DWHLO,
80 hours is not that unusual. Took me 90, and like you, I'd done practically everything before I went solo. National average is around 60-70, with loads of individual variation. People learn at different rates, and schools and instructors teach in different ways. It doesn't always mean anything either, in terms of your ability. At the school I went to, one young chap did the whole course in 40 hours (the minimum pre-JAR) then got lost on a cross country from Welshpool, landing at Llanbedr instead of Caernarfon. Now getting lost is common, landing at the wrong airfield not that uncommon, but confusing Llanbedr with Caernarfon!!!! They're miles apart, on very dissimilar bits of coastline, and have apbsolutely no resemblance to each other. So doing everything in record time doesn't necessarily make you a good pilot. At the other end of the scale, an instructor friend of mine regularly has students who take over 100 hours. The school owner is very meticulous, and won't sign them off until they really know what they're doing. Whereas some people seem to get their PPL's when they can just about fly, and just about navigate, in good conditions, on nice big runways, etc etc etc. There's much more to flying that counting the hours.