dealing with is back at work tomorrow so I’m hoping @kevistraining is right and they just forgot to delete the R8000 parts from the quote.