Tag: Moulton in the Media

Mr Pedersen: A Man of Genius

A new version of the David Evans book Ingenious Mr Pedersen, is to be published shortly with the new name Mr Pedersen: A Man of Genius.

As he strode through the town in Norfolk Jacket, tall, long black beard blowing in the win, lost in thought and heeding no one, he carried with him the aroma of strong, sweet coffee. Mikael Pedersen was different. Born near Roskilde, in Denmark, in 1855 he quickly showed his powers of invention. One idea he patented was a milk separator which revolutionized dairy practice. It was taken up by the engineering firm of R. A. Lister and Co. in Dursley, Gloucestershire, into which town Mikael settled in1889. With him came his genius for inventing and for providing unique solutions to engineering problems. He is known now just for his bicycle of unusual design - the Dursley Pedersen - but in his time he was highly regarded in engineering circles and played significant roles in The First World War. At the end of that war he and his family vanished and the rest of his life was for long a mystery. What happened to him was first revealed in the writer's "The Ingenious Mr Pedersen", published in 1978. In this present book David Evans tells Mikael's unusual story again with very much more information about this highly talented man.

The original Pedersen cycle was patented in 1893 and pioneered the use of small diameter tubing for bicycle construction, which was taken in a different direction 90 years later by Alex Moulton.

After a long period of absence, the Pedersen was then re-interpreted in 1978 by Jesper Sølling, and today there are over 6000 modern Pedersens around the world.


Picture from http://www.pedersen.info/

Curiously enough, around the same time - perhaps a year earlier, Alex Moulton was looking for a new frame structure that would be lighter than his Y-frame.

Alex Moulton wrote the foreward to the original book, and is rumoured to actually own a Pedersen himself, and probably studied it's construction while he was developing the first X-frames in the late 1970s.

The new book is published on 1st October by Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN: 0752445057.

Alex Moulton: A Lifetime in Engineering

A new book on Alex Moulton has just been published, and it was unveiled at Bradford-on-Avon last weekend.

It is based on an interview by John Pinkerton in 1998 at The Hall in Bradford on Avon. Some people might remember the VHS video of the same name based on the same interview.

In it Alex Moulton talks about his life growing up in Bradford on Avon, the family business and how he developed a love for cycling and engineering. It contains fascinating insights into the development of the original Moulton bicycle, the involvement with Raleigh, the AM era, as well as his automotive career and life outside engineering.

The list price is €14.99, and the ISBN is 978-3-8258-0755-9. A big box was delivered to the Moulton Bicycle Club at the weekend, and many of these were sold for £5. If you contact Moulton Preservation you may be able to get a copy.
It's published by LIT Verlag in Berlin, Germany, and distributed in the UK by Global Book Marketing, 99B Wallis Rd, London, E9 5LN. It's not yet listed in their catalogue at http://www.centralbooks.co.uk/.

Distribution in the US is by Transaction Publishers, orders@transactionpub.com.

Moulton spotted at a fashion show

I'm no fan of fashion shows but Velorution, the trendy London bike shop and Moulton dealer, recently hosted a cycling fashion show called Pret à Rouler.

In the video of the event, shown below, there are several clips of a Pashley Moulton TSR 9. It's nice to the Moulton featured in such a stylish way.

If the show highlights anything, it's how there's hitherto been a serious lack of variety when it comes to cycle clothing, especially for those of us who are not pretending to be racers. Partly inspired by the Grant Petersen interview, I'm beginning to see what a silly practice the wearing of racing clothing is.When a motorist (boy racer for example) puts a spoiler or a body kit on his car, or installs bucket seats, most normal people think he's a twat, and rightly so! Imagine how they'd be viewed if the boy racers started wearing fireproof jump suits and helmets!But we cyclists are expected to wear clothing designed for top class professional cyclists... men who weigh 60kgs, with 5% body fat. Let's face it... lycra does nothing for 95% of cyclists... and it does nothing to encourage non-cyclists onto two wheels.

Part of me thinks that the proposed ban on lycra cycling shorts in Salt Lake City, Utah is not such a bad idea!

I welcome this new focus by clothing designers on cycle clothing. Needless to say, Pret a Rouler was a fashion show, and one rarely sees practical items of clothing at a fashion show of any description. I'm not sure I could ever turn up at work or even at BoA wearing a Dashing Tweeds outfit, however ingenious the weaving of reflective material into the tweed might be.

Cycling Suit by Dashing Tweeds

So let's hope that Pret a Rouler marks the start of a new generation in cycle clothing. Where one does not have to dress up to go for a ride. Where we cyclists can dismount and immediately look like normal people.

While we're waiting for the revolution, the internet must suffice.

For functional cycle clothing that would almost pass for normal clothing, try Swrve, Chrome, Rivendell, Bicycle Fixation or Portland.

Bicycle Fixation Knickers

Or even try the local charity shop, and get stuff altered to suit.

And if you must wear race style clothing, and to be honest it's difficult to avoid it for rides of 50km or over, try it in natural fabrics from the likes of Rapha, Woolistic or Ibex.

Rapha Fixed Shorts

Alex Moulton Double Pylon on BikeRadar.com

BikeRadar.com have a feature on the Alex Moulton Double Pylon / New Series and it's highlighted on the front page today.

Alex Moulton Double Pylon

The review is glowing with no negative points and the reviewer states that "if I had the funds I would order one right now".

Wouldn't we all!

Moulton, Dyson and the new Stowaway

What have vacuum cleaners and bicycles got in common? More than you might think, when it comes to the Moulton bicycle.

The word Stowaway will be a familiar one to Moultoneers - it was the name that Alex Moulton gave to the collapsible or separable version of his original Moulton bicycle. Not a folding mechanism, but one that allowed the bicycle to be split into two for transportation and storage. Moultons have never folded, but it could be claimed that the original stowaway was at least part of the inspiration for the folding revolution that followed.

While the Stowaway disappeared around the time of the Raleigh takeover of Moulton in the 1960s, the concept reappeared with the launch of the AM in 1983. Most Moulton models since then have had the option of a separable frame, although the "Stowaway" name has not been used.

Well, the Stowaway name has reappeared, not on a bicycle but on a Dyson DC20 Stowaway as shown below

James Dyson, inventor of the acclaimed Dyson vacuum cleaners is apparently a big fan of the Moulton Bicycles.

He is quoted as saying "Looking at his intriguing bicycles you can see that Alex Moulton questions every part of the design. His aim is clear: to make lighter, safer and more comfortable bikes whilst improving speed. Good design is about how something works, not just how it looks, which is why I like the Moulton bike so much."

Speaking of how things look, I think Alex Moulton Bicycles web designers could learn a lot from Dyson's