Originally Posted by jur
What are the salient features that distinguish quality frames from the POS?
generally speaking, frame material, ie type of steels, or 'exotic' materials as they were once called - AL, Ti, carbon fiber etc. A reallly nice frame will be well thought out and designed, with higher quality welds or more intricate lugs. At the top you've got more hand-built than assembly line. Components generally go up in quality along with frames - you can look at Campy or Shimano websites to see the stratification of their groupsets. There are anomalies here and there but you generally won't see Dura-ace or Record parts on a low or even mid-priced frame (from the manufacturer, anyway; lord knows that hasn't stopped me!!
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As posts here state, the middle ground ($500-2000) are pretty dang nice these days! But you can easily tell a cheapo frame. If it has seat and chain stays crimped down flat around the rear dropouts, run away!! Crappy bumpy welds are another dead giveaway. Hi-ten steel (1020) usually means a heavy bike and 'dead' ride. The only hi-ten frames I've ever ridden that were okay imo were Raleigh three speeds and the occasional Schwinn old school. But a low priced bike from a big 'real' company (eg, Diamond back, giant, trek, et al, as opposed to huffy and other sports authority crap) using hi-ten or a mix of hi-ten and cro-mo can be just fine for utility use. For casual short rides the performance of hi-ten is okay, esp for a low budget pick. A frame of all Straight gauge (non-butted) cro-mo is definitely better in weight and feel. That'd be my choice for commuting and a nice blend of perfromance and value.