Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Need a bike, any recommendations would be appreciated.

Hi, found this forum while trying to find a good bike for doing some commuting and just in general spinning, riding around, looking for a replacement for my fixie/single speed conversion that I made 5 years ago and was recently stolen ;(
When I made my bike it was much easier to find a good vintage frame on cl (mine was made in Italy) now it's to hard to find something tall (62cm) with the horizontal drop outs, etc so I guess I'm going to have to buy a premade, what I don't want is something made in China, the bikes I saw made in Taiwan seemed better but maybe it was just the few I've looked at. I have about $600 but obviously the less the better, I'm looking for a 62cm, with a flip flop hub, geared about 44-16, with bullhorns and a front brake (I do ride fixed but like the option of free wheel).
So far I've found a Specialized Langster for $600, also looking at an IRO, Dawes SST, and a Mercier Kilo Stripper, the Dawes and the Mercier are on Bikedirect and look kinda crappy, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

As far as the BD bikes are concerned, the Kilo model frames are made in Taiwan, and are decent if not stellar quality. If you buy a Kilo TT Pro for $400, you'll get decent cranks and wheels, so you'll only need to replace items like bars, pedals and saddle. Also, since the supplied cog is already a 16T, you'll just need to buy a different chainring to get the gearing you want.

^ the TT or TT pro seem the way to go for you. They are indeed a great frame with a huge following. I believe the Kilo thread here has more posts than any other in SSFG. With some searching on ebay and CL you should be able to spend around $600 on a Kilo with a saddle, pedals/straps/cages, and chainring you like.

Kilo stripper.

Thanks for the suggestions, so far I've ridden a Specialized Langster at $598 (steel frame) but it was a 58cm so hard to tell what it would be like, then I rode Schwinn Madison, it comes with Alex rims, and to get it the way I like (bull horns, etc) out the door from a shop will be $550, but then I would immediately have to paint it for about $100, I'm also checking out a Fuji Track Comp, it's on sale for $600, and the shop guy said with bull horns etc I could get it for about $670 but again they don't have my size so I wouldn't get to try it, there is a Kilo Stripper but not a Pro, and I feel reluctant to buy a bike without riding it, but for $380 and it seems everyone on here likes it and I guess I could build it up with new wheel set, etc. Anyways thanx