A look at E-bay shows that certain of the more famous bikes in good condition from the 70's and 80's go for 1, 2, 3 thousand and more. You can apparently have a treasured classic bike in ready to go condition and good paint for the same price that people pay for run of the mill race modern bikes made of aluminum and flimsy sti shifters. This qualifies as something of a bargain in that no one looks askance at you if you trapse into a shop tommorow and buy a $2,500 Lightspeed which will let you travel through space in no more comfort or speed than a 25 year old classic that costs the same at the upper limit of what you might spend.
If you want a less prized classic bike and are willing to put some time and a little money into it you can buy many nice bikes at $500 to less than $1000 and a few are even available at $300 and less. These qualify as real bargains in that if you make carefull purchases you can restore and even repaint one of these for quite a bit less than a grand, and nothing modern of real quality is available new for that price.
Now you can not buy a 63 Mustang and restore it to original condition for less than the price of a new one, and if you were able to do it, you still would not be having any more fun or use out of an old car than you could from an old Rossin. So this hobby still qualifies as a bargain at one twentieth the cost of restoring and owning old cars.
I have had quite a bit of fun with my modest household income spending no more than $4,000 buying and fixing up old bikes. An associate of mine spent that much on one Trek Carbon fiber thing which in 10 years will be worth about as much as a ten year old refrigerator if he's lucky.
This is a good wholesome hobby which promotes resourcefulness, exercise and thrift.
Garth Libre in Miami Shores Fl