To begin my review. Keep in mind I'm 5'6" with ~ 29.5" inseam. I wore my basic cycling gear.
Well the LBS that is Trek / Specialized dealer only let me ride in the parking lot which is actually quite large as there are a few stores in the same plaza. I rode an '06 Trek 1500, 52cm Full 105's w/ Ultegra RD sweet ride but I felt to stretched out also they still had it priced at ~$1300. Also test road a '09 52cm Specialized Allez Elite again full 105's great ride felt a lot better, but the price was $1700, seems way to expensive considering If I recall the MSRP wasn't even that high. I did like the Specialized but this shop seems grossly over priced on just about everything. They do offer free tune up for life, they weren't 100% clear as to how in depth they go for fitting, but they do offer a 30day no questions asked policy if I don't like the bike because of the way it fits I can return it for store credit and find something else that's a better fit for me.
The other LBS which is primarily a Kona / Cannondale dealer basically tossed me the keys and sent me on my way down some local side streets went for about a mile or so. I took a 54cm Caad9-7 ($979) out for a ride. Although it did not have a a full 105 set up on it it still rode very nicely. I can see how the thumb shifter could be annoying. the 54cm was a little tight on the standover hieght so he's going to get a 52cm in the shop for me to ride. I also took a spin on a '09 54cm Synapse-7 ($979) very similiar setup to the Caad9-7. In anycases I liked the ride on both of them. Only issure is that the next size down on a Synapse is a 51cm and would end up w/ a TT 25mm (~1") shorter than the 54cm.
In the long run I'm very happy with the Cannondales not to mention this LBS I felt the most comfortable with. They offer free tune up for life, they are very occomidating on fitting. They would preffer to do a basic fit by taking a few measurements and have me ride for at least 2 weeks so I can give feedback as to oh my back hurts here or I feel to stretched, toes going numb whatever. Then they would put me with my bike on the trainer and make the final adjustments.
So before I left I asked for a ballpark price be on a '10 Caad9-5 w/ shoes and spd pedals. He said MSRP is $1499 but they wouls throw in the shoes and pedals and if I paid cash they'd knock off the tax. So I'm pretty sure I could work with them a little on the overall price.