What Things Cost in 1980

Jay Beattie said:

While looking for the receipt for my broken
Cannondale, I stumbled across some receipts for some
parts I bought in 1980.

What would also be interesting is if you could figure out
what happened to most of these parts, e.g. how long they
lasted. Because if most of these parts still in service, you
might have paid only $2 or less per year for the service you
received from these parts.

- Don Gillies

"Jay Beattie" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:1060s7445esf822
@corp.supernews.com:

Quoted message said:

While looking for the receipt for my broken Cannondale,
I stumbled across some receipts for some parts I bought
in 1980.

I bought a brand new Toyota Corolla in 1980 for about $5000.
Inflation happens. I wish I had put that money into Intel or
Microsoft stock instead.

Ken said:

"Jay Beattie" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:1060s7445esf822 @corp.supernews.com:

Quoted message said:

While looking for the receipt for my broken Cannondale,
I stumbled across some receipts for some parts I bought
in 1980.

I bought a brand new Toyota Corolla in 1980 for about
$5000. Inflation happens. I wish I had put that money into
Intel or Microsoft stock instead.

Sure, but then what would you have driven? It's not like you
splurged on a luxury car. You bought a minimal car for a
minimal cost.
--
Skuke Reverse the domain name to send email

Ken said:

"Jay Beattie" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:1060s7445esf822 @corp.supernews.com:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

While looking for the receipt for my broken Cannondale,
I stumbled across some receipts for some parts I bought
in 1980.

I bought a brand new Toyota Corolla in 1980 for about
$5000. Inflation happens. I wish I had put that money into
Intel or Microsoft stock instead.

A brand new Ford Ranger pickup truck was $5600 in 1986. A
brand new Honda CRX was $6500. Rent in southern CA was
less than half of what it is now. In 1988 I had full
health coverage with a $15 yearly deductible for around
$80 a month.

The kicker is that Target still pays the same lousy $7/hr it
did in 1984, and the starting salary for a young engineering
graduate is still about $40k a year.

I'm convinced bikes are cheaper than ever, though, in real
terms -- especially "mountain" bikes.

Matt O.

Matt O'Toole said:

Ken wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"Jay Beattie" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:1060s7445esf822 @corp.supernews.com:

Quoted message said:

The kicker is that Target still pays the same lousy $7/hr
it did in 1984, and the starting salary for a young
engineering graduate is still about $40k a year.

The starting salary for an engineering graduate in 1986 was
about $30k a year. I find it useful to measure starting
salary in terms of "take-home houses per year" in the
location where you live.

In 1986, a tiny house in mountain view california ($140k)
was about 6.5 times the take-home pay ($22k) of the starting
salary ($30k) for an engineer.

In 2004, a tiny house in mountain view california ($500k) is
about 16 times the take-home pay ($30k) of the starting
salary ($40k) for an engineer.

I won't move to any place this ratio is greater than 5x.

- Don Gillies San Diego, CA

I was at Palo Alto bicycles in the early 80's when they had
about qty: 20 new in the box all stacked on a table,
Campagnolo Record Hubs 36h, 120mm spacing for $5.00. Trying
hard to get rid of them. (Lunch money well spent). I only
bought one, but was kicking myself when I went back three
days later too find them all gone. -tom

"Jay Beattie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

While looking for the receipt for my broken Cannondale, I
stumbled across some receipts for some parts I bought in
1980. I thought I would share some of the prices (dollars
rounded up):

Phil hubs: $57 Campy SR track pedals: $64 Cinelli 66-42
bars: $18 Campy SR headset: $47 Fiame Red (pair): $20
Mavic Mod E (pair): $24 Regina Oro 5sp freewheel: $16
Regina black 5sp freewheel: $8 Campy steel track pedal:
$51 Campy SR seatpost (first one-bolt): $40 Cinelli
saddle: $26 Sedis sport chain: $4 Cinelli stem: $19 Wolber
neopro tubular: $16 Specialized Turbo: $11

The tires and rims are the cheap items. I would not pay
$40 for that Campy SR seatpost in today's dollars -- and
you can get some pretty good SPD knock-offs for the price
of the SR track pedals. I didn't remember paying so much
for pedals. All of these purchases were made from a local
discounter who had near mail-order prices at the time.

I don't know where the receipts are for the larger
hardware items like cranks, brakes, derailleurs, etc. --
or the Campy/Dura Ace equipment I bought in the mid '70s
during my first spend-a-thon on bike stuff. -- Jay
Beattie.

Donald Gillies said:

I find it useful to measure starting salary in terms
of "take-home houses per year" in the location where
you live.

That's a good way to look at it -- factoring in the taxes,
and other costs of living too (commuting, etc.)

Quoted message said:

In 1986, a tiny house in mountain view california ($140k)
was about
6.5 times the take-home pay ($22k) of the starting salary
($30k) for an engineer.

In 2004, a tiny house in mountain view california ($500k)
is about 16 times the take-home pay ($30k) of the starting
salary ($40k) for an engineer.

I won't move to any place this ratio is greater than 5x.

That's one (big) reason I don't live in CA anymore! If you
already own a piece -- cha-ching! But if you don't, you fall
further and further behind every year. Young people have it
the worst -- the high cost of living while going to school
results in huge debts, and working at Barnes and Noble, etc.
pays so little it's barely a drop in the bucket. You cannot
"work your way through school" anymore, like we could,
paying as you went. I think this will turn out to be a
profound change in our society. I doubt the current crop of
graduates, as a generation, will see anything like the
prosperity of their Boomer parents, unless they're lucky
enough to inherit it.

Matt O.

"Tom Nakashima" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I was at Palo Alto bicycles in the early 80's when
they had

about qty: 20

Quoted message said:

new in the box all stacked on a table, Campagnolo
Record Hubs

36h, 120mm

Quoted message said:

spacing for $5.00. Trying hard to get rid of them. (Lunch

money well

Quoted message said:

spent). I only bought one, but was kicking myself when I
went back

three days later

Quoted message said:

too find them all gone. -tom

Tom, also in my stack of papers was a 1980 store credit for
$35 from PAB for a returned, broken Campagnolo crank arm
(right). The next time I am in the Bay Area, I am going to
see if they will honor it (I could get a cheap high-end
tire). That was an incredible store in the 70s and early 80s
-- Ritchey was the house builder, and there were endless
Campagnolo crank arms in every length behind the cash
register and gobs of Campagnolo equipment in the long
showcase/counter. If you broke a Campagnolo part, they would
just hand you a new one. I used to ride up there from Los
Gatos and drip sweat on the glass counter tops while looking
at the equipment. Many fond memories. -- Jay Beattie.

RE/

Quoted message said:

I'm convinced bikes are cheaper than ever, though, in real
terms -- especially "mountain" bikes.

I paid about $850 for my original StumpJumper sometime
in the 70's.

Adjusted for inflation, my Ellsworth Isis - bought just a
couple years ago - is about five times the bike for somewhat
fewer real dollars.

I'm pretty sure of the "five times" part because I'm still
riding the StumpJumper as my utility/SS/POS/Fixie bike...
--
PeteCresswell

(Pete Cresswell) said:

I paid about $850 for my original StumpJumper sometime in
the 70's.

Specialized Stumpjumper was introduced in 1981.
--
Skuke Reverse the domain name to send email

RE/

Quoted message said:

I doubt the current crop of graduates, as a generation,
will see anything like the prosperity of their Boomer
parents, unless they're lucky enough to inherit it.

To respond in a single run-on sentence...

From what I'm hearing on the evening news lately, it seems
more likely, they'll inherit their parent's debts as the
aging boomer voter block further garnishes their children's
and grand-children's wages to bail out social security and
medicare systems that the boomers failed to fund adequately
during their own peak earning years.
--
PeteCresswell

RE/

Quoted message said:

Specialized Stumpjumper was introduced in 1981.

Ok, then give it a couple years...1981...which might account
for how much it cost - skimming the market with innovative
product and all that...
--
PeteCresswell

Ah yes, Palo Alto Bicycles in the late 70's and 80's. What a
great shop. Also, the original Wheelsmith, when it was in a
shed on Alma, IIRC. Or Cupertino Bicycles in its hey-day.
Where have the great shops gone?

Matt O'Toole said:

... The kicker is that Target still pays the same lousy
$7/hr it did in 1984, and the starting salary for a young
engineering graduate is still about $40k a year.

Or less. 🙁

--
Tom Sherman - Quad Cities (Illinois Side)

Matt O'Toole said:

... That's one (big) reason I don't live in CA anymore! If
you already own a piece -- cha-ching! But if you don't,
you fall further and further behind every year. Young
people have it the worst -- the high cost of living while
going to school results in huge debts, and working at
Barnes and Noble, etc. pays so little it's barely a drop
in the bucket. You cannot "work your way through school"
anymore, like we could, paying as you went. I think this
will turn out to be a profound change in our society. I
doubt the current crop of graduates, as a generation, will
see anything like the prosperity of their Boomer parents,
unless they're lucky enough to inherit it.

I could buy a Shimano 105 (or equivalent) equipped upright
bicycle for every two months worth of student loan payments.

--
Tom Sherman - Quad Cities (Illinois Side)

Eagle Jackson said:

Ah yes, Palo Alto Bicycles in the late 70's and 80's. What
a great shop. Also, the original Wheelsmith, when it was
in a shed on Alma, IIRC. Or Cupertino Bicycles in its hey-
day. Where have the great shops gone?

Land values in Palo Alto being what they are, highest and
best use probably isn't a bike shop.

Matt O.

In March 1979 I built a Fuji touring bike on which I rode
about 53,000 miles by the time I retired it in January 1991.
Paid $115 for the frameset, but I called it "my eighty-
dollar bike", because I paid $80 for each of the brakeset
(SunTour_Superbe), rear derailleur (long-cage Campy),
crankset (TA_Cyclotouriste), and wheelset (can't remember
the brand). Total cost of parts, including racks and
panniers front and rear, was about $550, which was pretty
good coin for a touring bike in 1979, and it was the best
money I ever spent.

"Eagle Jackson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ah yes, Palo Alto Bicycles in the late 70's and
80's. What a

great

Quoted message said:

shop. Also, the original Wheelsmith, when it was in
a shed on

Alma,

Quoted message said:

IIRC. Or Cupertino Bicycles in its hey-day. Where have the

great

Quoted message said:

shops gone?

Spence Wolf at Cupertino got Phil Wood off the ground -- and
I think he was one of the people who got Jobst interested in
wheels (Spence was big into tying and soldering, so I am
sure the two argued a lot). I know of no shops these days
that are as close to the manufacturers as the three in the
post. I am sure such shops still exist, I just do no know
where. -- Jay Beattie.

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 21:45:22 -0500, "David L. Johnson"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

<> From what I'm hearing on the evening news lately, it
seems more likely, they'll <> inherit their parent's debts
as the aging boomer voter block further garnishes <> their
children's and grand-children's wages to bail out social
security and <> medicare systems that the boomers failed to
fund adequately during their own <> peak earning years. < <I
am tired of this BS. Truth be told, the boomer generation
paid in to <social security buckets of money; more than
enough to pay for their own <retirement. What happened was
that, during Reagan's administration, that <big fat wad of
cash was too tempting, and it was raided then, and has been
<repeated raided since, to pay for many other budget items.
If it weren't <for the depletion of the social security
trust fund, there would be no <talk of how we boomers are
bankrupting social security.

From the economic literature I've been reading, the notion
that the social security program is broken is about to get
replaced by the medicare system is in broken. Of course, we
all know that cycling, or some other form of excerxise is a
strong elixer for this ailment.