My childhood dreambike, at age 15 in 1977 was a SEKAI 2500 grandtour.
http://www.ece.ubc.ca/
I worked 82 hours over a period of 2-3 months (part-time and after school) writing educational computer software to be able to afford this bicycle.
- Don Gillies San Diego, CA
P.S. I'm asking this question because i think today's kids would have to work a lot more hours to afford a mid-level bike like that.