LittlePixel

Excellent gallery. I'm having some trouble imagining the profile of the tyres on this one.
Skinny much anyone?



[edit] I would love teeny tiny tyres like this for my little wheeled bikes; Stelvios are nice but just aren't skinny enough for Littlepixel...

Edd

Yes and what about the size of the chain ring!

Edd

Oink

I say! That chain ring probably weigh more than the frame.

Good luck with the restoration.

SesameCrunch

Well, progress on the restoration has been proceeding rather smoothly (knock on wood). The bike was in excellent shape, so I haven't had to replace anything substantial at all. Other than the paint job, I was worried about the condition of the front springs, bottom bracket and headseat bearings. They all turned out to be in splendid condition. Just needed a little cleaning and greasing. I did have to persuade the cotters on the cranks with a hammer, so they'll need to be replaced.

Got the paint job all done as you can see. My vision for the bike is very much the original cruiser concept. Since so many of the parts were still good, I wanted it to stay "old school", but with a modern paint job for a contrast. Here is the result:

Here she is fully dressed...


Here she is on her day off....


Here, she's flashing her rear end...


She's just waiting for wheels and cabling. The wheels will be coming via the BikeForums International Parts Donor Program. The transplanted parts - rims, hubs, spokes and others, are remnants from LittlePixel's gorgeous Merc/Brompton fixie project. They'll find a nice home on this Moulton, who shall be named LP in honor of the donor.

I'm now very excited about building some nice, low spoke count wheels. That'll really provide the old/new contrast on this bike. It's going to be fun riding it when it's all done, I can't wait to see what the classic Moulton suspension feels like!

nekohime

WOW that is one gorgeous paint job! I looooove the blue and gold. Absolutely stunning

alecw35

thats a fine looking frame

mulleady

Stunning paint job, congratulations. You could run a business doing such finishes!

sahadev

Beautiful job! Nice selection of colors. Did you do this with spray cans? I am not familiar w/ Moulton paint schemes. Is this the original layout and design?

SesameCrunch

Yes, I just used auto store spray cans. It's not an original Moulton layout, it's my modern interpretation ...

jur

Did you lace the saddle?

(I have completed a web page on how-to for a B17, but still gotta upload it.)

Really nice paint job.

SesameCrunch

Yes, I found that I had to lace it. Otherwise, my 188 lb lead ass "bowed" the saddle too much. The result was dramatically better.

I'm very impressed with the technique you used, with a flap on each side. That's totally brilliant! Hides the lace. If you don't have patent protection filed, I'm planning to use that for my other saddle on my roadie bike, which will be butchered soon.

BTW, please advise when your webpage is up. I'm eager to learn from the Doctor!!!

SesameCrunch

Yeah, and probably starve to death...

doco

looking good, the color scheme really works

gonna be a nice rider when you are finished

Pine Cone

Nice Blue and Gold paint job, ... so you're a CAL Berkeley fan?

SesameCrunch

GO BEARS!!!!


Oh, and then a Master's from Stanford

jur

Webpage up. Follow my sig.

The flaps I dea is not mine, that's how the Swallows are done.

LittlePixel

Blue and gold... Mmm Subaru Imprezza STi Rally car!

MinesaGalaxy

Keep up the good work. Nice to see an old bike resurrected.

SesameCrunch

Well, progress on the Moulton is stalled pending parts arrival from the UK. I'm awaiting the wheels from LittlePixel's Merc/Brompton masterpiece to arrive via slow mail. In the meantime, I've put my Merc's wheels on the Moulton and have been riding it around a bit. It's also missing rear brakes, but what the heck, live dangerously. Here's how she looks today:





I still need to dial in the cockpit as the reach is too short for me right now. It still needs rear brakes and its own wheels. If I ever get around to it, long range plans include SA8 hub and machining the bottom bracket holder to modern specs, so I can put some longer cranks on it.

The longest ride I've had on it has been 6 miles. It's a nice ride, although I have some work to do to dial in the comfort. With its stock parts, the bike is too small for me. It's probably just right for my wife, who unfortunately does not share my fanatic appreciation for these two wheeled creatures. The suspension is not intrusive and takes out much of the road buzz. I rode across an old wooden bridge and the suspension sucked up the bumpiness of the wooden boards nicely. I never feel any pogo-ing, so I'm pleased about that.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the bike, especially considering my investment into it hasn't been that much (thanks LittlePixel). I think the design of the frame is gorgeous, it looks good just sitting there. This Moulton makes 6 small wheeled bikes in my collection, so I'm going to sell my folding/recumbent to make room. Even I have a conscience regarding owning too many bikes, I guess .

BruceMetras

Crunchie! looks good! I'll wait to borrow it until you get more expensive wheels and rear brakes.. .. with upwards six folders in your collection, the next step is to host a Bay Area tour ..

nekohime

absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to see her all fixed up!

LittlePixel

Yay! She is looking sweet! Sorry the rims are takin' so long...

jur

Fantastic!

SesameCrunch

Well, the Boss took a trip to Europe with our son, so I find myself with a whole month of bachelorhood! Of course, the first order of business was to transform our family room into a bicycle workshop , so I moved my repair stand an a bunch of tools and parts bins from the garage into the house . That gave me a chance to get caught up on the Moulton as well as some other miscellaneous bike projects.

I had been meaning to upgrade the rear hub to a Sturmey Archer 8 and finally got around to it. It presented a dilemma as I had a 36 hole hub and a 28 hole rim. But, after considerable head-scratching, and trying to remember my high school math classes, I decided to take the easy way out and just lace it radially. I figure with 28 spokes, and mighty short ones at that (123mm), I wouldn't have much of a problem. Besides, the front wheel was already radial, and I actually quite like the looks. So the result is this:







I was also tremendously lucky recently when I found a discarded old Schwinn road bike in a dumpster. Recognizing some parts that I might cannibalize, I took the bike home and commenced salvage operations. I was rewarded with drop bars with 1" quill stem AND 1" bars, complete with brakes levers. Some of you may appreciate how difficult this combination is to find nowadays. Everything fit nicely onto the Moulton, and in the process resolved my cockpit crampness. I was thrilled!



In a fit of whimsy, I put the SA8 shifter on the quill stem. This gave it much cleaner lines around the handlebars. What the heck, it's my bike, I'll install the shifter wherever I like . So it ended up like this:



Now it rides really nicely. I love the SA8. It gives such good gear range. The bike is probably close to 30 lbs now, but who cares, it's built for Pootling in style anyway. I'm very pleased!

Oh, it still needs the rear brake. I have some long reach brake calipers (90mm ) on order from Harris Cyclery. The only remaining longer term mod is to get the old Raleigh standard (26 tpi) bottom bracket drilled out and fit some modern cranks onto the bike. The current cottered cranks are cranky and too short (160mm) for my tastes. Then, the bike will be declared done!

I suspect I'll give the Mini a well deserved rest once this Moulton is done. I like the Moulton's cushy ride for Pootling around town. I'll have to do a proper Pootle and post it some day soon.

snafu21

Cripes!

I want that bike!