If those men are in their 50's there is a good chance they are talking about lugged frame bikes from Europe, the UK, and Japan that fueled the bike boom of 1971. These were derailleur geared bikes built in a "Sport Touring" geometry and they were everywhere. Not quite meant for fully loaded touring, they didn't have long chainstays, robust wheels or super low gears; nonetheless they often were used for a wide range of touring. They were also used for everything else, going to school, getting around campus, riding on country roads, baha'ing through the woods, even local racing. You only had one bike and you did everything on that bike. They had many of the characteristics MichaelW mentioned above that made it possible to do a lot of things with one bike.
The French called this Cyclotouring and it pretty much meant riding your bicycle for the enjoyment of riding a bicycle. It's a broad term but it is distinct from racing and riding for work. To this day it still describes what most of us do with our bikes.
The Sport Touring bike of the 60's-80's is still a good design and is probably why thirty year old bikes are still commonly seen on long organized rides. You can still get such versatile bikes brand new but instead of a bike shop filled with them you have to be extremely specific in what you ask for to find one. Many younger bike shop clerks only know about racing bikes (which is the only thing they ride) and they have a fuzzy understanding that there are a bunch of other bikes bought by other people but they're not entirely sure what they do with them.
The sport touring bike has experienced a resurgence in popularity as the frame of choice for conversion to fixed gear bikes that are de rigueur on campuses nationwide.