Meet The Major - Modified Moulton Overview - Vintage Bicycle
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- An introduction to my late 60s Moulton Major. I discuss how the bike has been used and developed over the years.
In an effort to keep the video a somewhat reasonable length, some detail was not mentioned. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments.
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Shedvelo Fellows
I love folding bikes as they are very useful tools of travel and great for adventures or as the 'cool' new dudes on the block call it these days, 'bike packing and wild camping', back in my youth , (1970's), it was just called out on your bike and stopping out if you stayed over. Thanks for sharing this wonderful bike with us. Recently my beloved three speed Brompton was sold, however I have upgraded and now have the luxury of a six speed Brompton. I love steel frames and my two main work horses are my Brompton and my well used Dawes Galaxy with downtube shifters.
@MichaelWilde.pushbikegraddad
It is interesting how renaming/rebranding things that have always been around creates such a buzz amongst some.
Someone said to me once;
"The best bike for any given situation is the one you're currently on"
I have always fancied a Brompton, but so far, haven't indulged yet. It was enjoyable to try my Dad's, but unfortunately, it was stolen.
@@Shedvelo If your ever in the North East, Northumberland or Durham give me a call and you can borrow mine
looking forward to more moulton videos wow
Very nice bike. Love the mods, especially drivetrain/gearing setup.
@davicoo69
Thanks very much.
The current transmission setup has been a real game changer. It works so well, even with an old, worn-out derailleur! Extremely economical, too.
@@Shedvelo Yeah, I've not seen that done with an internal hub, before. Doubles the range; very ingenious.
@@Shedvelo Not seen that done with an internal hub. Definitely an inventive way of doubling your gear range, and a good use of an old derailleur.
Great bike. That new rack is sharp look and a clever mod to make it fit up. And good mention about Spa Cycles. Great shop. I'm from the US and while they normally do not ship here I only required some chain guards and a chainring, which made it easy to pack and they sent it out to me. Cheers!
@@peppermintpig974
Thanks, it's taken a while to reach the current setup. This has especially helped to keep the upgrades economical.
Pleased that Spa Cycles looked after you. The range of different chainrings they stock is quite impressive.
A good video. Its nice to hear your history with these bikes. How youve changed them over time.
Ive had a few Moultons, over the years. The first was a Moulton Stowaway. My dad got it in a market, when I was a teenager. I didnt know much about them. I found it strange if I did a skid with the coaster brake, that it might be more difficult to pedal. I didnt know it was a 2 speed kick back hub. This bike got parked in a shed for a decade or 2, after I shredded the rear tyre. Later I did try to resurrect it with Raleigh Mag wheels from a Mini burner BMX.
I got another moulton. It happened to be about 20 feet up a tree. The tree was in an old railway cutting, so where the bike was, around street level. The frame was mangled. I got some parts off it.
I found a 4 speed in a nice sky blue colour, at the dump. It had a cracked swing arm though. My weldings not upto much.
I got a Moulton Mini from a car boot sale. It was a good bike. I cut up an old coffee table. It had tubular steel chromeplated frame. So I fitted a part of the chrome frame, as handlebars on the moulton. They were in a triangular shape, like tribars used to be. It was a good bike to jet about on. Had to rev to the moon, as the standard single speed gear on a 14" wheel, wasnt too high.
I dont have a Moulton just now. Nearest Ive got is a Raliegh RSW. Thats a project that Ive got some nice parts for.
@@griftereck
Thanks very much.
I think the Stowaway's transmission was quite unusual in the UK when it came out. It was an elegant way to avoid using cable couplings when the frame was separated. As my area is quite hilly I found the 2 speed quite hard work. However It may return on another bike at some point.
Great to hear of your Moulton tree rescue! At one point, there were quite a few discarded Moultons or bikes of a similar period. Luckily many have been saved and resurrected. Dad and I found a couple of Moultons at the local tip during the early 90s. Sometimes Dad was just given bikes as he was known locally for riding Moultons. Safe to say there have always been plenty of Moulton spares in the family!
Sounds like you tinkered with your bikes quite a bit, inventively too.
Great bike so comfy
@@blockfighterv2
This is one of the main attractions the Moulton has, especially for the poorly maintained roads in my area. I love how adaptable the bike has been over years for different styles of riding.
At on point about 20 years ago I had eight Moultons, but I have only my broken 1963 frame and a couple of minis today…
Until very soon when a very nice Major is joining the fleet!
I was thinking about keeping it standard, but you have whetted my appetite now. I especially like those handlebars. Did you say they are Soma as in SomaFab? Where are they available in uk? They are rather splendid not just for the moulton.
@@unbalancedcrank
I remember you mentioning your Moultoneering a while back. Very excited to hear that a Major is joining the fleet. The standard bike is very useable, perhaps with a slightly bigger rear sprocket. However, they are great fun to mod, and respond well to it.
Although earlier f-frames Moultons can be long lived with some care, the Raleigh built machines seem to be pretty bullet proof. The rear carrier is far more practical too.
The bars are from SomaFab. I bought mine both from St John's Street Cycles. I just checked, and they have one set in stock. Very shocked to see that they are currently listed at £77.99!😠 They were under £50 last year.
@unbalancedcrank Between SJS Cycles (JTek product line!) and Spa Cycles, your shops have you very well covered for your adventure and touring bike needs. Of course it's a shame about inflation making it so much harder to act on bike builds and projects.
@@peppermintpig974
You're quite right.
I try to get by without buying a lot of new stuff, but when I do it's generally from SJSC or Spa. Sometimes the obscure stuff just isn't available anywhere else. Hillary Stone was a great resource also, until the shop closed.
@@Shedvelo Same. I try to recondition what I have and keep bins and bins of parts, however as I work on other people's bikes I'm always looking around the globe for places to source unique or useful parts (new or NOS). If you're at all interested in other boutique bike products, such as those carried on Blue Lug including the Sim Works/Nitto items definitely look into Circles (webshop in Japan with a physical store). A lot of the same great inventory, but typically with better pricing.
this is my plan mate
Hi , lovely bike, could you do a video on how you rigged up the twin rear sprocket. Seen it before on velocipedium and cycloshyte, no-one shares the secret of attaching them to the hub, specifically, how you get to the hub lock ring with a 13 tooth sprocket in the way, nice video by the way :)
@johnjob8872
Thanks very much.
I was the same until I asked cycloshyte about what sprockets he was using. He really didn't give much info, only that they were modified Shimano sprockets.
From here, I started playing about with an old cassette to see how they could be adapted.
Interestingly, I had thought about making a video about this.
Happy to share the process, if it helps others.
Yes I'd be very interested in how you did it. I thought about it, instead I fitted a bottom bracket mounted front mech and a triple chain ring, 48 38 28 with a sixteen rear to a dawes kingpin folder, it's my current commuter, works well, shifter by left grip, cable through frame.
What happened to cycloshyte's channel?? He's as passionate(afflicted) about twenties as me
@johnjob8872
That sounds like a great setup, especially with a third range. Are Kingpin bottom brackets easier to play with, compared to the Raleigh Twenty's?
Not sure why cycloshyte stopped posting, he has a great collection bikes. I see he has a Facebook group, need to check it out.
Yes, kingpins have 68mm bottom brackets. I fitted a 73mm cartridge into a Twenty' s 78mm B&B, the non drive side cup disappeared into the BB but worked fine, can't remember the axle length, I know I bought a couple more, I'll have a look and let you know. Looking forward to more of your videos :)
I meant the non drive side bit that screws in to hold cartridge, it's not a bearing cup on a cartridge, I've also used the frame saver BB's, where the non drive side of the cartridge is threaded and the threaded sleeve screws onto the cartridge instead of into the frame as a lot of twenties are tapped with different threads per inch dies. But ive only seen them in 68mm.
wow
ive got a Moulton large rear bag and remove the rear rack at the supermarket save the bag getting nicked - plug and play you cant really beat a major tbh - good construction and straight forks - majors are great
@@alseeineye
It is surprising what you can fit in the old Moulton rear bags. I have two that are getting very tatty, so I might try to take apart the worst one and use the peices as a pattern for a new one.
That's interesting. What would you say the was original price when it was sold new?
@@boobwizard-420
Thanks very much.
Not sure what a new Major cost back in the day, but I do know that they were very competively priced in comparison with the rest of the Raleigh range at the time. This may have been one of the reasons Raleigh stopped producing Moultons in 1970. Alex Moulton bought back the manufacturing license soon after, producing bikes again by 1980.