Woohoo. I have finished my Series 2 modernisation. I’m so excited about finishing it that I wanted to share my experiences etc. If you don’t care for a (somewhat very lengthy!) report you can go straight to pictures here J
I modernised a Mk3 for my wife earlier this year. Ladies first et al. Feeling insanely jealous watching her glide along while I loosened fillings with my Dahon Speed Pro TT, I decided that I must get in gear and have one for myself. After a bit of umming and arrhing I decided that I wanted to go for a Nottingham built Series 2. I’ve read on the forums that they can be considered better built… and I liked the idea of stronger rear forks. Although the Series 1 are strong enough, I just liked the idea of something a bit more robust.
I managed to acquire a Moulton Major off fleabay. You can see on the pictures that it was not in the best state. The third gear kept slipping and I would end up without a gear (turning pedals would do nothing!) and it had a few dents. Interestingly there was also a spot where the brazing on the frame had been a bit shoddy. Where the brace tube connects to the main tube, not enough braze was used and you can see the edge of the brace tube. With the bicycle in such a condition I felt less guilty about a modernisation (as opposed to renovation). Did feel a bit guilty with the Mk3 as it was in quite a nice condition before I had my way with it!
Loving the design of the lazy f-frame, I wanted to create something that didn’t show signs of it’s age (rust etc), worked like if were new and looked a little bit ‘sporty’. I stole the idea of the colour scheme from a picture on anglepoise’s flickr page from BoA2010 of Paul Cooper’s S-Works f-frame and I wanted something more or less the same.
I saw this and though it was a fantastic colour scheme. Big apologies to Paul Cooper for my outrageous plagiarism. Though a wise man did once say that ‘Imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery’. I don’t know who said this but they may have just come up with this to justify why they had no good ideas of their own!! I did consider going for the Gulf Porsche colours with the frame in light blue and forks in orange. Decided against it in the end as I preferred Paul’s colour scheme (I really hope you don’t mind…!), and I figured that no one would get the reference apart from me! Maybe for the next project…
Although I managed to widen the front forks of the Mk3 easily enough, I doubted I would have similar success with the Major’s rear forks. Looking into what hubs would fit I decided to go for a two speed kick back coaster hub. It would fit and I like the single speed/ fixed look, which is oh so fashionable right now!
So it would be either a Stumey Archer S2C or a Sachs Duomatic. I had already decided to go for 17” wheels and as you can’t buy 17” rims with 36 holes (or at least on SJS cycles you can’t), I had to go for the Duomatic, which comes with 28 holes. The S2C only comes with 36 holes (or at least it did when I was building my wheel) I didn’t fancy creating a custom spoke pattern to fit a 28 or 32 hole rim with a 36 hole hub. With my limited experience of wheel building, it would surely end in tears! I sourced the Duomatic from German fleabay. Was quite a test of my German skills to confirm with the seller that they would ship to the UK. With the front wheel I found it quite hard to find a 24 hole front hub that I liked. In the end I was quite indulgent and sourced a 24 hole White Industries hub from USA.
Decided to go for the Soma Lauterwasser handle bars after seeing them on the web at the beginning of this year. I loved the retro, sporty look of them which I felt would complement the build. With the Jack Lauterwasser and Moulton history, I thought it would also be a nice touch. At the time of me acquiring them they were not available from anyone in the UK so I had to import them from the USA!
Controversially I decided to saw off the rear carrier. As useful as it is I really like the look of the f-frame without the carrier, speed six style. After sawing it off I did read in the forum archives that it is suggested that the braces that support the rear carrier may also help with holding the seat tube. Sawing it off may weaken it and cause the seat tube to crack or bend. If I had read this prior to hacking it off I may of done things differently. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I do not encounter this problem.
Decided to send the bicycle off to Mercian for the paint job and to fill in the dents. I decided to go with them as I am not happy with the result of the paint job from a local powder coaters. Also, they would be able to fill in the dents where the local place would not have been able to. While sending it there, figured I may as well get bottle mounts brazed on. They were also able to remove the plate that held the lower brace for the rear carrier. I went for Flamboyant dark blue for the frame and flamboyant red for the forks.
The work at Mercian took an aching 12 weeks and in the painful wait I went a bit crazy and bought rear dampers, S-works style. Unfortunately I have been unable to fit them correctly, I was unable to fit the washer that goes between the fork ears the lock ring, not enough space. So currently they are doing not much else than looking good (though they probably not do much else even when fitted properly!) I may have another go at it at a later date.
Having seen Sheldon Brown’s Mk3 with its massive 72t chainring I instantly loved the look of this. A lot of people find it ghastly and an unnecessary weight but I love it’s odd looks. Perhaps the same way I see small wheels... I managed (though with quite some difficulty!!) to source a 65t chainring which I have coupled with a 20t cog to give me gearing of 74 and 54 inches. I suppose a huge chainring could be seen similar to adding a massive spoiler onto a ford fiesta (which I do find ghastly), but I like it… I did consider a 72t ring but my wife assured me, having looked at Sheldon’s bike, that it looks totally outrageous and I should definitely avoid it. Incidentally she still finds the 65tooth one ridiculous!
I also decided to keep the built in kick stand. I know even Dr Moulton thought this was a bad addition made by Raleigh but apart from it’s hefty weight, I find it very useful, practical and conveniently placed.
As you’ll see form the pictures I decided to name it a ‘two speed’. Mainly because it’s a two series, has two gears and looks speedy (well I think so!), get it J You’ll also notice that I’ve also fitted a Mk3 headbadge sticker. I quite like the fact that it’s a Nottingham built bike and this is reflected in the Headbadge, where as it states BOA on the Series 2 sticker that is available. I also think that the black sticker goes with my colour scheme better than the silver!
I’m pretty much complete with the build. I may fit a shorter stem, but undecided at the moment. There is also a intermittent creaking/ clicking, only when I pedal. I don’t think it’s the spokes, and my initially feeling is that it may be the pedals or bottom bracket. Will have to investigate at some point.
Overall I am delighted with the outcome. I’ve ridden the bike to and from work for about a week now (covering circa 100km) and love the way it rides. At the moment it feels as though I can’t move the gaping smile from my face as I pootle along. People must think I’m a bit mad! This will be my everyday bike, so I will need to invest in a more secure lock and amend the insurance! It has cost a pretty penny to get it to this state, though I did set out to build something that would be as close to one of my dream bikes as possible. A huge amount of fun (and frustration) was had building this, though I’m now looking forward to having more fun (hopefully not too much frustration!) riding it!!
If you’ve managed to read this far down well done! Big thanks to all those who directly answered my queries on the Moulton forum, all those who have ever posted on the forum, as I was able to plough through the archives for any answers that I needed. Thanks to Brian’s bicyclehub website. A fantastic resource for Moultoneers. Thanks to Moulton Preservation and Michael Woolf for those Moulton specific parts, Julian Kowalewski for the headbadge. And a big thanks to my wife!! For putting up with bike parts and tools all over the house and apologies for literally sending her to sleep with my insights into different spoke patterns and the benefits of small wheels, etc.
Anyway, sorry for the very lengthy report. I could have added much more!! Particularly about all those bits that just wouldn’t fit and the grappling involved getting them to play nice! But I won’t bore you with that. If you have any questions please do get in contact. I will post on the Moulton Bicycle forum with where to get large chainrings from (any size, any BCD, various patterns and even colours!!).
Thanks and kind regards
Anwar
