I wouldn't say older road bikes are setup for flat riding. It's more that back in the day, riders didn't know better so they mashed up hill with high gearing. Now we like to call that heroic.

Modern bikes that sane people consider geared for hills typically use a compact double (50-34 or similar). Personally, I hate compact doubles with a passion. I feel like I'm always in the wrong gear. I've come to appreciate sub-compact doubles (42-30 or so), but I really love triples. The thing I like about triples is that for the majority of the ride it's basically geared like a 50-39 double (or 53-39 in some cases), but when you hit a hill, you've got that really low granny gear in your back pocket.