For what it's worth, I had a pista for about three years (an 03, in grey, much like the one described above somewhere, although mine was a 53cm and I didn't think I sold it for a steal, but rather, for a good deal that benefitted both the buyer and seller . . . anyway)

I thought it was a great bike. I got rid of it because I started to have sharp pain in my right knee (back foot on slides and stands) and because I had to move to a smaller apartment recently and couldn't keep all my rigs. I got rid of it and the mountain bike conversion I built. I kept my racing bike and my Nishiki (gotta love the Nishiki).

I would say you should try to find a track frame and then work your way through getting some decent components. I thought building the Nishiki was a blast, and every piece on it is a story. But, if you're going to off the rack, the Pista was solid. Unlike some of the other folks, I never had any serious problem with the saddle (maybe my @$$ is weird or something) and I thought the wheels were decent. I had to tighten the cones a few times but I didn't have major problems with them going out of true and I rode the crap out of it). I replaced the track drops with Nittos and put Shimano 520's on to replace the stock WTB pedals (which weren't worth a damn).

FYI: the 2003 was only drilled for a front brake. The Langster is drilled for both, I believe, as is the Lemond Filmore (which is not a real track bike but is set up with a flipflop hub and has a really high quality steel frame, but no track geometry) . . .