I don't know why you're writing off PBP 2011 so easily unless you don't have the funds. Even if you don't have a bike yet you could still easily get yourself trained up in time for PBP if you put some effort into it. As Michael said, inexpensive used bikes are a dime a dozen. You can get a really good quality frame/fork for fairly cheap then put on the components you want. As far as new bikes go, you'd be better off getting a complete bike. That would be cheaper unless you have the components lying around. Why limit yourself to 7speed? The newer 9speed stuff is just as easy to come by, maybe more so that the old 7sp stuff. I wouldn't go lower in quality level that 105. Ultegra is what I prefer as a nice balance between performance and cost. If you go with more gears you won't have the huge jumps between gears back there. The rest of the stuff is all fluff. Get what works for you and have some fun.