The way a smaller wheel follows the road contours is bound to have an effect on the Moultons stability. The vertical variations are handled by the front suspention but the lateral bump-driven vectors must have something to do with the twitchy fork.
When I cross over rough diagonal railroad tracks on either of my F frames, there is much less margin for error than there is on my bikes with 700's.
Of course I am going to pop off my wheels and have Old Town Sarah take a look at them as Dale suggests.
Calvert Guthrie KCMO-USA
n a message dated 11/20/2001 3:11:02 AM Central Standard Time, rocklube@adnc.com writes:
> Pete,
>
> No need to ride the Moulton at twice the speed of a regular bike to
> generate the gyroscopic effect of the larger wheel. The surface speed is
> already there on account of the smaller wheel. I would imagine the total
> mass of the wheel would enter into the equasion in addition to the
> location of the mass relative to the center of rotation. I'm no phyisist
> nor mathamatition (or speller, I graduated from high school, ok?) but I
> think having ridden one quite a bit, (with the 17" special Moulton tyre
> mounted on the Sun 28 hole rims) that the small wheel is not as much a
> factor in how the bike handles as the frame geometry and the weight
> distribution on the bike; which can be exaggerated by the small wheel.
> Anyone feel free to correct or expand upon my armchair physics (but if
> you get too technical with me I'll be off the back); like I said I'm
> going by the seat of my pants. The fact that the bike has suspention
> (especially true with the front) bears somewhat on how the Moulton both
> rides and steers. BTW, I'm speaking strictly of F frames since I have no
> experience with the newer ones.
>
> How you set it up will effect steering also because it effects both your
> center of gravity and the weight distribition on the bike. I suspect the
> bike was designed for a use that considered steering geometry somewhat
> secondarily important and the upright tourist bar was the norm.
> Naturally, I prefer the racing setup. I have regular brop bars, NR
> brakes, Campag. 7 spd cassette rear hub and an Athena R der. shifted
> with a single Suntour bar end shifter, AND front and rear racks! I use a
> single chainring TA crankset of 62 teeth. The bike is "different" as one
> would expect, but is fun up to a point. It's not really a pig or
> anything, but going straight and flat is the ideal situation for my
> bike. The steering is a bit skiddish and it corners oddley which takes a
> little getting used to. Can't say it climbs very well, partially due to
> both the front and the rear suspention. The out of the saddle behavior
> of my bike is "scary" since I'm used to total and complete stability in
> that mode on my road bikes. Wouldn't give up 650c and 700c for a
> Moulton, that's for sure. But it's so odd it's cool (and it still works)
> so how can you resist not having one just to find out what it's like? I
> can't. I've actually only ridden mine; I suppose there are other
> variations of the Moulton experience that are unknown to me; but I have
> experienced the essecence of them.
>
> Sorry if I drifted from the topic. But maybe that will help you decide
> how you feel about them.
>
> Brian Baylis
> La Mesa, CA