Road Cycling - 2003 Raleigh Grand Prix

I have been looking at road bikes for a little bit now, and I luckily stubled upon this great forum of yours, so I thought I might throw this question into the crowd.

From my budget standpoint, and the features I want, Im leaning towards purchasing a 2003 Raleigh Grand Prix. Everything I have heard about them is good, of course everything I've heard about them came from the guy at the shop, so...

Does anybody out there own one? if so, would you be able to give me a little bit of a review of it? All opinions are welcome!

And also...

As a matter of size, I have searched some threads where big guys have been trying to find a frame size for them. I am 6'8'' 215lbs, with about a 37 inseam. My local shop has the raleigh grand prix in a medium, and they tell me that the XL should fit me with no problem. I have looked for measurements on the grand prix, and I wasnt able to find much.

Does that sound about right? Does anybody have any similar experiences?

Thanks-

Pete

Have you looked at bikes other than Raleigh?

Giant? Specialized? Cannondale?

Although at your size, maybe you should consider steel bikes. LeMond?

Don't limit yourself to steel, although it's a great material to try out.

Ditto on limiting yourself to steel, I recently purchased a 2003 Raleigh Competition that comes with the silly-light R540 rims (sweeeeet).

I know steel kicks ass for its own reasons, but you can go with aluminum at your weight - this bike handles my 330lb, 6'6" self just fine.

I made the LBS guy promise to replace the rims if they broke -- I was that convinced that they would not hold my weight, but they have held up VERY well.

As for size - the 62cm Competition fits me rather nicely, with room to spare, but I don't know how that translates to XL size on the Gran Prix....

I am very pleased with my purchase, btw. but the advice you will here is to try out several different brands before pulling the trigger, even if that means going to different shops. When I did that, I was very upfront about wanting to support my loca shop, unless I could find something that he did not have.