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!

Sturmey Archer S2C Review

The Sturmey Archer 2 speed, coaster brake hub, as fitted to the Moulton TSR 2, is reviewed in the current issue of Velovision (Issue 40).

The reviewer tested the old F&S Duomatic hub alongside the new Sturmey S2C for a better comparison between the two hubs. Some of the main findings were:

  • The S2C is about 50% heavier than the Duomatic
  • gear ratios are identical
  • the S2C requires less of a back-pedaling action in order to change gears
  • the brake on the S2C is much stronger

The review is very positive, and the main benefits cited are that you get the simplicity of a fixed gear with a "bailout" gear for hills and headwinds, as well as the lack of cables going to the rear, which is particularly useful for separable Moultons.

Issue 40 also includes an article by Moultoneers Keith Hales, where he describes life with a Double Pylon, and includes his visit to the 2009 Moulton Summit in Japan.

The Moulton Formulae and Methods

The Moulton Formulae and Methods is now available for purchase online from Alex Moulton Books.


Practising engineers – especially those concerned with innovation – continuously need quantitative information, especially orders of magnitude, directions and sense of values. In this loose-leaf book of convenient size (which acts as a companion to a scientific calculator) the editors have produced an open-ended collection of directly usable ‘leaves’. Each leaf describes one topic, and includes definitions, units (both SI and Imperial), methods and formulae to determine values. Thus each leaf is an aide-mémoire and as such contains the minimum text on explanation and derivation; instead it relies on graphical and diagrammatic presentation. These are fundamentally sound and not ‘rule of thumb’ calculations. The equations presented are suitable for incorporation into spreadsheet calculation/computing. Their access may well be quicker than trying any search on the Internet.

The format of each leaf is essentially constant, with one topic as indicated by the Title at the top of the leaf, and all symbols used are tabulated in both SI and Imperial units. The key equations are boxed and coloured yellow. The MOULTON FORMULAE and METHODS presents essential information for calculation within topics of mechanical interest. The leaves are titled under the following headings:

  • Conversion charts
  • Statics
  • Structures
  • Mechanics
  • Dynamics
  • Vibrations
  • Thermodynamics
  • Fluid dynamics
  • Mathematics

via Alex Moulton | Buy Book | Engineering Formula | Formulae | Mini.

Twenty gentle miles around Chichester

The weather forecast for January 30th had been for white cloud so it was a great joy to put my MK3 in the car for my first MBC ride of the year with the sun rising into a clear blue sky.

Twelve of us assembled at Chichester station for a 1030 start of a ride lead by Arthur Smith around the Chichester Plain. The first stop was the café at Fishbourne Roman Palace.

On through the beautiful countryside and villages westward. The old buildings are in harmony with the landscape; timber-framing, tile hanging, mathematical tiles, ragstone, mellow brick, and flint, whichever was available, affordable or fashionable. Roof materials are equally varied: thatch, stone slate and clay tiles.

Several other clubs were out in the fine weather so Arthur decided the pub at Rowland’s Castle wouldn’t be able to fit us all for lunch and revised the route to Boaters Café at Thornham Marina where most of us followed Lynn and Arthur’s lead and had a child’s size portions, which were more than ample. Through the window I could see the Moultons getting lots of attention from people arriving or leaving. It seemed to be approving but I’m no good at lip reading.

Then back to Chichester (via Fishbourne). Along the way I saw my first daffodils of the year – just a single clump in the roadside verge. It was a lovely MBC and “café touring club” ride.