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OK, now pretty much finished, new sparkly black powder coat, upgraded to cambium saddle, 60:13 gear ratio, kojaks, and added a spruced up cloth/lacquer handlebar. Only problem is that the front suspension has an irritating squeak so will probably have to chuck more grease in there..

The new gear ratio means that it goes like stink so should keep up for Dunwich in a fortnight.

lovely. Like the blue colour. will be interested to see how the rear hub is. I've stuck with a basic 3spd SA hub.

Are you using straight or drop handlebars? Just redone mine with old school cloth tape & shellac, quite pleased with the effect.

It's a bit late now as it's at the powdercoaters, but I wish I'd modified the frame to run the rear cables internally...

Sorry for the delay. Quick update. I took the frame into Bikefix on Lamb's Conduit Street, who did a beautiful job in rebuilding the joint, and I've been riding it happily for the past few weeks. However all that rebrazing has had a less than ideal effect on my lovely Halfords rattle can paint job, so last weekend I dismantled the whole thing again (i'm becoming an expert in stripping moulton frames) and took it down to the chaps at Armourtex. It's getting a black sparkle coat, and the racks are being coated gloss white. Then this weekend I'll be rebuilding it, with a new 60/13 (!) gear ratio so it is fast enough to keep up with the Dunwich dynamo in a couple of weeks time... Photos to follow...

sorted out the gear ratio on the moulton from 52/16 to 52/13, so positively flew into work this morning. 10/10, whizzy.

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...

Believe it or not it's not rusted, i stripped it back to the metal earlier on this year and it looked OK. Problem is that it's 52 years old and was built in a washing machine factory in Liverpool, thus the metal and the joints are hardly the highest quality. In fact it's surprising it's lasted this long.

Anyway, if anyone can recommend a decent framebuilder around central / north London who might be up for fixing this I'd love to hear.

weird posting error. sorry...

Pic

The moulton continues to amuse and entertain. I noticed this entertaining crack that has formed along the join between the seatpost and the downtube, which has put it out of action until I get it fixed. Question is, where should I go to get this repaired properly? Was thinking about getting it powdercoated at Armourtex, they sayb that they can do frame repairs - this is a fairly structural repair - would they be good for it, or is there anyone else in north / central / east london worth speaking to?

I recommend Leigh Day. They have a dedicated cycle team and are thoroughly decent. They will ensure your mum gets the best settlement possible. https://www.leighday.co.uk

Very nice. Making some changes to mine to get it ready for Dunwich. Need faster gearing. Currently on SA 3 spd with 52:16. Thinking changing to 52:13 will add a few more on the flat. If I need more then I'm into specialist chainring territory....

seconded. this is a thing of great beauty

Yup, that would be me

It's back!

After a rather futile search on ebay for a replacement rear fork I found myself writing to Michael Woolf of Moulton Preservation who, by return post, informed me that he could supply me with a rebrazed and strengthened rear fork for just £50. After a happy jaunt down to his place in Chelsea I was the proud owner of a perfect rear fork and a brand new stainless steel rear pivot bolt. At the same time I was able to check out his rather excellent collection of moultons which included a rather lovely chrome plated Deluxe and a very rare Bridgestone stainless steel F frame from the early '90's signed by the great man himself.

Anyway, after a quick respray and a bit of basic metalwork I was able to refit it and am back on the road again. As you can see it's putting in excellent work as a cargo bike.

Thanks :) Ended up getting a rear fork from Moulton Preservation, it's an original that has been rebrazed and strengthened so should be good for another 50 years.

Glorious sunshine commute on the Moultonator this morning. loaded up with office supplies. Overtaken by pretty much every other cyclist I saw. But didn't care. 9/10

Bit of a setback. riding home on Friday and the rear fork collapsed. turns out that the rust had had more of an effect than i thought. need to find a replacement strengthened rear fork asap. I've got in touch with the Moulton club who hopefully will help. replacement forks are few and far between...

thanks to all of you, I couldn't recommend an old moulton enough, if you have one or are considering one get it out and ride it. they're great to ride and fun to mess around with. Happy to give advice on restoring if needed...

Unlike the Brompton the Moulton's rubber block is glued in place and is essentially a wedge shape, as in this pic:

https://lfgss.microcosm.app/api/v1/files/209d977eee824805c7d9852694d75732437cd3c3.JPG

There's no way you could put a jubilee clip around it. TBH I like the suspension as it is, which is just as well...

Thanks!
The suspension actually works really well. It definitely improves the ride and goes some way to compensate for the stiffness of the small wheels. The frame is incredibly stiff and there is very little flex, however the suspension can make things a bit bouncy if you get out of the saddle.

I suppose if you wanted to be scientific about it you could replace the rubber springs in each side with a slightly harder formulation but I have no idea where you would find such a thing. Moulton don't make parts for 50 year old bikes, and it's not exactly the kind of thing you could fabricate yourself.

Lovely frame. Always had a bit of a thing about those old 'dales.

Been meaning to update this for a while. Finished the build a couple of weeks ago and been happily commuting into town since. It's a wonderful thing to ride. not quite as fast as my old Cannondale T800 (which wasn't exactly quick either) but hugely fun, very comfortable and insanely practical. The twin racks make lugging kids stuff to school in the mornings a doddle.

So final specs:

Frame : 1963/64 Mk1 Moulton F Frame
Wheels:
Rear - Brompton rim on Sturmery Archer 3 speed SRF3 hub
Front - Brompton rim on Ambrosio Zenith Endurance hub.
Crankset: Shimano 600 Arabesque 52t
Saddle: Brooks B17
Cockpit : Nitto Technomic stem and Randonneur bars (as suggested by @ElGato)
Brake Levers: Shimano BLZ304
Gear Shifter: Sturmey Archer SLS30 bar end thumbshifter

Everything else was on the bike. Couldn't face getting the mudguards rechromed (cheapest quote was £218!!!!) so they got a dose of metallic silver spray paint. Paint was courtesy of Halfords and the Moulton Club for the decals.

Very pleased with how it turned out and couldn't recommend enough an old Moulton F Frame as a town bike. My only concern is that the gearing (at 52:16) remains a little low. Going to swap the rear sprocket for 14 or maybe even 12 in advance of having a crack at the Dunwich Dynamo this summer on it.

these are the brake blocks you are searching for: http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/koolstop-koolstop-eagle-2-caliper-blocks-dual-compound-prod18805/

the rest of the frame is actually pretty straightforward. Even after 52 yrs suspension and frame seems remarkably solid.

but i think belt drive might be a tad optimistic.

Yes. You're probably right :(