I recently got a Vilano from RoadBikeOutlet, $239, free shipping, no sales tax.
It's chromoly (not high tensile steel), comes in a bunch of sizes, and four colors.
The welds are sloppy but nonetheless it has a great ride.
The wheels are excellent, 36 spoke with 30mm deep rims.
The bottom bracket doesn't creak and the headset is smooth.
It comes with a flip flop hub and 16 tooth fixed gear and freewheel which is smooth and quiet.
It has front and rear long reach dual pivot brakes, fat tires will fit.
The only problem that I had was with the seatpost. It came with a 25.4mm seatpost but it's too small for the frame.
I replaced it with a 25.6mm seatpost that I got for $15 and that fixed the problem entirely.
The Vilano has an unusually long top tube. My 58cm frame has a 61cm top tube. That's 3cm longer than is typical for a 58cm frame.
This might be a problem it you want to run a drop bar with brake hoods as the reach to the hoods may be too long.
But, it is ideal if you plan on running a flat bar or riser bar.
I'm using a moustache bar and it worked out perfectly.
I've owned and ridden many bikes in the last 20 years and my opinion is that this bike is really good.
It even looks great.

commmmmmmmments in red, brah.

i think the vilano looks great, too. saw one being walked across a bridge by a hipster and thought "wow that thing looks good. ****in' hipster."

Just think of it as a fixie for grownups; no training wheel.

To cc700,

Have you ever ridden a Vilano? I doesn't sound like it.
"...then complain to us about it?" Who is us? Am I supposed to know?
"Square ain't typical..." Square is typical for road bikes. You're probably thinking track bikes. The Vilano is certainly not a track bike.
"...legs are forever and arms..." Cross country mountain bikes, which are designed for flat/riser bars, have top tubes 1-2 inches longer than a similarly sized road bikes. The Vilano follows this convention, it's ideal for flat bars. As I said, it might be a problem with drops and hoods.
A hipster, no matter what bike they ride, would be walking if anything goes wrong.
The Vilano will fit 700x32 maybe even 700x35. I got some 700x40s that look too big but I haven't actually tried to fit them.

Yes, absolutely. But you will eventually spend another $400 to make it better.

broken seat tube is a reference to the kilo wt thread. it was a joke, not at your expense but about a different thread and a different member.

Then I think the U District would serve you well. Its cro-mo and specced with decent parts for a very reasonable price (when I got it it was list at $350, now it looks like $320-30 is the norm). Some in this thread are claiming you can find a Madison for under $400, and if you can that's probably a better ride, but that's also going to be a treasure hunt.

Personally I'd steer clear of bikes direct offerings unless you have a fair bit of bike wrenching know-how, or care to drop another $80 or so for them to build/tune the bike for you, which brings most of their offerings much closer to (if not eclipsing) that $400 mark.

https://www.performancebike.com/bikes...1_20000_400306

Yeah, but the '10? C'mon man, 07-09 or gtfo. All aesthetics cracks aside, the '10 also takes a huge step down component wise (i.e. name-"Schwinn-approved") if I recall correctly, no? Regardless, you spotted a solid bike for $400 which is cool, and what op is looking for. I still think the torker at $320 merits more consideration than its given on SS/FG.