Originally Posted by NNNN

I'm not going to try and play policia here, but it would be nice to get back to the matter at hand.

clearly the OP has a lot of money and no clue what he's doing. if he doesn't know how to get a hold of a quality 61cm steel frame (which are not difficult to come across, unless he needs it by this afternoon) then he has no business dropping a grand on a bicycle, let alone a frame. what he needs right now is enough information about frames to formulate an opinion, not two-dozen internet people pointing him in two-dozen directions (I'm not accusing anyone of steering him wrong, just that the original question was so vague that's all he's going to receive).

diabolus: have you tried ebay or craigslist? for $1000 you can afford almost any steel frame that will appear. do you want something vintage? do you want something new? custom?
you might want to research columbus tubing and reynolds tubing, as a great number of bikes are made with them, and they come in many varieties. what about lugs? filet brazing? You can probably afford a custom frame - are you familiar with your local builders? You would get to customize the geometry too - do you know what kind of geometry you want?

Mercian and Bob Jackson are good places to look - you can get custom frames, or "off-the-peg" versions in any size, with custom paint for $700-800.

but if you ask me, I think you should sit on the money until you do some serious research and know exactly what you want, because there is no "best frame for you in that price range" and a group of internet kids can't give you your opinion.