Steel frame with sloping top tube?
 

I'm looking for a steel cyclocross frame with a sloping top tube (doesn't have to be a radical slope like a "compact" frame) but b/o long torso/short legs I need approx. a 50 cm seat tube and a 55 cm top tube (effective). Yeah, I know I can get one made but I was trying to have some $ left over for food.

a few months ago i bought my wife a soma double cross from here. that was the best price i found on the interwebs. it's tange prestige steel, with compact geometry. she loves it. i was really impressed with it too, especially for the price. according to soma's geomety page, the 50 c-t has an effective tt of 548.

a surly crosscheck would probably work for you as well. also, my friend is considering the jamis nova which is steel and i think available as a frameset. looking at the geometry charts, it seems the smaller sizes are somewhat compact as well. i'm sure there's more, but those few came to mind.

Thanks for info on Soma-they look like nice frames and well priced. They might lack some of the eye candy pizzazz of other frames (like super smooth brazing) but I don't need that. Reading their site I came across a few things I didn't understand. They suggest that you "face the BB and headtube if needed" and "chase the BB if needed" Face? chase? can someone clue me in? Thanks.

facing is where the lip of the headtube or bottom bracket is barely milled down to remove paint or uneveness of the metal. chasing is where you use a tap to sort of re-cut or clean out the threads on the bottom bracket. both can be done by an lbs and are done by hand using a special tool.

I just built up a Planet-X Kaffenback and it is awesome. Suprisingly light, very nice ride (using it as my rain bike, although my only bike now), very cool paint (or at least I think so). I got it for $399 shipped with frame, fork, and headset, and I feel like I stole it!

http://www.planet-x-bikes.com/road/i...sition=238:238
Note that they are showing the new sand colored version, when I bought from Zedsport I got last year's blue (which I like even better):
http://www.zedsport.com/
If you want to see it built I'm happy to post some pics.

let's see it!

The Gunnar Crosshairs has a sloping top tube, here are the tube lengths:
http://gunnarbikes.com/crosshairsspecs.php

The Specialized Sirrus has a longer than normal top tube for the frame size, though it isn't steel.

Gunnars show up on ebay fairly regularly, and since most people aren't looking for them, you can get them for surly prices. And they are much nicer bikes.

I am going to pull the trigger on a Soma Double Cross in the very near future.

Here is my newly built Planet X Kaffenback. Overall, I love the color/paint more than any other bike I've had (there have been many!). I also dig the monostay in the rear. Great ride, very comfortable setup for wet weather training (which I get a lot of in Seattle). Clip on front fender is just temporary, I need a ridiculously long bolt to mount the front fender and haven't found one yet. The fork on there is not what you get with the Kaffenback - my LBS was cutting the steel fork and cut it way too short by accident. Luckily they had this extra carbon cross fork lying around and gave it to me free, it even almost matches the color! They will be getting my return business for sure :)

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/382/pic1sn0.th.jpg

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/7121/pic2bz7.th.jpg

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/4837/pic3aa3.th.jpg

The Somas are good price and ride great. I think the paint looks a whole lot better in person than in the catalog.