The Plano Cyclist: Missoni For Target Bicycle - Completed, With My Thoughts.

Since my blog is now steadily making about two cents a day from clicks on the ads (retirement, here I come) I thought I 'd give you two of my own since I completed the Missoni for Target "build". The bike itself is a solid machine, though it came out of the box with a few dings; the fender had a small ding, and the basket had a cut in the rubber it was dipped in. The paint on the bike is solid, and very attractive. However, there is a seam in the paint running down the top of the top tube - the zigzags don't line up. It's not a big deal, but it's one of two things that, in my opinion, are out of place on such a limited edition bike. The other thing is the "limited editionness" of the bike. I showed you the sticker headbadge in an earlier post - number 696. The only other notation of the number on this bike is in the following photo.

Number 696 and thumbnail. Does your thumbnail have ridges?

That is the cardboard packing paper that was intended to be thrown away. I then found the serial number on the bottom bracket of the bike - and it has no relation to the number 696 at all. At no place in the 11 digit serial number stamped into the frame is the number of the bike. You would think that since they made less than three thousand of these bicycles, they might want to put some sort of notation on something other than a sticker. Granted, it's a solid sticker, but nothing lasts forever, and someday the bike could end up looking like this:

1949 Schwinn Majestic

Long forgotten in some suburban shed, only to be found by some "picker " who knocked on the door on a misty Monday morning. And what will the picker find? A rusty old frame that is very rare, but since the stickers rotted away and the serial number is just a random assortment of numbers and letters, seems like just another mass production department store frame. I might be overthinking this here but I think that if something is limited, and people pay a premium for that limitedness, it should be permanently marked on the item itself.

As a bicycle it is a nice bike, with a Nexus 3 speed hub. I don't care for a coaster brake, but it does stop the bike, and works better than any coaster brake I've had in my possession over the past few years. For the price paid ($400) I think it's a fine bike. Claire, the owner, told me that she hadn't ridden in 15 years and that this bike is bringing her back on two wheels, which is certainly a good thing. The assembly was pretty straightforward, so if you are buying this bike (as Claire did) and having it delivered to your house, it should be fairly easy for a novice to assemble. Everything fit very well together, aside from the basket support, and all I had to do there was bend it back into shape a little. The pedals came out of the box a little gritty, but I assume that that is just a standard department store level pedal.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the bike to anyone that wants to ride, it's fun and comfortable, and I'm sure will look great with some tall boots and a long skirt. Dress it up with a baguette, flowers, and a little dog and you will be the talk of the Critical Mass! I would also caution anyone who wants to buy this because it is limited to avoid paying a premium; much more than the MSRP of $400 is money poorly spent, in my opinion. You can get a nice Linus Mixte for $600 and that would be a much nicer bicycle, though not as limited.

There will be a longer review and better photos of this bike on Biking in Dallas soon, but I promised you guys an exclusive, so here it is.