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
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.
Thanks to Chris Mahon, here's a video that shows how the new large bag attaches to the large rack on the Pashley Moulton TSR.
After the meeting, members could try out any of the Moulton models.
There were three samples of the Esprit, a Bridgestone, a Double Pylon and an older New Series...
The test track was just too small for the Metro...
This NS had nice narrow flat bars and indexed trigger shifters...
The Double Pylon looks even more exquisite in real life than in any photo you've ever seen...
Two Double Pylons in a corner...
New Style Flexitor unit of the Double Pylon. Having the forks outside the Flexitor unit (instead of inside as with earlier New Series models) gives more steering rake for a more stable ride.
The Demo bike had the softest of the available rubber compounds, so the soft lockout was engaged for demo riders...
Alex Moulton and the MBC experts called for examples of each model from the first Standard to the present day from which they judged the best example of each - usually the most original and well maintained. They scrutinised each model in such detail, that they ran out of time at the AM-GT.
Below are a few shots that took my fancy.
The need for speed...
Paul Grogan's Speedsix skips into view...
These gorgeous Speedsixes lost out because their mudguards weren't original...
This one had the original alloy guards...
A lovely blue Moulton S Safari...
And an S Stowaway...
But winner of the S-class was this immaculate chrome S Safari, owned by Ken Butterfield
Lovely rear end...
The crowed oohed and ahhed at the sight of shiny chrome...
Mike Woolf's completely original Moulton S Deluxe was not eligible, due to being a Moulton Preservation bike...
Alex Moulton told some of the history of the S-Works, and the work of Jack Lauterwasser...
Can't read the decals from here, but I think this was a Series 2 Deluxe...
Mike Woolf described the Raleigh era of this Mark 3 as a "mixed blessing...
On to the Alex Moulton era and the AM 7...
Alex Moulton described how the F-frame evolved into the Y-frame prototype, which eventually led to the X-frame - the basic shape of the spaceframe AM.
He recounted feeling distraught when some French club racers told him the Y-frame was wonderful, but too heavy. This led him to develop a frame structure that was entirely different to anything that went before.
Here is a lovely AM2...
Checking a serial number on an AM Speed...
Finally, the AM-GT... the first stainless steel model. Alex Moulton talked about how wonderful a material stainless steel was, and alluded to the skill of the silver brazers at Bradford on Avon. He told the owner of this AM-GT that stainless steel lasts forever, and he would pass the bike on to his great grandchildren.
