In a message dated 11/19/2001 11:32:52 AM Eastern Standard Time, kstagg@harbornet.com writes:
<< Compared to any of my other bikes it's very twitchy - not quite dangerously so but I'd hate to try to handle it if I were really sleepy! >>
OK.. Let me tell a little story here...
I have two old Moultons now, have had more in the past, but there is one particular bike I rode quite a bit. I really enjoyed it and rode it on a few metric centuries even.. While riding it however, I noticed a lack of straight line stability which seemed an inherent characteristic...
I thought about it a lot & talked with others about this phenomenon, and finally decided it had to be the small wheels and their lack of gyroscopic effect. Such tiny wheels just could not generate enough of that stabilizing force so that it suffered in comparison to larger wheeled bikes....
Maybe a year later I noticed that my little Moulton had broken a spoke. The wheels had never been "messed with" still using the original Dunlop HP tires and stainless steel rims. After cranking up the Phil spoke threading machine and installing the new spoke, I decided to make sure both front and rear wheel were accurately dished.
The wheels were reinstalled, the adjustments set for the 4 speed SA hub, hopped on for a spin and VIOLA! The darned little beast suddenly went straight as an arrow! I could even ride no-hands, which would have been an impossibility before! That whole "gyroscopic effect" theory was hog wash!
So, I am always quick now to advise folks to check that their wheels are accurately dished.....
Dale Brown
Greensboro, NC