Thinking of a Moulton APB

The suspension is really tough. I've never damaged it. I've 2 APBs but don't ride them all the time,
but have been touring on an APB three times. Tyres are not expensive. The best I've found are Haro
which you can get from St.John Street Cycles. You need to grease the rear suspension maybe once a
year. I've had to replace the rear suspension bushing twice. These are about 25 pounds. With Haro
tyres pumped to about 80 psi (they are rated at 60) you will average about the same speed as a
normal bike, but the other tyres in my experience are slower. You will never break a spoke. There's
for and against Moultons. The suspension is really well worth it on rough roads, especially I find
the rear suspension. They can be split in 2 minutes so you can put them in the boot of a car, taxi
etc. They are tough and comfortable. On the other hand you are lower down, and it it almost
impossible to ride hands off. As against this they corner really well and the balance is not
affected at all by loads.

Christopher Mahon said:

1. Rigid tyres, rigid frame. All the forces are on the suspension I=20 guess. What happens when
you hit a deep drain? I have images of the=20 suspension falling to bits. I remember a review
of a Rover Metro which=

=20

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was permanentnly wonky after hitting a large pot hole.

I'm not a Moulton owner, but I ride a Brompton and a recumbent=20 Streetmachine both of which sport
100 PSI tyres and (rear only on the=20 Brom) suspension. If suspension is properly designed (and I
AFAICT Dr.=20 Moulton knows his stuff there) then having some will improve ability to=20 take bumps.
100 PSI sounds a lot but it still allows considerably more=20 damping than "rigid".

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2. Gearing, my top speed at the moment is about 20mph on a flat. I kno=

w=20

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the Moulton is the 'fastest bike in the world' but can it achieve the=20 same (about 20mph) on
regular gears?

Small wheels aren't really that much slower than big ones, unless they=20 have to move over lots of
big obstacles (but OTOH Moultons have=20 suspension to help with that). As long as you have gears
where you=20 aren't spun out at 20 mph, shouldn't be any particular trouble keeping=20 it up,
especially if you currently think 100 PSI is "rigid"!

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3. Is it compatible with regular bike components I might buy from a bik=

e=20

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shop? =20

What sort of components do you have in mind? Obviously you can't just=20 go and buy a new fork from
Halfords, but bottom brackets, brakes, gears=20 etc. are fairly interchangeable between bikes within
reason (i.e., if=20 you want disc brakes you'll need disc mount bosses, but the same is true =

of a "normal" bike and far from everything has them).

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5. 100PSI tyres!? What happens when you get a puncture, do they=20 explode? How do you pump
them up?

These really aren't *that* unusual. As stated above, I run two bikes=20 with 100 PSI tyres, and
they're standard Schwalbe Marathons designed for =

any bikes and to run at that pressure. I pump them up with a track pump =

which could go far higher if I needed to (many thin race tyres run at=20
120). If I get a puncture then it isn't noticeably different from any=20 other tyre puncture, so
don't worry about the number because it sounds=20 bigger than you're used to.

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6. How much do 20inch tyres cost, and con you get them with something=20 like Kevlar puncture
protection.

Depends on the tyre. The Marathons I use are about =A318 each normally, =

but then that's a UK price on a premium touring tyre (with kevlar, as it =

happens), so you can spend less. There's actually a good choice of 20"=20 tyres these days as a lot
of bikes use 20" if you look past the usual=20 crop of bikes.

Pete. --=20 Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics,
Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Christopher Mahon said:

I am thinking of getting a 2nd hand Moulton, and would appreciate your wise input into my thought
process. These are some of the issues in my head:

Ive had mine a couple of months now so I'll have a go at your questions.

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1. Rigid tyres, rigid frame. All the forces are on the suspension I guess. What happens when you
hit a deep drain? I have images of the suspension falling to bits. I remember a review of a
Rover Metro which was permanentnly wonky after hitting a large pot hole.

The suspension especially at the rear is bullet proof being as it is a rubber bung. As long as
it's greased every so often there should be no problem. Ive heard though that on some APBs they
had a problem on the rear triangle alignment meaning that gear adjustment was a black art rather
than a science.

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2. Gearing, my top speed at the moment is about 20mph on a flat. I know the Moulton is the
'fastest bike in the world' but can it achieve the same (about 20mph) on regular gears?

It's not as fast as a proper racing bike but on a nice flat road I can cruise at 22mph in top gear,
so far ive had 43mph out of it but that was without pedalling and downhill. I have 56x11 as top but
I would prefer a 60x11 which is an upgrade at some point in the future. I should say I have the R18
so can't really comment on the gearing on the hub type ones. I also want to change the rear
cassette, currently 11-32, to an 11-23 or smaller, I don't like twiddly little gears so I am
currently finding I never use the inner chain ring.

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3. Is it compatible with regular bike components I might buy from a bike shop? (I live near
Phoenix in Battersea, so perhaps this is more a question of choice than availability).

Yes and no, all the gears and ancililaries are standard but the suspension components are not.
Pashley the makers are about fast as treacle running down a glacier so anything ive needed from them
so far has taken months, including the bike, the rear rack/bag and mudguards. Phoenix seems a good
place and is not far from where I work, although the owner comes accross as a bit of a misery guts.

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4. How much servicing does the bike's suspension need?

Hopefully not much! Another poster has said something about replacing two rear suspension bungs, I
would like to know why and over what sort of time period.

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5. 100PSI tyres!? What happens when you get a puncture, do they explode? How do you pump them up?

They go flat, quickly. This is standard racing bike pressure. Tyres do not explode unless the tyre
comes off the rim or something equally catastrophic.

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6. How much do 20inch tyres cost, and con you get them with something like Kevlar puncture
protection.

BMX bikes are 20inch as are most shopping type bikes, loads to choose from.

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7. What this about nipple points?

Im sure I don't know what you're talking about.

Regards,

Christopher Mahon said:

5. 100PSI tyres!? What happens when you get a puncture, do they explode? How do you pump them up?

I run 120PSI on my road bike. Punctures are just like any other tyre: a nuisance and you have to fix
them. But not dramatic, and doesn't happen often. I usually use a full length frame pump to pump
them up, but my little mini pump works too.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

;; in faecibus sapiens rheum propagabit

In article <[email hidden]>,

Daniel Wilcox said:

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7. What this about nipple points?

Im sure I don't know what you're talking about.

Exactly! Thanks for your other comments though, very useful.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Peter Clinch said:

Quoted message said:

3. Is it compatible with regular bike components I might buy from a bike shop?

What sort of components do you have in mind? Obviously you can't just go and buy a new fork from
Halfords, but bottom brackets, brakes, gears etc. are fairly interchangeable between bikes within
reason (i.e., if you want disc brakes you'll need disc mount bosses, but the same is true of a
"normal" bike and far from everything has them).

OK, I was really thinking of gears, becuase I can't stand grip shifts. And my cycle computer. I
guess I'm safe here.

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5. 100PSI tyres!? What happens when you get a puncture, do they explode? How do you pump them
up?

These really aren't *that* unusual. As stated above, I run two bikes with 100 PSI tyres, and
they're standard Schwalbe Marathons designed for any bikes and to run at that pressure. I pump
them up with a track pump which could go far higher if I needed to (many thin race tyres run at
120). If I get a puncture then it isn't noticeably different from any other tyre puncture, so
don't worry about the number because it sounds bigger than you're used to.

Ok. I was just suprised because I'm sure our car tyres are only 36PSI. Horses for courses I guess.

Thanks.

In article said:

On the other hand you are lower down, and it it almost impossible to ride hands off.

I don't think I'd want to ride hands free, but how lower down are you? I saw a picture of Alex
Moulton on a Moulton, and it looked almost like his feet were scraping the ground! That doesn't
happen does it?

"Christopher Mahon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

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5. 100PSI tyres!? What happens when you get a puncture, do they explode? How do you pump them
up?

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Ok. I was just suprised because I'm sure our car tyres are only 36PSI.

It is rather a surprise at first, but all sorts of tyres are in the 100+ region. Even rather cheap
MTB slicks are 60 psi.

I was trying to pump up my tyres with a service station pump - the car driver waiting thought it was
broken - it was only giving out about 50 and not pumping my tyres up at all.

"Christopher Mahon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

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Ok. I was just suprised because I'm sure our car tyres are only 36PSI. Horses for courses I guess.

Have a look at how hard lorry tyres are - some of them have a max pressure indicated above the wheel
(tesco petrol was 150psi).

cheers, clive