I remember my 1990 Marin Muirwoods with the Zolatone paint and bright green forks/stem/bars and Shimano 200GS groupset was £320… I remember thinking how low the granny gear was, a 28T chainring and a largest 28T cog on the back giving a 1:1 ratio… How times have changed!
My 1995 Marin Eldridge Grade was £720 from memory, and with its 8spd Shimano LX groupset and White Industries (OEM cheapo made by Sugino I think) cranks etc. and the (at the time) faintly ridiculous 22/28 granny gear! I ended up upgrading that bike quite heavily, got a Manitou Magnum suspension fork for it (£280 iirc) as I couldn’t stretch to the Manitou 4. Put some Club Roost riser bars on it too, with a brace, an enormous 620mm wide (up from 560mm flats with bar ends on!), Flite Ti saddle, softer brake blocks, some expensive folding Conti tyres etc…
Then, perhaps stupidly, I fell for the lure of full suspension, a mate having had both a Proflex and a Cannondale Super V already at the time. I was an impressionable youth and had saved up my entire wages from working all summer, and just before I went back for my A Levels I took my Eldridge Grade along with me to PX against an Orange X1 Pro, complete with Shimano XT Groupset (Gripshift SRT800 shifters aside) and a Pace MXD suspension fork with a whopping 75mm of travel! I think it was £1800 cash price with those upgrades at the time… I did ride that bike pretty much everywhere though to be fair!