Originally Posted by
pbass
I guess it depends on your definition of a decent quality steel frame. For example brands like All City and Surly make steel bikes that IMHO are good quality steel, affordable, and ride great (better than a similarly priced aluminum big brand bike, but then, I'm a steel guy...). They're quite popular too--I see tons of 'em out there in the wild. But as grayEZrider points out, they don't run ads in the mainstream world!
IIRC Surley used to sell bikes through one of the BBS retailers near me I cannot recall if it were Dicks or Academy but they were that super low end caliper brake mountain bike. I have read about a lot of people touring and such on them. I would call them decent quality if nothing else, in reputation. I haven't ever actually set eyes on an All City. I looked at them for buying a single speed some years ago, along with a few others.