Um, when was that exactly? That would perhaps help to focus in on bikes from a particular period.

That's really what guides my choices. I was a young kid in the 60's, a teenager in the late 70's - then I went through that "who cares about bikes" phase and didn't get interested in bikes again until I was almost 30 in the early 90's (oh crap I'm old ). So I tend to focus on bikes that I either had or wanted during those times.

I also focus on bikes that were known to me and that I or people I rode with had or were interested in. Thus, I little interest in some really high end bikes like Masi, Colnago, or Rene Herse because I never even heard of them until I got into vintage bikes a few years ago. Few people when I grew up could afford bikes like that so it was the mass produced brands like Peugeot, Gitane, Raleigh, Atala, or Bottecchia that we rode and loved. Schwinn's were not well respected where I grew up, at least by people my age. Parents probably thought they were great but entry level and mi-range stuff was super heavy and generally un-cool. And none of us were in a position to worry about Paramounts so that really didn't even come into the picture.

Now I can see the forumfolk coming up the road with their torches for the heresy I'm about to spew but...a "good" bike during the boom - one that a teenager with well off parents or a college student or a young cyclist in their early 20's could afford as a nice quality bike - consisted of a hand built straight gauge hi-tensile steel frame of lugged construction, probably built by a junior frame builder focused on getting out as many frames as he could, with a mix of steel and aluminum components weighing around 27-29-lbs with steel rims, clincher tires, a cottered crank, and an entry level European drive train by somebody like Simplex, Huret, or even Campagnolo. Bikes with frames of double-butted Reynolds 531 and aluminum cotterless cranks and aluminum rims with sew-ups that cost $250 were not just "good" bikes. They were the kind of bike that made your parents ask, "How the HELL much did you spend for danged bicycle?!! You must be out of your danged mind!!!" Kind of like buying a $4000 bicycle today.

So if you decide to restore a nice old Peugeot UO-8, consider it a "good" bicycle. And don't take my word for it - Eugene Sloane in his "The New Complete Book of Bicycling" from 1974 lists the following as "excellent low-cost derailleur bicycles": Peugeot UO-8, Gitane Gran Sport, Raleigh Record, Motobecane Nobly, Atala Grand Prix, Schwinn Varsity Sport, and the Nishiki Olympiad.