Hey first post here, I know a good bit about handguns so I figured I'd help out.
I do not yet own an RIA but they've been on my wish list for over a year. (I have a long list lol)
I've heard good things about RIA. A number of folks buy them with the intention of changing them up, adding custom changes to the gun, the smart ones will just break in the gun and usually find that the gun needs absolutely none of that extra crap. It seems I find more things going wrong with high priced 1911's that try to reshape the mold of the 1911 (Read: thinking outside of the box in hopes of finding something that can make them stand out amongst the rest - its like they try to 'fix' what isn't broken). It never ends well, but I have seen some awesome kimbers - I know of one that has saved a soldiers life more then once in Iraq. Seems once they got rid of that awful president of theirs (who is now sadly working for sig sauer) their quality went up.
I digress, the RIA should be a fine gun, with room for improvement but is unlikely to need it (sights and grips being an exception), at a good price. You can't beat that combination. Those guys at RIA get it.
You should try the 1911 enthusiast forums, I'm not a member of them myself but there are a couple of posts regarding the RIA 1911 there...or my personal favorite the sig sauer forums...
http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=78012
http://www.sigforum.com/
Reason I say Sig sauer is it's never been limited to sigs, there are folks there with a wealth of knowledge including several professional gunsmiths. You will find fair and constructive posts there about any gun, regardless of make or model.
