I recently bought a bike, that was brought over here from (South Africa) Germany. It is a Schauf, aluminium frame with shimano 105 (8 speed) groupset. This one is labelled as "Messerschmidt", though that is actually just the original shop's name.

I'm not sure its actually a vintage, but I can't seem to find much info on the sti levers. Can anyone tell me more or less when these levers where on the market? - see photo

Secondly, I would like to hear from anyone here, what their opinions or experiences are with these bikes.

I'm really enjoying this bike, and paid about 350US$ for it, in good clean condition. Would you guys think this was a bargain, or too much?