The gains on expensive bikes are so ridiculously marginal and the risk of theft is super high and the cost of maintaining them is super high. Ultimately a slightly fitter rider on a low end Claris road bike will beat a less fit rider on a top end £13k bike. You buy a Ferrari car you get a Ferrari engine you don't fit it with a 50cc moped engine in it which can be the case when a rich less fit middle age man splashes out on a high end bike.
It's all marketing nonsense anyway, Specialized import such bikes from the far east to promote their engineering status plus they sponsor events so that the Specialized brand is desired. I don't think Specialized has really made anything themselves, I'm pretty sure even their early bikes were imported from Japan. You can see Specialized mountain bikes being made in a recent fuji-ta video. The same factory is used for many low end brands. I've got a cheap Muddyfox sports direct road bike that came from the same factory, no doubt it hasn't got the butted tubes of the Specialized entry level road bikes that are made there but they will be manufactured by the same people to the same overall quality, only the components will vary and my cheap Muddyfox bikes sports a decent freehub/Claris drivetrain with brifters and dual pivot brakes, it's probably just a kg heavier than the entry level Specialized road bike because of a lack of frame tube butting.
You can see the same Muddyfox model of bike as mine up against a high end carbon fibre Boardman bike here. Also the Muddyfox bike only has a 12-25 cassette so bear that in mind when you see the results. I'm sure a 11-32T cassette would have made a significant difference to the results.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow7MdsS ... artinSmithhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWhsXSa ... nufacturerUltimately its a silly money purchase in line with a gold plated McClaren. You'd have to be an amazing cyclist for the tiny gains to make sense and such bikes sell in ridiculously low numbers, probably 10,000 entry level Specialized bikes are sold for every one of these.