BikeRadar.com has a review of the Moulton Esprit.
The review is overwhelmingly positive, describing the Esprit as
a spirited and yet controlled ride
handles like a 700c bike, which is a trait of all Moulton bicycles and part of the reason they are so successful
and
a fine addition to the range, and at the lower price point it also presents a chance to pay sensible money for a great piece of British craftsmanship
This picture shows Alex Moulton on a special Bridgestone Moulton. Two things stand out - firstly, the parallel wishbone stem and Mosquito handlebars. Standard issue on the Double Pylon, but I have never seen them on a Bridgestone before.
The second and more interesting feature is the suspension. Instead of the usual telescopic suspension, this bike features a hybrid unit - a flexitor system at the top and leading links at the bottom.
The flexitor assembly looks very similar to that fitted to the New Series / Double Pylon. The leading links are much larger than those fitted to the ATB/APB/TSR, due to the larger distance between the fixed forks.
Will this make it into production? Who knows?!
Picture from: http://moulton.egloos.com/
LED lights have been around for several years, but until recently they were really only practical for riding in built-up areas, or at least lit-up areas. The big advantage of LEDs are reduced power consumption and long life. However, the light output from LEDs has been disappointing. They allowed the cyclist to be seen, but provided little by way of illumination of the road.
For cycling in complete darkness, halogen lights were the only option. My own preferred option was a SON hub dynamo powering a B&M Lumotec and a Schmidt E6 similar to the one pictured below. This provides plenty of illumination for my needs. The only drawback is that I always need to make sure that I have sparebulbs in my saddlebag. Good quality bulbs seem to last a long time - I think 100 hours is typical.
Picture: m-gineering.nl
However, in the last year or two several high quality LED lights have become available, and with high light output and long life, LED technology is a real option for fast riding in complete darkness.
With the recent announcement of the Schmidt E delux, there are now 4 excellent LED lights on the market for use with hub dynamos.
The IQ Fly has been getting rave reviews, but it seems to have been surpassed by the Schmidt E-delux.
Hand made by Wilfried Schmidt, maker of the SON, it is compatible with 6 volt dynamos from Shimano, SRAM and of course the SON by Schmidt.
Features include:
The Edelux should be available in June 2008 at a price of less than 130 euro.
A few pictures of Andy Forey racing a modified Series 1 at the HPV races in Hillingdon.
The bike has a 406 (20 inch) rear wheel with Continental Grand Prix tyre and original 4 speed hub, with a shortened steerer tube to allow the bars to get lower, and a polystyrene aerodynamic moulding.
Mike Burrows has written that aerodynamics is the most important factor in terms of bike speed. It seems to have worked out well for Andy... he finished second in the "all bikes" race. Not bad for a forty year old shopping bike!
Was it a Moulton that overtook Boris Johnson on an evening in February 2006?
The other night a woman overtook me on her bike on the climb up to Islington. Nothing unusual about that, except that her wheels were only the size of soup plates. How was it possible that the revolutions of her tiny wheels could cover the ground more quickly than my huge wheels, when as far as I could see our feet were pumping up and down at the same sort of rate. I gazed at her retreating form with the baffled awe of a tribesman seeing his first aeroplane. Was it an optical illusion? Was it the gears? Not for the first time, I wished I understood physics properly. Is it true that a clock loses weight as the spring unwinds? Does a boat really go more quickly through cold water than hot water? The worrying thing is that the nation of Newton and Faraday is becoming almost as ignorant as me. Over the past ten years the number of students taking A-level physics has fallen from 45,000 to 30,000, and the number of university physics departments has fallen by a third. It is madness, not least since physics graduates are the best paid of all.
One week after the article was published in the Spectator, the letters to the editor contained the following:
Sir: I was surprised to read that Boris Johnson, as a cyclist and historian, had not pondered on what had allowed the reduction of wheel size from the ordinary 'penny-farthing' with the crank drive to that of the conventional bicycle which he no doubt rides (Diary, 11 February). It is, of course, the chain drive with the larger chainwheel at the crank and a smaller sprocket at the hub which enables the revolution of the cranks to be independent of wheel size. The Starley 'Safety' incorporated this. Lord Hailsham was probably the first parliamentarian to enjoy the benefits of the yet further reduction of wheel size with the Moulton bicycle.
He acquired this in 1964.
The letter was signed Alex Moulton.
