Confession time.
I bought a bike! Not only did I but a bike, I bought a *new* bike. Not a new to me be, a brand spanking new bike from my LBS. Not just any local bike shop, but the fancy bike shop in the spendy part of town! Did I need to? No. Did I want to? Yes.
How did I choose it? Well, in essence I let it choose me. I got a professional fit done on a guru dfu machine
http://www.runningawaymultisport.com/the-guru-dynamic-fit-unit/ it took about 2 hours of pedaling, adjusting, pedaling, adjusting to get it all dialed in. A $200 operation in all, refunded if you end up buying a bike from them, which I did. They then take all your measurements: seat height, knee position, reach, etc. and overlay it onto their bike options.
I had a few options from them and I ended up choosing the Felt Z85 61cm (I'm 6'4'').
http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2013/Road/Z-Series/Z85.aspxDo I recommend that you do this? No, not if you don't want to. Is there a huge difference getting a bike fit, yes actually it has made a difference on how my knees feel. However, this is mostly due to them changing the cleat position on my shoes drastically.
I made a couple little changes to the stock build, specifically getting a 11-28 rear cassette instead of a 12-32.
Anyway, all told I spent $1,800 on a bike. Certainly not frugal, but I'm happy.