buying lightly used bikes seems the best way to go in my opinion.. just paid $615 US dollars for a yr 2000 cannondale team saeco pro frame equipped with flashy mavic ksyrium wheelset and full ultegra with approx 2500 mi on everything... 2500mi in my opinion isn't much.. better than paying over 2,0000 to get it new. i'll pretend it's new and hopefully won't tell the difference, lol.
buying new frames is just silly in my opinion.. 400-500 bucks for a surly pacer?? you could get a beautiful vintage steel frame in great condition, that has 100 times the class, for a fraction of that.
I rode an aluminum cannondale frame across the US twice, she still rides as comfy as ever with no hiccups.. I believe I read an article debunking the poor ride quality of aluminum once.. it claimed the wall thickness of the tubes is the main factor involved in stiffness and flexibility and ride quality...