Originally Posted by
verktyg
One thing that I failed to mention and no one else has brought it up is frame sizes. The majority of these bikes and frames appear to be around 54cm (21 1/2").
That's actually a huge plus if you're in the US. I've sold 100 bikes per year for the last 3 years, and 50-56cm frames are my best seller. I was actually running a waiting list for 46-50cm bikes for a few months because they were so scarce. I think the biggest difference between your experience in the 70's and today is the number of female cyclists that are shorter, but want actual well-equipped road bikes instead of mixtes and cruisers.