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The more I think about this the more I think it should have a belt drive. Has anyone any advice on fitting one? Who in London supplies such a thing? Would the rear suspension mechanism cause tension problems?
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Completed painting, rebuilt front and rear suspension, including fabricating a new aluminium suspension contact plate from an old piece of an italian boiler given to me by the excellent chaps at Clever Mike.
Front suspension on a moulton is a thing of beauty - very simple clever design, and given the age of the bike was in excellent condition, both springs and rubber have plenty of life in them.
The halfords rattlecan paint job looks pretty good, and a quick decal from ebay and it's almost good as new.
Debating what to do about mudguards. I have the original but they're rusted and the chrome has gone. I could either get them re chromed, or take them to Armourtex and have them powdercoated (i think white, to match the racks)
Also - front wheel. I have the original SA dynohub, which I serviced and spins well, but it weighs a lot (1.5kg), and is a 50 year old dynamo, so not the best... Should I rebuild with that, or buy a new plain hub?
Anyway, onwards...
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haha, I was thinking that too. It has a touch of the desert storm about it, but no, metallic racing green it has to be.
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Stripped the main frame and rear suspension, sanded, rust treated and first coat of primer applied. Going to go with the original colour or as close as I can, picked up a tin of metallic Rover racing green from Halfords which looks close and seems vaguely appropriate given moulton's links with BMC.
Lots still to do, rear hub utterly knackered upon further investigation, and front fork remains untouched as I don't have a foot long cross head screw driver.
Anyway onwards...
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Thanks.
Yes, I'm definitely going to keep hold of the original bits so it can be brought back to original spec.
Suspension mech is fairly straightforward to disassemble - just need a v long screwdriver to get the front fork separated.
Both hubs look tired, and while they could be restored (and probably will be one day) i think new hubs and wheels are called for.
Brakes however are more tricky. The peculiarities of the rear suspension fork mount mean that the shimanos don't fit, and I reckon the tektros you mention would also struggle. I may have to make do with the originals. I hope the combo of alloy rims and swisstop blocks should bring them reasonably up to date, unless anyone can suggest an alternative.I like the look of the nitto stem you mentioned.
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After some hunting I found this rather lovely green Moulton Deluxe which I'm planning to restore to use as a commuting bike as well as taking on the Dunwich Dynamo this summer. It's a MkII, post 1965 with the slightly stronger rear fork. For a 51 year old bike it's in remarkably good condition, with most of the original components and just a little surface rust. Plans are to do the following:
- Strip back to the frame, tidy up the rust, and then respray / powdercoat, decal & lacquer.
- Replace the old steel / chrome rims with new 16"alloys, possibly from a brompton.
- Reuse the old Sturmey Archer 4 speed hub and the front dynamo hub, however both are looking a looking a little tired and will need to be fully rebuilt and regreased. I may be better off replacing the rear hub with something a bit more modern, but also SA.
- Replace the rather ancient original brakes with a modern pair. I have some long reach Shimano R650's from a previous project sitting unused in the shed which look like they may work, although they may cause issues with the mudguards. New cables all round.
- Rechrome the chrome bits (mudguards, chain guard, stem, cranks, chainring, etc)
- Replace the original straight handlebars with drops (not sure about this but do like the look of F Frames with drop handebars)
- If the front dynamo works, then fit a new set of lamps. However I suspect that it doesn't put out enough wattage for decent B&M lights, so may not bother...
So, the question is - has anyone here restored a moulton? Am I doing this wrong? Should I be a stickler for tradition and keep all the original pieces, or am I right in building a bike that keeps the core of the moulton but uses (some) modern parts?
- Strip back to the frame, tidy up the rust, and then respray / powdercoat, decal & lacquer.
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sorry for the poor picture, but it's difficult to know where to start with this delightful machine parked outside my office this morning:
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Had a bit of a go at John Lewis about their shitty "Stay Back" stickers a few weeks ago. They replied today. here's my message and their reply:
to: csr@johnlewis.co.uk
subject: threatening notices on the back of your lorries
Hi
Please could you let me know if you plan to remove the threatening notices currently stuck on the back of your lorries. These notices state "Cyclists, DO NOT pass on the inside" not only is this incorrect advice, it also could give your drivers the false impression that they are absolved of responsibility should an accident with a cyclist occur. TFL, whose "Cyclists, Stay Back" notices are placed on the back of buses and other vehicles, today (26 June) accepted that these notices are misleading and have agreed to remove them. Please could you confirm that you will do the same? A more suitable notice would be "cyclists, please be careful when passing this vehicle on the inside"
I look forward to hearing your reply
Kind regards
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email, I apologise for the delay in response.
Safety is the top priority in all of the Partnership’s operations.
We are aware of the relatively high risk profile of HGVs as regards cyclists, especially in London, and the fact that the majority of cyclists killed in incidents with HGVs are involved in an incident on the vehicles’ left hand side. We have therefore invested in cyclist safety messaging as recommended by Transport for London fitting these to our large commercial vehicle fleet only.
Our drivers are required to be constantly vigilant and the stickers in no way absolve them of that responsibility.
We are aware already that TfL is looking to update its messaging and aim to take part in those discussions and expect our signage will in due course evolve in light of this.
The Partnership is a member of the Freight Transport Association’s Cycle Safety Working Group.
Kind regards,
Amaya
Coordinator, CSR
John Lewis Partnershipmildly disappointing but looks like they may change them at some future date.
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I'm building up a moulton F Frame, and am considering fitting a belt drive on it, but I have zero experience of building them. As far as I can tell it should be straightforward - particularly as the moulton's rear fork has no seat stay, so no frame mods need to be made, however i have a few questions: