The new Esprit was finally unveiled to the MBC, and there were no major surprises.
Photo: Flickr user Group51uk
Most of it was reported previously here on Moultonbuzz, so much of the following is a recap:
- It is lighter than previous AM models, due to the lighter Kasei tubing. It has the narrowest tubing of any non-stainless steel AM.
- It is stiffer than older AM models due to a slightly wider construction.
- Hairpin construction (as on the ATB and APB), where the narrow tubes wrap around the headtube and seattube.
- The Esprit will be available in a variety of headtube lengths and seat tube lengths, and a choice of either standard (27.2mm) seat post diameter, or the larger diameter Moulton 31.4mm seat post.
- Choice of headsets - threaded for quill stems, threadless / Ahead or the Moulton wishbone as per the New Series.
- The separable model looks quite familiar, but the fixed frame model has a straight bottom tube, similar to the TSR / FX8 / Pylon, etc. Shaun indicated to me that the separable model is more torsionally stiff (due to the angled bottom tube).
- The wishbone stem is now available in black.
- Frame skins are available, so you can dress your bike, and change it's dress if you don't like it! Alex Moulton's words, not mine!
- The HED wheels weigh only 2 ozs (which is about 50g) more than a standard wheel.
- The Esprit will be available as a frameset at around £1200.
- Three grades of front suspension are available: soft, medium and hard. The hard is equivalent to a New Series with the soft lockout engaged.
- A number of racks will be available - if I remember correctly a large platform rack, a day rack and a front rack. The existing AM racks will not fit due to the hairpin construction.
- The "standard" colour is a the commonly photographed grey, but a choice of colours will be available.
- Orders are being taken now, and they expect to deliver in around 2-3 months. New manufacturing capacity has been added to facilitate the Esprit, so that Esprit production won't impact on New Series production.
Alex Moulton said that he was pleased that the availability of HED wheels and frame skins would improve the aerodynamics of the bike.
Photo: Dynavector
Shaun mentioned that the reason for the revamped AM was a request from several overseas Moulton distributors. I can guess that these are Japan, Germany and possibly Switzerland. This seems to indicate that the AM is still very popular in these areas, perhaps more so than in Britain.
Three demo bikes were available for testing, and I had a go on all three around the new test track.One demo had the wishbone stem and Mosquito bars. Shifting was via a Shimano Dura-Ace 9 speed bar end-shifter down-tube shifer used as a thumb shifter on the flat of the mosquito bar. I really like this setup. The friction option of bar end shifters is an excellent feature to have when indexing becomes less than perfect on the road. Incidentally, the indexing on one of the New Series demo bikes was terrible!The drop bar models were both equipped with Shimano 105 Sti shifters, double chainrings and Capreo cassette hub.All three models seemed fast, comfortable and light. The suspension was extremely smooth, but plenty firm. Logic was telling me that I should like the New Series more, but the Esprit always felt better. The Double Pylon demo bike was using the softest of the available rubber compounds, so it felt spongier and bouncier than the Esprit, and perhaps with a harder compound I might feel differently.I rode a TSR 27 just afterwards and it felt heavy and sluggish by comparison to the Esprit, though I think it's perhaps an unfair comparison. The TSR was on Marathon Plus tyres, while the Esprit was on Stelvios, and tyres have a huge effect on how fast a bike feels.Also, the flat bars were wider on the TSR, and made it feel less stable. Alex Moulton believes that narrower bars are better on Moultons and I tend to agree.
One of the New Series demo bikes was set up with flat bars, but with a slight angle backwards and felt like a perfect setup for town. Though in what town could you lock up a New Series!
The test track is quite lovely - every garden should have one. There are a number of short sharp inclines and declines, and tight corners. Though a bike cannot be fully evaluated on a short test track, it does give plenty of opportunity to see how a bike feels climbing, descending and handling in tight spaces.
