For The Love of Moultons...
 

It was some years ago I got the first opportunity to ride a Moulton, a beautiful Mk1 that had been rebuilt to be a near exact match to this absolutely beautiful specimen...

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...ltonrecord.jpg
http://www.speedbicycles.ch/showBike.php?enr=103

It took me all of 10 seconds and a few hundred yards to have my mind blown by how incredibly well designed these bicycles are and although I was not actively searching for one, having many other projects on the go, knew that when I found the right bike that I would like to build something very similar to this.

My friend has an impressive collection of Moulton bicycles which includes Mk1,2, and 3 versions as well as later models and he has done some wondrous work with his bicycles, leaving some original while modifying others with modern parts.

Before I left for Portland I got an email from him saying he had a nearly complete Moulton Mk2 for me, if I was interested... :twitchy:

I picked my Mk2 up on Friday evening and despite it being a bunch of parts on the floor I could already envision what it could become and aside from a few small bits, I could have put it back together and had it in 95% rideable condition.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...12moulton1.JPG

I will make it a point to take pictures of his collection the next time I am over... it is nothing short of amazing.

So until I get the frame stripped and powder coated a lovely shade of British racing green and lace up the alloy wheels and decide what group I will mate to the FW hub I thought owners (there must one 1 or 2) might want to show off their own and perhaps provide some extra inspiration.

Like I need it.

Cheers!

Though I have no idea why anyone would find the Moulton interesting, I bow to the interest that others express. One Saturday afternoon, about ten years ago, as I was leaving the Dump, I stumbled across this Moulton four speed...


Having no interest in the bike, it would have just sat there, but a friend of mine, an online friend who I have never met, had asked me to keep my eye open for one. With that in mind, I sent him an email, offering him the bike for free. He thought about it, I guess, and took the bike, paid for the shipping costs and then sent me the saddle that has since graced my 1976 Marinoni Quebec...
http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...FullRtSide.jpg

http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...2_Saddle_1.jpg

Sadly, I never even tried to ride the small wheeler, which was pretty much road worthy when I found it.

This is one I bought in October last year, brought to Japan and sold. It's the only Moulton I've ever ridden and I was very impressed by the ride. It had recently been powdercoated and was very clean but I had to replace the driver and ball ring on the Sturmey Archer 4-speed and remove, repaint and refit the rack and rack-supports. Very pretty, I think, but too heavy for such a small bike. If I was thinking of keeping it I would replace the steel rims with alloy tubulars.

It's a 1964 Series 1, like the speedcycles one, and randyjawa's, which are distinguishable by the kink in the swing arms - from the 1965 Series 2 the swing arm were straightened, apparently to strengthen them, which were known to break. The one you have in parts, Sixty Fiver, is a Series 2.

[IMG]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6...80224edc6c.jpg
IMG_7216 by r80ksbits, on Flickr[/IMG]

You might be interested in this - something I found when I was finding out about Moultons:
[IMG]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6...f6161403d2.jpg
Moulton Price List Nov 64 3 by r80ksbits, on Flickr[/IMG]

Dawes man - I have already downloaded schematics to help me when I re-assemble the steering column (which is not that complex) and suspension and it was pointed out to me that the Mk2, in addition to the straight rear arms, also has it's oval seat tube positioned 180 degrees from the Mk1.

Have read up a fair bit and seen many comments from Mk1 owners who have needed to replace or repair their rear arms or have them repaired and the Mk2 improved on this design while the Mk3 looks a little more conventional and is the basic design the Moulton still uses.

The suspension and rear damper is genius as without it the ride would be very harsh on what are small high pressure tyres. My friend's Mk1 is running 110 psi racing tyres and I ran that bike over cobbles and rough roads at high speed and you could not ask for a nicer ride from any bicycle.

I'm holding out for one of these:

http://www.moultonbicycles.co.uk/ima...2_testride.jpg

:thumb::thumb::thumb:

They are remarkable machines Keith. I had my '64 4 Speed modified with swing arm support bracket and all alloy components. The Super Maxy crank and bash ring look almost original. I'm running Vredesteins at 85 psi and it's just a super ride. Wouldn't trade it away for anything...well almost anything.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...00/Moulton.jpg

http://www.moultonbicycles.co.uk/images/headbadge.gif

Moulton History

Beauty... I have a Dura Ace 7400 group here I was thinking of using on mine.

I will take a few pictures of mine and post them in a day or two. Its a Huffy 64 4-speed in excellent condition.

I'll have to add photos of my two when I get home. They are very clever little bikes and ride so nicely.

How would you rate them relative to the Raleigh twentys, or Dahons? The local CL had a Dahon a week or so back, but disappeared very quickly. Hope someone here snapped it up.

much better. but they don't fold. some are seperable.

they look like extra large clown bikes

Intriguing little bikes they are; been quite interested in digging one up myself.

Come to think of it, I stopped watching American Pickers after they picked one up for $60. I couldn't take it ;)

-Kurt

I own 3 Twentys, have test ridden Moultons, and had my far share of experience with a number of Dahons and other folders.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/1972R20a.JPG
The Twenty is best described as giving you the same ride and performance of a standard Raleigh 3 speed that has the benefit of quicker acceleration, a really tough build, and the ability to be folded enough to be packed in the boot of a car. I would much prefer to ride a Twenty than a Brompton over any distance and when you upgrade the rims and brakes you get a bicycle with more acceptable stopping power.

The Brompton does excel in the folding department.

http://bicycle-itis.com/wp-content/u...101-144913.jpg
Dahon offers a lot of models so it is hard to make a direct comparison but they do offer a few models that are very close to the 20 in ride and performance and come with modern parts that makes their braking better. Their product has really improved over the last few years as well.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...tonrestore.JPG
The vintage Moulton is a lighter and better handling bicycle than a 20 and also gets improved with the addition of alloy wheels and when they are hopped up they really need some good braking to stop them as their performance can match a standard road bicycle.

As gnome said, some Moultons are separable but they do not fold.

One can also hop up a 20 to give it better performance and knock off a lot of weight and the folks who call them clown bikes probably have not had the opportunity to get out and ride one to see that they are serious bicycles.

Many a skeptic has had their head turned around after they have ridden a folder or small wheeled bicycle.

My 20 on steroids... pics taken after I finished some custom frame modifications... I can cruise pretty easily at 30 km all day on this bicycle which is set up for distance and touring and not racing. A higher volume 20 inch wheel does what the Moulton achieves with a 16 inch wheel and suspension.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...restbuild1.JPG

One should note that in Britain, the most popular and widely sold bicycles of all time were the Twenty and the Moulton.

I will probably get smacked around for not mentioning the Dawes Kingpin which was a direct competitor to the Raleigh 20 and many say this it is a better bicycle by virtue of a lighter frame and standard parts... I have one of the these in the works as well and can attest to how nicely made they are.

Of course, we are comparing folding bikes to the Mouton which was never designed to fold but to offer the same performance as it's full sized counterparts... this is one of the reasons I put the post in C&V and not the folding forum and because they did not seem to be getting enough love.

Do I see a SRAM RD with Suntour barcons? How did you get that to work... a shiftmate?

It is all friction baby... the response of the derailleur with the friction barcons is fabulous and the action is super light... took me a while to adjust to how quickly it shifted and the higher d clearance is also a plus.

Range on the X5 is also incredible and will handle as much as a 53/34and still have capacity.

I've got one, but I don't have enough cable pull to shift 9 speeds in friction. I guess I didn't consider that your freewheel doesn't need as much movement. I think they are awesome derailleurs, cheap, crazy capacity and actually kind of cool looking.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7022/6...f4a8dd1d_z.jpg

Sorry to go off topic! I'd love to ride a Moulton, even a Raleigh 20 for that matter. You don't see many around here, but there was a very nice Moulton at the LBS. It was in great shape and cost 400 dollars, surprised the heck out of me!

I only have to shift 7 (max) on the 20 depending on whether I run a 6 speed road block or a 7 speed ultra touring block I built up.

Have shifted 8 with no problem with barcons but have not tried 9 but should theoretically should work... Shimano has been chasing SRAM for a while as their derailleurs really kick butt and are a modern favourite.

I'll eventually get around to trying drop bars on this, but it works pretty well as-is. This is a Mk III made by Raleigh:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9...moulton_05.jpg

My 64http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=234040

I changed the brakes to dual pivot Tektro's, which was a big improvement. I switched out the Middlemore saddle which I found uncomfortable. I saved all the original parts so it could be reversed. I had the racks blasted and powder coated because they were rusty.

http://s869.photobucket.com/albums/ab253/Schwinnsta/Moulton/

One thing this bike does really well is haul stuff. The racks are supported off the frame and are integral in the design, makes a big difference on the front since the steering is independent of the load. The rear rack is rated for 50 pounds the front at 25 pounds. The center of gravity too, due to the 16" wheels which helps.

The frame is sheet metal welded into ovalised pieces and not tube steel as is usual in bikes.

The Moultons are coming out of the woodwork... and such pretty ones too.