Originally Posted by
tjspiel
And since bikes are more specialized it's harder to find one that's truly multi-purpose without making a lot of compromises, although I think a cyclocross bike is pretty close.
I was agreeing with you until I got here...
My thought is that maybe your definition of multipurpose has changed over the years as well.
Remember, that a road bike from the 70's wouldn't be a road bike today, because of the geometry. They would be much closer to some of the touring bikes of today. That the industry is calling it a touring bike seems to be throwing you off. I mean, if it's a very similar geometry with a different label, what's the problem?
Remember, that RACE bikes of that era often didn't have eyelets either.
We definitely still strongly identify a race bike as one that has drop bars, although a growing majority of riders (especially at the club level) do not use the drops. If you want versatility, many of todays hybrids provide just that. They'll carry your racks, fenders, and keep pace with the club ride (given similar bar heights).
The mental objections people have to anything other than a drop bar is more about the looks you'll get from the other riders than about the bike itself. If you wanted to, you could set a bike up to be just as aero with flatbars, bullhorns, even north road bars.