+1 on Jamis I think for the price you get a great bike. I had a Cross Country that I loved but had to leave in CA and now I have one of their road bikes- Ventura Sport (aluminum w/ carbon fork- not all Jamis are steel). Also they seem to be little hidden gems that no one knows in the general public or something- both mine I got ridiculous deals on as brand new 2 yr olds. Or maybe they were just waiting for me to find them.

As stated above, the geometries of same sized (ie 13, 54, etc) will vary even within brands- just ride a bunch and one should feel right.