I didn't see this already but Surly is probably the largest brand pushing steel frames. Trek does their 520 and so on but it's pretty much an afterthought for the bigger retailers. There are certainly other manufacturers that do steel (All City, Jamis, etc) but they at least seem smaller to me. Not as big where I live for sure. Maybe Kona is an exception for a bigger brand that tries hard with steel, but they're also pretty dang popular. Anyway, the Cross Czech is a grumpy fellow that meets a lot of comfort, stability, aesthetic and utility needs that bigger brands don't even bother to attempt. Plenty of other bikes do the same thing but mostly from even lesser brands. Top that off with Surly's strong marketing department and you've got a dime a dozen bike.