even though this goes against my own topic of the thread. I decided to bite the bullet and spend 1k on a new LBS bike and then try to find a really cheap bike for campus use. went down to my LBS and they let me test ride some bikes which was nice. I'm glad I didn't go the online route as I really dont like the sora shifters. anyway, I've got it down to either a Caad8 S 6 or a Trek 1.5 as the seem to be nearly identical to me

just wanted to bring this thread closer to a conclusion on my decision,
thanks for all the help everyone.