Originally Posted by
bautieri
Check out used but unlike everyone else I am going to recommend something a little newer. A lot of road bikes from the 80's ran 27 x 1_1/4 tires which are still plentiful to buy a bike shop but there is hardly any selection. Variety is the spice of life and whatnot. Rims on the other hand are going to be a bit harder to get ahold of. Also, the rims tend to be steel which is very slippery when wet. Don't ride that bike in the rain as you won't be stopping in a hurry. The other issue is frame spacing. Say you find yourself a nice 80's Panasonic or Bridgestone, you ride the tar out of it and fall in love with her. Components have worn out and it's time to replace...only there are no replacement parts anymore. The amount of money you will spend in upgrading a frame of that age to modern components will cost you an arm and at least 1/3rd of a leg. Modern 700c wheels might fit depending on the reach of your brake calipers, a modern cassette won't fit unless you have the frame spread, modern brifters could work but man alive they are expensive, modern crank set is unlikely to fit, same with crank arms, and I'm not sure what all could be done should you wear out the bottom bracket.
Therefore, I would recommend something a little newer in the used category. If you can save up the cash for a newer entry level road bike then go for it. If you know your size or can locate a fit calculator you can go with something new from Bikes Direct so long as you are comfortable knowing you are on your own for repairs and other issues that crop up. Well not on your own, your bike shop would be happy to take your money for repairs.
You can also get a part time job to save up some moolah if time, family, and lifestyle allows.
While it's true about some parts on old bikes being hard to upgrade, a lot of riders have bought an '85 road bike for $100, and when they want something more modern, buy a new bike and sell the old one for $100....
Some things are completely upgradeable, cranks is one, you can replace a 30 year old cottered crank with a new cotterless one, Ashtabula cranks are NOT compatible, although there is kit on the market now (*I think Harris Cyclery has it) that will downsize a Ashtabula frame to fit a cotterless crank.
You can get aluminum 27" rims, you can also get or make a drop bolt, you need a piece of metal strapping, say 2mm thick, Aluminum or steel would work well and a bunch of washers. Bend the strapping so that it forms a U around the brake bridge, drill a hole so that you can put a bolt through the strapping and the existing hole in the brake bridge. Hold the brake up against your piece so that it fits the wheel, and mark your metal strap. Drill a hole, to match both ends, put the brake bolt through using the washers as spacers so that it's not squished together much. If you want you can paint the gizmo to not show, paint it the same colour as the bike. You can use a piece of scrap wood to make drilling easier. This would allow the use of 700C wheels. You can always do things one at a time, so one year you convert the crank to a modern one, keeping everything else the same, the next year you respace the frame and replace the back wheel. If the old bike has downtube shifters or barend shifters, you simply keep those, and swap the RD when you do the rear wheel. Surprisingly little has actually changed enough that a bike built in 1978 can't use modern components, the only exception might be some French and Italian bikes, that are older might have headset and bottom bracket incompatibility issues.