...so I collected it on the weekend. I have armed myself with a spare tube, a pump and a multi tool, and after a quick fettle I have decided it was fit to be ridden from Wimbledon to Thamesmead (just under 20miles). It had a combo of canti specific levers and V brakes ,so not much braking power at disposal, and you couldnāt tighten the headset as it was missing some parts. Still, we made it home safely. Itās certainly a quirky little thing. The steering feels Pedersen-like but itās strangely responsive. I guess, partly due to a really short wheelbase. The flat bar just felt slightly odd. The frame feels quite stiff and the bottom bracket flexes noticeably less than on some of the e-stayed frames I have tried in the past. Overall it rides pretty well. Quite relaxing with its upright position, but doesnāt feel sluggish at all. I donāt like the forks as theyāre just too heavy and rigid, so most likely I will be looking to replace those . I guess, itāll have to be a custom made jobbie or something from the likes of Thorn.
I was told by the seller (a really nice guy) that the frame was built by his father-in-law, an engineer with a connection to Moulton. Not sure what the connection was, but the frame certainly looks Moulton-esque. I am yet to compare the diameter of the tubes against those on a Moulton APB, but I was told it was built with a mix of Reynolds 531 and a tandem specific down tube for a top tube, and to be fair I have no reason to doubt it. Stripped frame feels quite light for what it is ( I havenāt weighed it yet), and all of the tubes have a very nice ping to them. Also, the dropouts are stamped with āReynoldsā. The finish is not bad for a āback of the garageā built thing. The brazing is pretty neat, with rather subtle fillets, and it seems the builder didnāt do much filing, if any at all. The internal cable routing is really well executed, and oddly, despite that and all the brazing bonanza the frame has external routing for the front derailleur, but instead of regular braze-ons it uses homemade cable stops made out of little aluminium blocks, which are secured with a bolt threaded through into little bosses in the frame. Rather eccentric. Also, the bottom bracket has reverse threads! I wonder if there was any reasoning behind it, or if it was a silly mistake. I did come across something like that once on a Pashley frame (cough...). It will need addressing.
Anyhoo, I like the frame a lot. With all 265mm of its headtube .
I donāt have a plan yet. It will definitely need a respray, but I would like to find a fork first. The surprisingly well performing Altus groupset and the heavy mismatched wheels wonāt be staying. Neither will the cockpit.
I need to play some Parliament/Funkadelic, have a couple of stiff drinks and stare at the frame for a bit before I can make any further decisions...
Please excuse mistakes, bad syntax, erratic punctuation, and lack of flair. English is my 3rd language. I am haggard. I will let the photos give you a better idea.
Phew...
