I'm a huge fan of the Moulton bicycle, and have owned many from F frames which I've upgraded with modern componentry through Pashley built APBs to handbuilt AMs and a New Series. I had the pleasure of meeting Dr Moulton on many occasions and viewed the museum. What however is amusing about this video, is the numerous false starts the Moulton had. I have no engineering experience whatsoever but, it would surely have been obvious that the monocoque construction would (and reportedly did) clank and rattle in huge decibels, in addition to simply being a monstrous conception. Likewise the feeble horizontal tubing acting as front forks on the early suspension model. The early rear forks on the production model failed spectacularly and with regularity, which is what fatally undermined confidence in what was an expensive bicycle, only remedied too late with tougher forks. The sell out to Raleigh followed, and predictably they killed the Moulton off. Had the spindly front "forks" gone into production, failures would have been sooner and even more catastrophic. So it appears to me that there are some blind alleys, clear from the start that need never be investigated simply to dismiss them. Thankfully Alex Moulton bicycles was the rebirth of the marque in 1983 with beautiful handbuilt cruciform framed machines which continue in production to this day. Sadly so too do some cynical "Limited Editions", not authentic handbuilt Moultons, but nevertheless at eye watering prices. I'll stick with the engineering purity of the AM and NS models, everything else is just marketing bluff, and I think Dr Moulton were he still alive, might well agree.
Great training video for young engineers ! showing thinking outside the box and not being led by traditional designs. The many iterations that should be tried to achieve the optimum design.
I like better the later high performance moultons. I do own a TSR2 and maybe some day a more expensive model. I too am fascinated by the simplicity and efficiency of the bicycle. Though the drivetrain needs a bit tweak. I think derailleurs take too much maintenance effort for average person and good quality high efficiency internal gear hubs are too expensive for them. Altough I myself could use several thousands to have a good quality bicycle.
Very interesting video and I appreciate they are quality bikes but I honestly fail to see the point of the design. How is it an improvement over the classic Starley design other than its later development to a folding bicycle?
I'm a huge fan of the Moulton bicycle, and have owned many from F frames which I've upgraded with modern componentry through Pashley built APBs to handbuilt AMs and a New Series. I had the pleasure of meeting Dr Moulton on many occasions and viewed the museum.
What however is amusing about this video, is the numerous false starts the Moulton had. I have no engineering experience whatsoever but, it would surely have been obvious that the monocoque construction would (and reportedly did) clank and rattle in huge decibels, in addition to simply being a monstrous conception.
Likewise the feeble horizontal tubing acting as front forks on the early suspension model. The early rear forks on the production model failed spectacularly and with regularity, which is what fatally undermined confidence in what was an expensive bicycle, only remedied too late with tougher forks. The sell out to Raleigh followed, and predictably they killed the Moulton off.
Had the spindly front "forks" gone into production, failures would have been sooner and even more catastrophic. So it appears to me that there are some blind alleys, clear from the start that need never be investigated simply to dismiss them.
Thankfully Alex Moulton bicycles was the rebirth of the marque in 1983 with beautiful handbuilt cruciform framed machines which continue in production to this day. Sadly so too do some cynical "Limited Editions", not authentic handbuilt Moultons, but nevertheless at eye watering prices. I'll stick with the engineering purity of the AM and NS models, everything else is just marketing bluff, and I think Dr Moulton were he still alive, might well agree.
Great training video for young engineers ! showing thinking outside the box and not being led by traditional designs. The many iterations that should be tried to achieve the optimum design.
Lovely Video
For a second I thought Graham Chapman was doing a Python take-off on a BBC documentary (2:53).
Not just me then!
I like better the later high performance moultons. I do own a TSR2 and maybe some day a more expensive model. I too am fascinated by the simplicity and efficiency of the bicycle. Though the drivetrain needs a bit tweak. I think derailleurs take too much maintenance effort for average person and good quality high efficiency internal gear hubs are too expensive for them. Altough I myself could use several thousands to have a good quality bicycle.
Very interesting video and I appreciate they are quality bikes but I honestly fail to see the point of the design. How is it an improvement over the classic Starley design other than its later development to a folding bicycle?
Introductory commentary is out of sync with images on screen!