I've been passed a 1960s Moulton Standard which my father-in-law bought in the 1960s. It's been stored in a shed for at least 30 years, so it's gummed up and rusty or perished everywhere. The Sturmey Archer 3-speed still seems to work. It might be useful as a pub bike opr for for nipping around town, so
Do I:
1. Renovate it to near-original condition (expensive)
2. Get it going with parts from my spares bin?
3. Flog it on Gumtree or here, toot-sweet?
Any other legal suggestions welcomed. .
I'd tinker with it and get it going. Moulton bikes are pretty cool- they have have that 60s optimistic 'we can design anything!' kind of feel to them
Some old moultons are quite valuable but ive not a clue which ones. Would be a shame to bigger with it , can you not recommission it on the cheap and ride it. Think maybe 3 cables tyres tubes and blocks
Depends on you really. I bought a Speed 4 at York Cycle Rally for a tenner. Thought I'd either restore it or make it into a drop barred chopped thing. I weighed up how much work and money they would need and stuck it on eBay. I struck pretty lucky as a Japanese collector won it for £110 and picked it up himself while he was over on holiday.
There's a Moulton Owners Club, which I used to be in. They'll offer advice for some of the more specific quirks and tricks. At least it's a 3 speed as the 4s were very hard to get set up with all the gears working - don't attempt to take the hub apart unless you've got a lot of time to put it back together again.
The rear suspension block has probably perished so may be a bit odd riding, but as a riding bike as long as you have a smooth pedalling action they have a surprising turn of speed and are really quite comfortable.
Based on a childhood friend's experience of handing one back to it's owner in two pieces, i'd probably recommend you don't use it as a jump bike 🙂
having done old bikes the lesson I learned was to either renovate to useable by fettling and rebuilding what is in front of you and replacing the absolute minimum - or get rid as it stands in front of you. if you try to upgrade or modernise then nothing old works with the new stuff and you end up with a bike like triggers broom and it's still only as good as the worst remaining bit on it
I would get the worst of the rust off and touch-up paint, regrease bearings and get on ebay
It's not worth an awful lot of money, so depends really - bung it on eBay if you don't want it, or spruced up a bit they make decent nippy commuting bikes.
It uses the same wheel size as Bromptons, so decent tyres are easy to find.
What Ed says, move it on. I sold a couple of super 4's I inherited in the summer. Did nothing to them just advertised them and moved them on.
Use it. Do the basic maintenance, and ride it for a few long rides.
You may be surprised at how good they are at mile munching, and they do a respectable average for a tourer.
Brakes are the only real hassle.
I forgot to add don't skimp on the tyres. If they're old replace them.
They were designed around supple high pressure tyres, so don't don't buy cheapo kids bike tyres because the bike will feel like a slug. (Unfortunately most old Moultons have crap tyres fitted so they don't ride as well as they should).
Thanks all. I'll start by finding some replacement tubes & tyres, I don't have a Woods valve adaptor anyway.
Any other thoughts?
Lets see some photos! 🙂
Here - [img] https://www.flickr.com/photos/39926259@N04/23981978301/in/dateposted/ [/img]
[img] https://www.flickr.com/photos/39926259@N04/23768878430/in/photostream/ [/img]
https://www.flickr.com/photos/39926259@N04/23768878430/in/photostream/