am – Page 15 – Moulton Bicycle Club

An Arty Spaceframe

Alex Moulton describes his bicycle concept as the "Advanced Engineering Bicycle".

The "Art Bike" by Thick Bikes, is, as the name suggests is heavy on the Art and, I suspect, light on engineering. I use the word "light" in the metaphorical sense of course, as it weighs in at over 40lbs or 18kgs.

Also, unlike Alex Moulton's bicycles, which are very finely silver or bronze brazed, the Art Bike is rather crudely welded. Still, it is quite spectacular looking and might attract more attention (and just as stealable) as a Moulton.

The Spaceframe Moultons

If "The Moulton Bicycle" by Tony Hadland is the bible for F-frame Moultons, then "The Spaceframe Moultons" by the same author is the bible for spaceframes.

The book outlines in great detail, how the Moulton concept evolved from the original F-frame into the spaceframe, and contains lots of detail on the design process, and the various prototypes developed along the way. The numerous reproductions of sketches used by Alex Moulton as he refined the concept are fascinating.

Also covered are details of the launch of the AM in 1983, reaction in the media, and detailed specifications of the various models.

The Spaceframe Moultons covers the models produced in the period from 1983 to 1994, and covers the AM, ATB and APB/Pashley ranges, including the AM models produced in stainless steel. There are also chapters on the racing and touring achievements of AM bicycles.

Unfortunately, this book is now out of print, and it's becoming quite difficult to obtain - at least at a reasonable price.

A copy can be bought through Amazon.co.uk, for example, at a cost of £125.92. Copies do appear from time to time through sources like Amazon.co.uk and AbeBooks.co.uk. I bought my copy from Don Swift Books, via AbeBooks for £20.

The best bet may be to order a copy through your local bookshop, who might be able to get a copy through Gardners or another wholesaler.

Happy Hunting!

Esprit reviewed in Velovision

Issue 28 of Velovision magazine has a Moulton Esprit on the cover and contains a 4 page review inside.

Velovision Issue 28

This review was done by editor Peter Eland. This contrasts with the review of the TSR 8 in Issue 21, which was done by a Moultoneer. Now I'm certainly not saying that the TSR 8 review wasn't a very fine review, but it's always interesting to read about the experiences of a non-Moultoneer on our favourite machines. I also think the reader is likely to be less skeptical of such a review.

The bike reviewed was a separable 9 speed (Capreo rear block and single chainring) with adjustable stem (not a wishbone stem) and Mosquito bars, which Peter described as his favourite position for a town bike.

Non-moultoneers are often unnerved at first by the handling, but Peter describes this well thus

It's a bike which reflects your inputs; ride it with a calm upper body and it'll track straight and true: twitch around and it'll twitch right back.

Some comments were slightly disappointing such as

This isn't the bike to choose for a hilly camping tour.

which is an astonishing comment to make considering some of the epic tours that have been undertaken on essentially the same bike. Maybe the comment was directed more at the gearing of the test bike (33" - 100" with a single chainring).

There were also some slightly negative comments on the position of the gear shifter and the lack of ability to shift and brake at the same time.

Perhaps the factory would have been better supplying the double chainring model with drop bars and STI shifters.

There was also the usual comment about climbing hills out of the saddle, and getting left behind by "roadies". People seem to forget that a certain American multiple Tour de France winner climbed many a col while sitting in the saddle.

In conclusion, the review comments that the Esprit was "light, rigid and responsive"... "like riding a finely-tuned musical instrument", and that it seemed to be a "hedonist's bike".

Elsewhere in issue 28, the Esprit was used to demonstrate the pitlock system, and Alex Moulton bicycles have taken a quarter page advert.

If you're not already a Velovision reader, I thoroughly recommend it. Annual subscriptions cost from £20 from www.velovision.com. Alternatively you can just purchase the current issue.

AM Esprit Specification

The website of Alex Moulton Bicycles is now showing the Esprit, complete with specification.

The specification is as follows:

Frame:	Manufactured to Moulton specifications, as used on Moulton Double Pylon, for the lightest stiffest frame.

Components:	Front Rim:	Velocity 17" silver 24h Central spoking
	Rear Rim:	Velocity 17" silver 24h offset spoking
	Rim Tape:	Bridgestone IRC
	Tube:	Schwalbe 17" presta valve
	Tyre:	Schwalbe 17" Stelvio l00psi high pressure
	Handle Bar Grips:	"Grab-On" foam grips
	Mudguards:	Alloy polished silver or black
	Saddle:	Fiz'ik Aliante Gamma
	Bottom Bracket:	Shimano 105
	Crankset:	Shimano 105 52/39 t
	Headset:	Shimano 105
	Rear Derailleur	Shimano 105 Short cage
	Front Derailleur	Shimano 105, double changer only
	Chain	Shimano 105
	Brakes	Shimano BRA 550 long reach
	Rear Hub	Capreo 24/32 hole
	Front Hub	Capreo 24/32 hole
	Cassette	Capreo Cassette. 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 23, 26/28 teeth
	Handle Bar Stem	Kalloy adjustable quill
	Pedals	MKS Detachable, flat
	Seat pillar	Nitto, diameter 31.6mm, with integral 5mm Allen key for seat pillar and frame separation
	Handle Bars	Nitto Drop Bars 380/400mm width or Nitto Mosquito bars.
	Gear Shifters	Drop bar Shimano STI 105 or Rapidfire gearshifter with Crane Creek levers.

Suspension:	Front:	AM Stainless Steel leading link with Adjustable damping and preload. Choice of soft, medium or hard coil spring.
	Rear:	AM Rubber cone spring. Choice of Standard or hard. High tensile cold drawn seamless 9.5mm tube.

Rohloff Moulton

The Rohloff Speedhub is an internal hub gear, with 14 evenly spaced gear ratios and an overall range of 526%.

Neither Pashley, nor Alex Moulton bicycles provide a Rohloff equipped model, but options do exist if you want your ultimate bicycle to have the ultimate hub gear.

Avon Valley Cyclery, a Moulton dealer in Bath, produces the Moulton New Series Rohloff, and the Pashley Moulton Rohloff TSR.

The New Series Rohloff features Rohloff rear dropouts instead of the standard dropouts. The Rohloff dropouts allow sufficient fore and aft adjustment to achieve the correct chain tension, without the need for a chain tensioner. This is quite an elegant solution, though it will make it more difficult to retrofit a standard derailleur drivetrain in the future.

Photo: Avon Valley Cyclery

The Avon Valley Cyclery Rohloff TSR uses the standard TSR dropouts, and so a chain tensioner is used. This is not as aesthetically pleasing, but has the practical benefit that any standard drivetrain can be retrofitted, without any modifications to the frame.

Photo: Avon Valley Cyclery

You can, of course, purchase a Rohloff Speedhub, and fit it to your existing Moulton bicycle.

Rohloff have a useful wizard for choosing the correct version of the Speedhub for your particular situation.

There are a couple of downsides to equipping your Moulton with a Rohloff Speedhub. Firstly the high cost can be prohibitive. However, this is a very high quality piece of equipment, and failures have been few and far between. In the rare cases where problem have occurred, the service from the Rohloff factory is reported to be amazing. It is also worth noting that the cost seems more reasonable when compared with the cost of high quality drivetrains such as XTR or Dura Ace from Shimano.

Secondly, the issue of weight. While, again, the weight is not that high compared to a 27 speed drivetrain, but in the case of the Rohloff, all of the weight is unsuspended.