I started bicycle racing in 1985 as a junior, and I remember my parents saying how expensive "10-speeds" were back then as they explained that they couldn't afford the Benotto w/ the campagnolo components I wanted. I ended up first w/ a Univega, and then applied my paper route money on a lower end Benotto frame. Unfortunately I didn't pay attention to the prices and can't recall what things cost.

So are high-end road bikes w/ storied names, like Colnago, Cinelli and Pinarello more expensive today, when adjusted for inflation, than they were back in the late 70s and 1980s?

I ask, because $6,000 - $10,000 just seems so ridiculously out of reach for a racing bicycle. You can buy a 120 horsepower, extraordinarily complex motorcycle for that kind of money. But I try to justify the price because they are handmade, especially if relatively speaking the prices have stayed the same. E.g. I'd think $2,000 for a bicycle in 1985 would compare to $6,000 now (just pulling numbers out of my bum).

Frankly, $3,000 for a bicycle is way out of reach for me right now, which seems to be the going rate for bikes ridden around here. So this is somewhat theoretical.

Relative average prices.
1980:
Bread - .48
Milk - 1.60
Gas - 1.03
Car - 5,413
Income - 11,321

2007: (in my area)
Bread - $3.00
Milk: $4.00
Gas: $3.30
Income: $48,201 (US census bureau)

Everything seems 3x - 4x more expensive. That would make the $9,800 Pinarello Prince cost between $2,400 and $3,300 in 1980. Is that what the top of the line Pinarello cost back then?

BTW, I know we are comparing apples and oranges since the technology in our bicycles is so much more advanced - e.g. carbon fiber, titanium etc.