garth,
the price difference wasn't all due to the parts. have you seen the "regular" frame? not really a toss-up, imho. of course, i'm no kevin costner...
http://www.wooljersey.com/
seriously, i've owned both (several times) and the SE is a really nice bike, but the non-SE or "regular" as you put it is a different thing entirely. one is a nice mass-produced race bike (miyata) and one is a hand-made race bike with the handiwork and trademarks of a legendary framebuilder (yoshi konno) all over it. same stickers on both bikes doesn't make the bikes the same.
cheers, randy dugan van nuys, ca usa
It's amazing to me that the SE with Suntour Superbe equipment is $500 less than the Campy equiped Allez (1984). The finish and performance of the Superbe stuff from that year was certainly as good or even better than the Campy. In the movie "American Flyers" Kevin Costner alternately rides the Suntour model and two seconds later he's riding the Campy. Apparently it was a toss up which bike to ride. I've ridden the SE fully restored and it is a very race worthy steed indeed.
Garth Libre in Miami Florida USA