Target Road Ace Resto-Mod

[Edward York]

Thank you all for your welcome and kind words.

Welcome to RB. What a great story. I enjoyed reading it. The bike is nice too I think we obsess with weight, ride quality is far more important imo. Jim Haseltine may know about the brand.

@grantoury @Imlach @Woz @KermitGKona88 @jim haseltine

You're right, I think. We do obsess with weight too much. I do notice swapping between this bike and one with better quality tubing (531 etc) - this definitely has a duller ride. But still nice though.

Yes, I like that. A good honest bike still up to the task. I’m interested in how you find the performance of the dyno hub? I might get a Fairlight at some point and there are a few hub options.

The dynohub is genuinely brilliant. I can't tell if it's on or off, so I just leave it on all the time. Coupled with a decent LED light, you can generate enough light to comfortably see where you are going at 15mph or more. I have this dynohub and another shimano one on my commuter bike. Both were bought second hand and are years old/have done thousands of miles. For practical cycling, they can't be beaten IMHO. The SON etc dynohubs are probably better quality and maybe slightly less drag, but I have no complaints with the shimano ones. My commuter bike light is a SON Edelux II and it's got a nice cutoff, so you don't dazzle oncoming cyclists/drivers/pedestrians, whereas the Supernova doesn't, so it's probably a bit more antisocial. Works well as a daytime running light though and countryside night cycling isn't such an issue

Smart Restoration

BITD there were several brands that were made for catalogues (Grattan, Empire Stores etc). In the absence of any leads may well be one of them.

Thank you. Interesting about catalogues - I hadn't really thought of that. Another area to do some research into.

 

[Leatherseat]

What a lovely way to remember your Father-in-law. Your application of decals is inspiring, I don't think I'd dare try to add a barber's pole. Great to see a well used and loved bike. I hope you continue to enjoy it for many years to come.

 

[zerogravitas]

Great bike and writeup. Lovely to see a proper rider going through iterations and upgrades as the years go by.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Cracking write up!

 

[non-fixie]

Nice story, love the bike. Well done!

 

[Archanda]

Fascinating as in 2022 I rescued a Target frame from being slung into a recycling container and last year restored it except for one rear brake scheduled tomorrow. I would be interested in a Target decal ? Will post some photos

 

[Archanda]

Can you confirm the evidence that this is a Target cycle and why you chose a Hercules decal? Please see the attached from my Target

 

[Archanda]

Very enjoyable and educational read. I am intrigued you chose a Hercules King decal? Why not have a Target as per the original decals in your first photo? Good thinking that the bike might have been made by Falcon in Barton on Humber so would a Falcon decal suit? At the moment my Target is bare except for a Target Cycles Reynolds 6102 decal and I am keen to give it an identity. It’s come a long way since it was about to be slung into a recycling skip in Southwark