My current bike is a 2004 Devinci Apex
http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...Apex&Type=bike
1300-1400$ new
I haven't taken very good care of it these last 5-6 years, rode in the rain a couple times, never cleaned it. Might have 3000-5000km, I dunno. It's got rusted chainrings and I crashed it last fall at 19-20mph. Rides pretty well still anyway and I had a nice tune-up last summer. Shifters / brakes are kind of annoying / loose. They've always been that way if I recall ( Shimano Tiagra). We train on computrainer bikes indoors and the shifting feels much smoother on those.
Frame size 54cm. I have no idea how to tell if a frame fits well or not. 54 seems fine and I have a 58cm touring bike and it also feels fine. My SPD pedals have popped out on me once or twice, almost causing me to crash...
Oh and the mechanic is not a bad guy or anything. He's really honest and will not sell people useless parts / repairs. He's got a really good reputation as far as that goes. He said the 700$ extra dollars I'd spend for a used bike ( 2200 vs 1500 for instance ) would be really worth it. He's not selling anything really : p