Moulton in the Media – Page 3 – Moulton Bicycle Club

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The TSR is a unique design that is beautifully executed. I see it as a replacement for a traditional club racer, but with the added bonus of breaking down for storage or transport inside a small vehicle. With the addition of racks it could be used as a commuter, but because it doesn’t break down small enough to take on a city bus and the wheels are too small to fit most transit bus racks, it’s limited to point-to-point commutes. It’s such a beautiful, delicate bike, I can’t imagine locking it up outside or dragging it through a bustling train station anyway.

Holy Versatile, Batman

The following are short clips from the 1960's TV show, Batman.

All feature a Moulton Stowaway model which Alfred, the butler has styled the "Alfcycle".

In "The Jokers Provokers", we see the Stowaway with original front and rear racks and bags. Alfred demonstrates that he has created a two way radio for communication with the Batmobile. Batman is impressed!

Later in the same episode, Alfred uses the Alfradio on his Alfcycle to make contact with Batman. The Stowaway survives the mayhem without a scratch!.

In "Come Back Shame", the portability of the Stowaway is showcased when it is transported, separated, in the sidecar of the Batbike. Batman helps Alfred reassemble the Alfbike, and takes off, a little less gracefully than in the previous clip.

In "The Catwoman Goeth", Batman has some transportation issues, and in so solving, Alfred demonstrates the load carrying capability of the Stowaway.

Overtaking Boris

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.

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!

Small Wheel Folding Bikes on TreeHugger

Treehugger, which claims to have 4 million page views per month, tried to educate it's readers on the subtleties of the small wheel bicycle today.

Many think that any small wheeled bike is a folder, but it ain’t necessarily so. But it is true that small wheels do help a bicycle collapse into a neater package. That’s not to say these are toy bikes. Some ride theirs everyday to work (for years), others tour whole continents, while yet others have set world records for upright bicycles.

And in the list of featured "folders":
Pashley Moulton TSR 8

What: Pashley-Moulton TSR8
Where: Pashley; in the US, try Angle Lake Cyclery or North Road Bicycles
Why: From the original designer of front and rear suspension small wheel bikes, this eight speed hub geared, British-made spaceframe swiftly separates into two halves.
How much: $2,595
Nice touch: Front and rear carriers carry low, and have very stable centre of gravity.
More: Pashley-Moulton and TreeHugger.