yeah, the pista's not a bad choice at all. i like mine, but it's all upgraded. just buy a frame and put nice parts on it. as stated, it'll be harder to put nice parts on a bareknuckle at that price. for that price, the pista is by no means a bad frame, and you can get nice parts for with that cash (and let's face it, the stock pista parts are nothing to kill for).

they also handle very nicely on the street...i thought it was just mine, or my perception of it, but recent comments from ken cox reinforced that idea.

just be ready to have people putting it down left and right. it's a decent frame if you put decent parts on it and it's sure affordable. if you can ignore people being asses to you (like the girl at a party i went to on saturday night who kept telling me "dude, your bike's a pista *****!!!!" like it was either the world's greatest truth or really ****ing clever) and just enjoy your ride, then you're good to go.

just my two cents on the pista.