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Another Land’s End to John O’Groats on a Moulton bicycle

Frank Burns writes about yet another Land's End to John O'Groats completed on a Moulton.

I wanted to put my Alex Moulton APB21 through its paces and see how it fared on a journey above 1000 miles.

Most people have preconceived notions about small wheeled bikes, and many that I met en route expressed disbelief about its suitability for such a venture, but the reality was that I averaged 85 miles per day (some days were over 100 miles) with a remarkable degree of comfort and speed.

The Moulton’s combination of a well-designed rigid frame, suspension front and rear, and more than adequate gearing, made this a perfect long-distance machine, and one that can be separated into two halves, bagged and carried onto trains as hand-luggage.

From Land’s End to John O’Groats on a Moulton bicycle « Serendipities of life.

ONE OFF Moulton Special

Only one Moulton has even been produced in Titanium, and it is featured in a new book called Cyclepedia: A Tour of Iconic Bicycle Designs by Michael Embacher.

The story of this unique Moulton is told as follows:

A unique piece made of titanium

Mike Augspurger’s company ‘One Off’ in Florence, Massachusetts, specializes in producing unique, made to measure pieces. This includes not only bicycles, for example, but also wheelchairs. The common denominator in these products is the material; One Off favours titanium, thought to be the most promising for future high end bicycles. In 1991 Mike Augspurger made the acquaintance of cyclist Alex Moulton. Their friendship was deepened through cycling trips, and the next One Off idea developed.

Augspurger wanted to produce a Moulton AM from titanium with a frame that could not be separated, and his friend supported the project and supplied special Moulton parts. Only a couple of months later the new frame stood on the weighing scales. It proved to be 500 grams lighter than a Moulton AM Speed stainless steel frame but likewise could not be separated.

Then the project came to a halt. It was only the second owner of One Off who completed the frame and fork to make the bicycle rideable. The Zzipper fairing provides better aerodynamics and the cycle’s frame is just as torsionally rigid as its stainless steel cousins. They produced only one piece, and it is the bicycle featured here. Alex Moulton was rather cautious of allowing others to manufacture frames using his design. He subsequently agreed to no more experiments of this kind.

Cyclepedia: A Tour of Iconic Bicycle Designs will be launched in London on Wednesday March 16th 2011 AT 18:30 at Look Mum No Hands! 49 Old Street, London ED1V9HX.

More photos are available on Michael Embacher's site

Moultoneer 91

The Moultoneer 91 Cover
The Winter 2011 edition of The Moultoneer has gone to the printers, and will be sent by post later this week. There's still time to join the club or renew your membership in time to get your copy. Some of the features in this issue include:

  • Moultons in Taiwan, KeReT Moulton project
  • Making Moultons at Kirkby in the sixties, an insiders view
  • Improving hub gears on Moultons
  • Moulton Automatic Restoration
  • Moulton rear suspension units - manufacture in the sixties
  • Touring in the US on an AM7
  • Japanese Hillside Terrace exhibition run down
  • New Japanese Moulton book
  • Observations by AM
  • Another Moulton weekend... April 2011
  • One mans meat.. Review of the new breed of bicycle in the early 60s
  • Colour sections and more pages than normal!