Look for a good quality used bike based on your budget. Nice stuff is nice stuff if you can afford it. For many years, i could not. I am fortunate in my life that now I can. But up until then, I bought the best frame that I could at the best deal (not always new and often used high end stuff that some one NEEDED to sell) and then I would surf for closeouts on wheels, pieces of component groups, etc. The same with stems and handle bars. Sure, new Thompson or 3T is great but Control Tech, for example, is a good durable alternative. It is not as easy to mix and match as it was in the days of 6 or 7 speed non index shifting, but you can keep your eyes open for what we use to call "take offs" where some one bought a bike with, say Ultegra and decided that the had to have Dura Ace so the Ultegra went for cheap and it was in good condition.