If you decide you really would rather ride a shop-built bike, you might take a look at the Fuji track. I rode one around Chicago for a couple of years and loved it. It's definitely nothing fancy, but it never gave me a lick of trouble in about 3,500 miles and was a nice smooth ride. You'll get a butted CrMo frame to start from, with the benefit of track dropouts, and you can upgrade components as you like.