BIN prices on Ebay

[jonty]

The ride quality is excellent and direct. The front and rear suspension gives a very smooth and sophisticated ride. My favourite is the TSR 27 with DualDrive which brings a smile to my face every time I get on it. They are also fun to ride; with good acceleration and maneuverability.
They provide a different riding experience.
They're quite heavy bikes ( 525 Reynolds) so a bit slower up the hills and faster down them.
The frames are beautifully fabricated.
They don't fold but split into two bits which is useful for say air travel or transporting in the boot of a small car rather than daily inter-modal travelling which is the domain of the Brompton IMHO.
The Moulton Bicycle Company consists of two operations: one at Pashley in Stratford on Avon and the other at Bradford upon Avon.
Pashley make the more affordable TSR range whereas Bradford on Avon make the higher-end bikes like the Double Pylon.
It's generally considered that the higher end Bradford bike ride slightly better than the TSRs but there's not a lot in it and they cost a lot more.
Most of the production from both operations goes abroad, especially to the Far East.
Moultoneers often tend to be engineers or scientists.

 

[fagin]

Moultoneers often tend to be insane.

FTFY.

I'm sure they are quite capable though.
We were on the top of Holmbury once, in SH and a couple of ladies rode up, one on a girls step through type bike, the other on something with tiny wheels (Brompton type).

Later we rode down BKB and at the bottom were standing around feeling gnarly and comparing heroic stories, when the two of them came down, railing the last berm and moving pretty quick.

We slunk off.

 

[jonty]

Apparently there's no overall optimum size of wheel although HPV (human powered vehicle) records are held by machines with small wheels.
Alex Moulton proved mathematically (certainly to himself) that the "optimum" size of wheel was 17 inches.
What is interesting about Moultons is that Alex Moulton worked their design out mathematically - he was a Cambridge engineering graduate - rather than the design simply evolving by trial and error in a workshop.
As far as I'm aware there is little in the way of conclusive evidence to support the view that a 26 or 27 inch wheel is optimum.
To me the 27 inch wheel (700mm) looks too big on a bike, the 26 inch looks better but best of all is the 20 inch (actually about 18.5 inches) on my space frame Moultons but obviously it's a matter of taste.
One disadvantage however is that if you fall down a pothole on a Moulton you know it or if you're unlucky you don't know it.
Even though I'm elderly and should know better I enjoy leaving quite a few conventional bikes standing when on my TSR 30.
The TSR 30 is as fast as a light tourer and considerably faster than my Stumpjumper with semi-slicks.

 

[fagin]

There might be something in that. Way back in about 1970 I had a small wheel bike (no idea what, a Raleigh or something) and I used to beat all my friends on normal bikes. Might have been the gearing though - they spun out and I was still going.
I used to race around the pavements, crowds cheering in my head (yayayay), passing imaginary racing bikes, then catching and passing imaginary Choppers (obviously the fastest most awesome bike on the road)
I was 7 or 8 at the time, a friend had one but his mother wouldn't let anyone else ride it. My whole life I wanted one until a few years ago I got to actually ride one (original with stick shift.) Biggest let down ever. Terrible, horrible, sad sad day.

 

[bm0p700f]

Rolling resitance is also inversley proportional to wheel dimaeter. Air resistance is proportional to frontal area.

The guy martin test did show lower rollign resistance for larger wheels. I do not think the increase in frontal area for a larger wheel is that significant when compared to the frontal area of the bike + rider. LArger wheels certainly help off road but that becuase the ground is uneven.

 

[jonty]

I agree but of all my bikes the modern Moultons are the most responsive and exciting to ride. They seem to accelerate more quickly and directly - a bit like a BMX.
They simply ride differently and more smoothly but not everyone takes to them.
Well worth a try if you get the opportunity.
Most people who have a go on mine are surprised.
But they don't have the versatility of my Stumpy.

 

[barry2017]

I love Moultons. And I genuinely can see where the money goes on them. They're very much a niche product. How many bikes have custom sized rims?
I'd buy one, were it not for the fact that I do a lot of riding on towpaths. Small wheels are just no good on towpaths.
Give me my Muddy Fox anyday. I can do everything a road bike or a Moulton can do, just not as quickly.

 

[jonty]

I agree: a good retro mountain bike is hard to beat for versatility. I ride my Stumpy in all weathers, on road, lanes and rough tracks and with semi-slick tyres I can keep up with my cycling groups who ride a mixture of road, touring and hybrid bikes.
Recently I had a complete new drive put on and, as the saying goes, new drive, new bike.
I can ride confidently in places I would never take a Moulton.
Vintage F frame Moultons are also fun to ride. Again the ride is smooth and relaxed because of the front and rear suspension and surprisingly quick for a heavy 'sixties utility bike with limited gearing, usually a SA 4 sp. hub.
My most recent Moulton acquisition is a Moulton Automatic. This is a rare machine, less than 3,000 were made, all in 1966.
They all came with the excellent Fichel and Sacks Duomatic Torpedo Hub which changes the two gears consecutively by back-pedalling a quarter turn and applies the rear hub brake by back-pedalling a half turn.
I'm really enjoying the thrill of riding this bike which is light for a vintage F frame Moulton.
Recently I did a 24 ride on it but I had to get off and push it up a few hills.

 

[fjsrider]

I'd buy one, were it not for the fact that I do a lot of riding on towpaths. Small wheels are just no good on towpaths.

Oh noes! :?

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YerBr3ok1U[/youtube]

Someone better tell this lot that before they have too much fun.

 

[barry2017]

Re:

That's all very well and good on a lovely summer's day, on a well-maintained bit of towpath. But well over 90% of the towpath on the network isn't surfaced, and with that comes potholes.

I lived on a boat for 11 years, and in that time travelled most of the network. I would have loved a small wheeler, but the fact is if you hit a big pothole with a small wheel, the bike stops dead. I have a Raleigh Twenty that I keep on my boat, it's great but you have to push it through bits you could ride through with bigger wheels.

All being well I will get to the boat for a day this week. the weedhatch needs clearing, so when I stopped last time I just plonked it on the towpath and left it. I'm taking my mountain bike, it's going to be really muddy.