Industrial Designer Ben Wilson recently visited Alex Moulton at Bradford-on-Avon and afterwards described it to me thus.
...one of the most fantastic days that I have had for a long time. Dr Alex Moulton is one of the kindest and interesting men I have ever met...
Of the pictures that Ben posted to Flickr, the following are a few that I liked in particular.
This is an interesting panoramic mural depicting the Hall and the Moulton family
Check out Ben Wilsons's blog and his Flickr site
The Vault: Land Rover Moulton Mountain Bike at Auto Car
Dr. Alex Moulton is a thoroughly elevating man approaching a full century of life – a life that has been engaging, amusing, filled with experimentation, and sparkling with idiosyncratic solutions to society’s transportation-related puzzles. Click here to view the article in full size
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
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!
