At 11/24/2006 11:13 AM -0500, Nipponcomet wrote:
>don't confuse them w/ standard english 3 speed build quality, these
>were built w/
>great pride and care useing very few cross over parts. take a close
>look at one
>in person sometime and bum a ride if you can.....i defy you to
>dismount without
>an ear to ear grin. charlie flaherty baltimore maryland usa
Charlie, You must have seen Moultons built in Moulton's Bradford-On-Avon workshop, where they were put together with care. But the majority were made in a car plant, at Kirkby, where the quality control was atrocious. It's been suggested that the auto workers were insulted by having to work on pedal bikes. Later Raleigh built ones were a little better. But not IMHO any better than any other Raleigh 3 speed. However the construction was so different that it's a bit like comparing apples to rhubarb.
I'm in a good position to compare. I have pretty decent framebuilding skills & own a Kirkby built Moulton Series 2 Deluxe, a Raleigh built Moulton MkIII, two "normal" Raleigh 3 speeds, a rod brake DL-1, 2 Raleigh "Twenties, a Norman and a Dunelt.
At 11/24/2006 02:20 PM -0500, P J Rutledge wrote:
> With those small front and rear wheels, you could tighten up the
> body-to-body spacing in a 4-person pursuit team--good for aerodynamics.
It appears that they didn't take full advantage of the possibilities. The photos I've seen of the team pursuit Moultons appear to have the "normal" 44" wheelbase. The shorter versions of the "Speed" didn't appear till 1966 or so.
Mark Stonich;
Minneapolis Minnesota
http://mnhpva.org
http://bikesmithdesign.com