Yeah, in some respects. The 1980s was a great decade for price/performance. Especially in mid-tier road bikes. A lot of value for around $500.
While I enjoy my 1990s and 201x era carbon fiber bikes, they aren't really any better than my 1989 Ironman for my purposes. We don't have any real mountains here so the lighter weight isn't a real factor, and I'm not strong enough to consistently take advantage of the lighter weight carbon fiber bikes anyway.
While I was sick for a few weeks this spring I spent some time examining my ride data on Strava over the past few years, trying to psych myself up to finish some modifications to my Ironman, and to finish overhauling my 1993 Trek 5900.
I spent most of 2017-2018 riding my Ironman; most of 2019 riding a Trek 5900 OCLV; and the Ironman again for the first half of 2020, then a very lightweight Diamondback Podium (2014 model, I think) the second half of 2020 and most of this year.
There was no consistent pattern that could be attributed to the bike. On good days I was averaging 17 mph over my usual 20-50 mile routes with lots of roller coaster terrain -- plenty of short, steep hills (often double digit grades), mostly semi-flattish. Far from fast, but not bad for me at my age (60s). The local pro and amateur teams ride the same route and average 20+ mph as a group, including pacelines and drafting, and they're much younger. My segment PRs are pretty good for my age group, comparable to other guys my age, although I've lost the few KOMs and most of the top tens I had a few years ago as more younger, stronger riders logged the same segments. No big deal, a guy my age should never have a KOM on any segment if enough people are riding it.
What surprised me was that many of my faster rides and fastest Strava segments are still from rides on my 1989 Ironman, which is mostly stock. At the time it was nearly 100% stock, including the original wheelset which wasn't even that great -- excellent lightweight Araya CTL-370 rims, but middling quality Suntour GPX hubs. The Ironmen with Wolber rims and Shimano 600 hubs were better wheelsets. The Araya CTL-370 rim was a little lighter than the Wolber Super Champion Alpine, but the Shimano hubs were buttery smooth compared with the Suntour. Switching to semi-aero Mavic wheels with racing tires didn't really make any difference, probably because my body is the biggest source of aero drag -- due to old neck, back and shoulder injuries I can't stay tucked for more than a few minutes at a time, and can't use aero bars longer than a minute at a time.
I saw no clear advantages to my '93 Trek 5900, or later model Diamondback Podium, both much fancier, lighter bikes with higher specs. On a good day the nearly stock Ironman, which was only a mid-tier bike in the 1980s, was as fast over distance and shorter segments.
When I was a young feller in the 1970s-early '80s, riding a 30 lb Motobecane with hi-ten frame and fork, craving a better bike, I'd have lusted for the 1980s Ironmen if they'd been available. Those were much better buys than comparably spec'd 1970s mid to upper tier bikes.
On the plus side, now I know I wouldn't get any benefit from a mid or upper tier carbon fiber bike. So I'll have saved a few thousand dollars by upgrading a more affordable older steel bike, or even older carbon fiber bike.
So I've changed my plans for modding my Ironman to just replacing the downtube shifters with affordable MicroShift 7-speed brifters that I already have. While I like downtube shifters just fine and usually have no problems with them, there are occasions -- heavy crosswinds or gravel rides -- when I'd rather keep both hands on the bar while shifting. Other than that, the Ironman doesn't really need anything. And after swiping the MicroShift setup that was on the Trek 5900 for awhile, I'll put some Dura Ace 8-speed stuff on the Trek 5900, which will be closer to that bike's original configuration (although it originally had downtube shifters and, if memory serves, Mavic's early version of the Zap "auto-shifting" drivetrain -- not sure because I can't find any specifics in the available PDFs of Trek's service manuals).