Moulton, Dyson and the new Stowaway

What have vacuum cleaners and bicycles got in common? More than you might think, when it comes to the Moulton bicycle.

The word Stowaway will be a familiar one to Moultoneers - it was the name that Alex Moulton gave to the collapsible or separable version of his original Moulton bicycle. Not a folding mechanism, but one that allowed the bicycle to be split into two for transportation and storage. Moultons have never folded, but it could be claimed that the original stowaway was at least part of the inspiration for the folding revolution that followed.

While the Stowaway disappeared around the time of the Raleigh takeover of Moulton in the 1960s, the concept reappeared with the launch of the AM in 1983. Most Moulton models since then have had the option of a separable frame, although the "Stowaway" name has not been used.

Well, the Stowaway name has reappeared, not on a bicycle but on a Dyson DC20 Stowaway as shown below

James Dyson, inventor of the acclaimed Dyson vacuum cleaners is apparently a big fan of the Moulton Bicycles.

He is quoted as saying "Looking at his intriguing bicycles you can see that Alex Moulton questions every part of the design. His aim is clear: to make lighter, safer and more comfortable bikes whilst improving speed. Good design is about how something works, not just how it looks, which is why I like the Moulton bike so much."

Speaking of how things look, I think Alex Moulton Bicycles web designers could learn a lot from Dyson's