Why not buy something used--for $1000, you can pick up a pretty nice bike on Ebay or in local cycling club classifieds. My vote in that price range is the Giant OCR2 or OCR1 if you can find a deal.

Thanks for the suggestion. I however did not find too many interesting bikes for a reasonable price.

I still think it is tricky to buy on eBay sometimes, especially with something personal as a roadbike.

I am not too familiar with the Giant bikes, but will start researching these too asap.

Thanks again!