Originally Posted by
smd4
This part intrigues me. What did a "decent" bike cost in 1974? By "decent" I assume you mean pretty high-end?
I'm not sure if today's 18-year-old could afford to purchase a "decent" bike.
Put most of my HS graduation gift money into my first "real" bike, a Motobecane. IIRC it was about $175 in the early '70s and had plenty of competition at that pricepoint from the likes of Peugeot, Mercier, Atala, Nishiki and whoever else made it into Seattle bike shops. A common Schwinn Continental was a hundred or so (dollars and pounds); a racer with top components and tubulars, etc....maybe $3-400? Out of my league to be sure, plus tubulars.
Per the handy dandy Federal Reserve inflation calculator, my Motobecane money is $1,268 today. A clever 18YO can parlay that into a MUCH better bike, albeit one with zero signs of human craftsmanship, like the paint detailing and such.