Originally Posted by Atlas Shrugged

I agree times have changed. I too purchased my first top end bike from money earned delivering newspapers it was a Raleigh Professional for $580, you couldn’t do that today for a S-Works Tarmac for example.

But are the two bike comparable andI would say not. Both are effectively batch made however the Raleigh was made with non proprietary materials and techniques and very simple components. Reynolds tubing, standard off the shelf lugs and dropouts and existing manufacturing jigs. The S-Works on the other hand is basically fully custom build unique to this brand and model with hundreds of thousands of development and tooling costs which need to be amortized into the bike.

Now add to this was entry level bikes such as the Peugeots and Gitanes of the 70’s these were reliable durable bikes which could be used for decades. Try that with the Walmart and Costco entry bikes of today, they are junk.