Here's a heretical option: Over the holidays, Nashbar was blowing out their steel Chinese-made touring frame for $80. I added a Soma fork (also on sale), v-brakes, V-O fenders, an old Blackburn rear rack I had around, a few other sundry parts. Currently with 35mm tires but room for wider. I've tweaked it a bit since this photo (lowered the bars a bit, swapped in black headset spacers and a bell, an RHM saddle:



It's not a lightweight, but the ride is very smooth and sure, and it's a better climber than I expected. I haven't ridden it much since the deep snow fell in Boston (the old HardRock with studded tires is on commuting duty), but I look forward to much more riding in another few weeks (yeah, I can hope the snow will be gone by then).