I'm in a similar situation, coming out of college and looking to save money. I have a Miyata Professionnel from the 70s with moderately steep road geometry and no eyelets. Can I make this happen? I'm also working this semester and can probably save enough money to buy, say, a Novara Randonee. I also have access to a couple of older mountain bikes (one with a broken frame, one with a too-small frame) as well the local bike coop, and those could provide a pretty healthy proportion of a build kit for a Nashbar frame. How's that compare?