Let's see: First road bike a Carlton Giro. 10 speed 52,42, Steel wheels, steel frame, Weinman brakes, French rear shifter (forget the name, really cheap), friction downtube shifters, rock hard moulded plastic saddle (which I never changed), cottered cranks, bolted on wheels and that was more or less it.
I used it for school, 25 mile journeys to a mates, discovered what cycling was all about, did two tours on it (with p clip rack fitted, homemade canvas panniers with coat hangars for frames - useless and a handlebar bag).
I broke two cranks, ruined three wheels but learned to build my own, found out why you can't just change a chain after a few thousand miles, learned how to take a freewheel apart and fix the pawls, learned to actually use the gears it had, after I'd changed the cheap french mech to a Japanese one and generally had great fun.
It eventually got stolen from my mates driveway
£500 is a top of the range superstar in comparison.