A Moulton.

I bought a Moulton for a new project. For a strange non-justifiable reason, I've always liked bikes with little wheels. I used to have a Dahon Speed Pro TT when I commuted into London quite a few years ago and it was fun (like a BMX with racing wheels and gears). It went around the world for a while in a suitcase. I've even been through passport control on it! And it came to Fiji with me. It was fun. But then it got stolen in London, and recovered by the Police in a raid. It was a little too distinctive, had finger print dust on, and the people arrested were caught with weapons and stuff. Thus it was sold shortly afterwards to increase my life expectancy.

This is what it looked like with my dad riding it. He was 78 when the photo was taken! And Garmin said he hit 38kmph on the flat!

And this is how it looked in a suitcase and with a bonus airport x-ray! Spot the components!

(Although, I think the suitcase x-ray is a standard Samsonite, not the Dahon black case.)

After seeing @jonnydelmundo and his Deluxe F restoration. It started me thinking that I'd like another bike which fits into a suitcase to travel with. And it might also be a really nice commuter and would mean no sweaty back from lugging in all my work stuff with a backpack. And lastly for some reason, I've also liked Moultons. I can't explain why.

So, this resulted in purchasing a Pashley Moulton TSR off eBay a couple of weeks ago, which looked like this:

There was a little shopping done before it arrived. Continental GP tires, new cables, bar tape and a raiding of my parts bin for some Record shifter, bars, stem, saddle and pedals.

This is how it looked when it arrived:

And after a day of cleaning all the crud off, fitting tires, checking it all over, new shifters, cables and various other bits, it went on its first commute the next day.

The ride was good, but there's no denying its a bit of a hefty beast! Its 12kgs, so, it needs a bit of a diet. I've ridden it for two weeks now, and found out that an inline post is a much better position. But, the suspension. Its great. It smooths out London's shitty roads really well. Lastly, its a revelation to be able to ride into speed bumps at full pelt and watch the front suspension pop up and down. So, on went a titanium seatpost cannibalised from another bike, a carbon bottle cage from China and it now looks like this:

Parts still to come are some Deda Prescia bars, Ultra Torque crank, brakes and a carbon seatpost. And the next post. Wheels.

Wheels. So, the bike I bought obviously isn't new and I'm presuming that the rims are probably the original ones. I had a look around for 406mm wheels, and there don't seem to be that many options. Which led me to thinking, shouldn't I have a go at building a set? Its something I've never done, so, it'll be a bit of an experience and a learning curve.

After some forum reading here, and a few searches, I made a decision to give it a go. First up was a set of hubs, which happily eBay provided last Sunday for £50. A pair of new American Classic's, which apparently aren't the worst hub, and aren't the heaviest either, which will help with the Moulton diet.

And then some further searching led me to some rims:

KINLIN NB-R 406 MM 245 GR for 39EUR each and they're quite light. As far as I can tell, Kinlin aren't the worst rim manufacturer either.

Next up, I need to get spokes, and nipples. Currently, I was looking at the Sapim Laser, silver, J-bend spokes, as I think they're on Moulton's own wheels, and with 32 spokes they should be strong enough? And nipples. I've no idea.

Does anybody know if the above combination will kill me?

Check the wheel building thread for opinions on lasers. People seem to say to avoid them, but that's on standard wheels. I'm unsure if the rules change when it comes to smaller wheels.

So, Chinese Deda Presa bars arrived. And they are great. Totally solid and really good quality. Bargain for £38! 200g too!

And next up Planet X Brakes which knocked off a load of weight and provided some decent stopping ability with Swissstop Blue pads.

I had to use the long drop brake pad holders which have worked really well.

As opposed to the TRPs which didn't really stop that well, and flexed a surprising amount considering how heavy they are.

And an inline carbon seatpost from eBay. It was 242g at 600mm and needed 20cm chopped off just so it didn't hit the rear suspension internals. But it beats the 320g setback seatpost which came with it.

Overall, the changes so far have dropped a kilo, its a smidge over 11kgs at the moment, and I've still got wheels and crank to finish which should hopefully bring it down to under 10kgs which would be nice.

That is a thing of beauty and joy! The temptation to get a fast moulton is strong. Much as I love my Deluxe it's not going to win any prizes on the speed front. Love the clean lines of the black space frame on yours, and looking forward to seeing how the wheel build goes...

loving this

Moultons rule! Loved my TSR

@Muppetteer Lovely. Good work going weight weeny. Check out the brompton that got carbonned up on a thread of this parish.

Seeing as you have lots of spokes, which surely must mean going lightweight on them is cool. There are few diff lighter spokes around that could be worth looking at along with laser. As said here, check out wheelbuild thread for spoke talk, and the subject of alu nipples have had a bit of discussion recently. Also is your kinlin rim for tubeless, as I gather the weight obsessed no longer use innertubes?

On ditching more ballast round the waistline: do you really need a triple? Maybe if you use a 1x10 or 1x11 drivetrain, you lose a whole two rings, fixings, mech, cabling & shifter from the weight.

@jonnydelmundo @jeff80 @cruffiton @Skülly Thanks!

Its not so much going full weighweenie, rather its getting the parts and components it deserves. And as an added bonus its all bits n' pieces that I would change anyway for fit. Hence, the bars are now 40cm rather than 44cm, the seatpost inline and the brakes actually work. But, I would like to get it to around 9.5kgs, which is far better than 12kg+, although I'm not sure how possible that is!

Its quite strange that the stock components are a bit rubbish. The original adjustable stem weighed something like 350g, the seatpost 320g and the bars 300g. But without even getting exotic parts, it can be made much nicer. And there are so many bolts on the bike. They're eventually going titanium as soon as I can figure out how bolt sizing works so I get the right ones.

The wheels will be my achilles heel, as I've never built a set before so its all a bit of a learning curve. I'm aiming to get them under a kilo, which would be nice, and I think the standard TSR wheels are around 2+kgs, which would drop me below 10kgs! I've been recommended brass nipples as a first timer, apparently aluminium is more difficult and I'm more likely to screw it up. Also, the rims are standard clinchers as far as I know. The bike is my commuter so tubes will be fine for the time being, and if I don't die with the first set of wheels I build, maybe something more exotic in the future.

And lastly, the triple will definitely become a double. Although, I need to source a 62T minimum chainring first, as I'm already maxing out the 58t. The only one I can find for Campy fit is the Stronglight at Fudge, but its £100. The biggest TA chainring I've found is 61T, its the same as this link but you have to ask, its £70, but I'm not sure of the difference between TA & Stronglight, if one is better than the other? I'll need to have a play around with a gear calculator to see what the best option is.

Todays beauty shot! Sorted out the saddle and bars!

you're crossing the chain a lot. Careful as 61t might hit the front mech if it can't be moved up any more. If you're building the wheels maybe run it 1x9 with one of these

I really am tempted to get a moulton, where is the best place to learn about them? I presume the Pashley built ones are the heaviest?

Hi @conquistador yup, I cross chain a lot. Its a bad habit which I'm trying to get out of, but its still work in progress. The front mech should be fine for a 62t, its a Moulton stock part so you can use a standard rear cassette with an 11 rather than the Moulton cassette which goes down to a 10, but isn't cheap at £280. Their cassette only works with their hubs which is another £180. Altogether, its a pretty expensive option and ties you into the Moulton prices, although it is pretty and shiny. I'd rather go up on the chainring to 62t instead as a cheaper option. It'll also allow me to use a load of groupset parts I've already got at home.

The SRAM dual drive was a possibility, but I want to be able to use my Campagnolo shifters and bits I already have. I also used to have one on the Dahon Speed Pro TT (the mango coloured bike at the start) and whilst it was good, when freewheeling it sounds like somebody is shaking a bag of bolts at the back of the bike. Its also a pain to get the rear wheel out. It needs a spanner, and you've got to unclip the box that sticks out which is really poor design and prone to damage, with the little pin it clips onto. And its not exactly light either. I think the hubs over a kilo by itself.

For Moulton info, there's a Facebook Group and a Yahoo Group which are both relatively active. But, I just went out and bought one off eBay to play with. They hold their value, thus you can try and you'll be able to offload it for a similar amount if its not for you. The Pashley TSR like the one I got is the heaviest (12kgs stock), but the price jumps up a lot for the next level, either the Moulton SST (10kgs) or Jubilee (10kgs).