Tom And The Moulton

Will the Moulton ever get on its wheels?

[moultontom]

My latest eBay purchase, and the newest addition to the Moulton family, 'Major Moulton'. It's a Moulton Major Deluxe from 1970, which was a series 2 frame design so has the advantage of straight rear forks which are less prone to failure. The plan is top use him as my commuting bike, saving 'Mr Moulton' (the Series 1) for best!

[moultontom]

Very excited that I am going to collect my NEW Moulton tomorrow. It's a series 2 Major Deluxe, and I've got it mostly add I'm worried about the bumpy roads round here and the weak forks on the Series 1. Good old eBay :-)

[moultontom]

The Moulton has had a few issues since I began commuting. It got stuck in top gear up a massively steep incline, the handlebars loosened dangerously and a pedal fell off, but after some tweaking and tightening (and the purchase of a pedal spanner) all seems well. Photos soon!

[moultontom]

I have been having some issues with a right pedal that refuses to attach to the crank. It would catch on about two turns then refuse to go any further. I was worried I’d have to replace the original pedals, but couldn’t see anything obviously wrong with the pedal itself. Once again, the folks at Chevin Cycles came to the rescue and retapped the crank, and now the pedals and crank arm are together!!

[moultontom]

Pivot Bolt

These Kirkby frames have a reputation for being hard to dismantle and poorly greased, so it was with some trepidation that I took on dismantling the rear suspension to check for cracks and to ensure the pivot bolt was free. There are excellent instructions on moultonbuzz.com on how to go about the dismantling, and bicyclehub.co.uk gives good advice on the usual weaknesses in Series 1 rear forks.

Fortunately, it only took a few taps to free the pivot bolt and it slid out very easily. Getting it back in again is something if a challenge however, as you have to fight against the suspension. Again bicyclehub gives useful advice, but I managed it on my own with some contortion and fork squeezing.

There are no tell-tale cracks along the forks, but their upward curve does make them susceptible to cracking when put under pressure, so they’ll have to be regularly mot’d! When they released the series 2 Moulton they got rid of that curve, thus solving the cracking problem.

[moultontom]

Important and useful fact.

 Pedals thread in opposite directions.

[errantmittens]

So if we compare how much I’ve spent on doing up the bike, with how much you’ve spent on wool…

Mr Tom, in dangerous territory methinks! (via errantmittens) This is dangerous territory. For the price of a set of tyres my wife could buy FIFTY fleeces... O-O

[moultontom]

Ageing the Moulton 2

I’m very excited about this. All the bikes have a code that enables you to date them, located on the top of the seat tube. Mine reads:

'K64 330021'

Which means (thanks to the helpful forum over at moultonbuzz.com) that it was made at the Kirkby plant on the 33rd week (the week starting 3rd August) of 1964, and it was the 21st bike made that week.

They must have made more than 21 in a day, so there’s a good chance he’s a Monday’s child!

[moultontom]

Today I am addressing the sticking brakes, which are sticking entirely due to rust. I'm a little worried by how bad some of the rust is on the back of the pads, looks like I'm going to have to consider a rechroming at some point...

[moultontom]

Before and after...

[moultontom]

Back again

Works have begun apace on the Moulton again now we have returned. I've set about removing the rust from the 36h rims, a fiddly and lengthy job but a combination of WD40, Coca Cola and tin foil is making light work of it. Pics to follow tomorrow hopefully! Unfortunately there is a bit of pitting in the chrome in some spots, especially on the front wheel, but then, I suppose it is 50 years old!

[moultontom]

A little break in the Moulton restoration as my wife and I are in Canada, visiting family and investigating the beautiful scenery of British Columbia. Once we're back in the UK, works will begin apace! In the meantime here's a little pic of a hummingbird we spotted in the back garden here!

[moultontom]

Ageing

How old is the Moulton? It seems the polychromatic kingfisher blue started in Summer 1964, and the fact that the bottom bracket is riveted and braised puts the frame around this time too. So, Mr Moulton has just turned 49. Big celebrations next year assuming he's back in one piece by then!

[moultontom]

Taking Notes. I've kept a note book to enable me to put the whole thing back together again, various washers and all. I started labeling things as 'front', 'rear', 'inside', 'outside' etc, but found I got so confused that I had to resort to the veterinary anatomical directions, 'caudal', 'dorsal' etc.

[moultontom]

Tyres Mk 3

I’m not sure why I ever went to Halfords really, possibly because it was Sunday and I was after something quick. Anyway, having told me the tyres would be in by Tuesday, I was still waiting by Friday and so cancelled the order. The lovely people at Chevin Cycles in Otley managed to track me down some beautiful tyres and tubes immediately, and they fit perfectly. That will be the last time I shame myself by going into Halfords!

[moultontom]

Thanks Chevin cycles!

[nickrearden]

Rest in peace ‘Ingegnere’ Moulton Cycling world mourns Dr Alex Moulton, CBE Just one of the things I love about Italians is that they use the word ‘ingegnere’ abbreviated to ‘Ing.’ as a honorary title to signify someone who is a qualified engineer much the same way we use ‘Dr.’ for those we trust with life or death. To me, it sums up just how seriously they take their engineers. I learned this in the 1980s, back when I first started talking to Italian engineers for a living and it was also when I first met Alex Moulton. That was my first invitation to his office, home and factory in Bradford on Avon, near where I now live. Despite knowing even less then about the ways of the world, it immediately struck me that this impeccably dressed gentleman with piercing eyes and an excitable air had more in common with the aristocratic Italian bike people I had met, than his equivalents in the home industry. What I couldn’t have recognised, appreciated and far less written down at the time was that he had nuclear-driven, genetically-encoded passion for his work and he was going to make jolly sure I understood exactly why his small-wheeled and fully-suspended bicycle was the better engineering solution for most of my cycling needs. Anyway, I called him Ingegnere Moulton and we also spent a good amount of time looking at the suspension of his personally tweaked Mini and Metro cars. He was furious in the nicest possible way that the Philistines at the manufacturer, British Leyland, wouldn’t implement the changes that could make the ride quality even better than that for which they were already renowned. I guess they had bigger problems.         It was just a few weeks ago that the Moulton Bicycle Company invited me to the 50th Anniversary celebration. I couldn’t resist snapping the original Mini parked outside The Hall but I didn’t take any photographs of the founder. Wheelchair bound, Dr Moulton looked and sounded so frail and it seemed disrespectful to be pointing my crappy iPhone at a 92-year-old who to me summarised everything that is good about design-and-engineering-led business. I can hardly presume to improve on excellent obituaries already published on both The Telegraph and The Guardian. He pushed on with passion.