Moulton TSR rear pivot

[Mick F]

The hard part of a custom Moulton, is that the frames can't be bought separately.
Or should I say, I've never seen a frame sold separately. No doubt you could get a secondhand one.

Mods, in a nutshell in no particular order:

Shimano 105 brake callipers
Ditched the STIs and fitted brake levers
Fitted indexed DT levers
Better handlebars
Fixed stem
Alu seatpost instead of CF
Brooks saddle
Bigger outer chainwheel
12-30 cassette instead of 11-25
3sp SA and thumbshifter
Dyno hub and lighting
Alu mudguards
CR 18 rims

It is now a useful and versatile bike.
It's still heavy and hard work to ride up hills, but I love it now .......... but was sorely disappointed with the spec at first.

[fossala]

Years ago you could get it as a frameset, I think it was £1100 from Fudges.

[rogerzilla]

My TSR is allegedly the last one sold as a frameset.

[simonineaston]

I agree that the availability of framesets would be a huge boon to enthusiast as well as aspirant Moulton owners. I bought a complete Moulton in July and although the Alfine rear hub remains, few of the other OEM components remain - front wheel, chainset, bars and levers are all different. I spent some time over at BuA back when I bought it and the drift towards high-end sales and marketing was palpable, at least from my pov. The DIY cyclist is no longer their core business. That's my impression. Fair enough - they have high overheads, compared with assemblers who buy in ready-made frames.

[rogerzilla]

Pedant alert...it's BoA and SuA. Bradford is only "on" but Stratford is "upon".

To confuse matters further, Stratford-upon-Avon is in Stratford-on-Avon district

[rogerzilla]

BTW the original Moulton design, ie the early F frames, all had nylon bushes

If only that were true

Early F frames, certainly until 1964, had brass or bronze bushes, and they can be well stuck in place. Bikes built in Kirkby, a factory with standards that would make the worst Chinese tat foundry blush, are especially bad, as apparently the pivot tubes were under-reamed and they just forced the bushes in. And they didn't know what grease was.

I have a 1964 Speed currently soaking in Plus Gas. The bolt and pivot are out, which is half the battle. The bushes apparently need drilling out in some cases. I really hope it doesn't come to that.

[deliquium]

My 1964 Speed's bronze bushes AND pivot bolt needed drilling out as all was seized solid even after emptying a whole can of PlusGas over a month. It was not a job for the faint hearted. A drill press would have made it easier though. As it was, a big tough Metabo drill and successively larger drill bits eventually did for the bushes BEFORE the drill bit got anywhere near the frame - the bushes collapsing just in time! I bought a replacement new pivot assembly set from Moulton Preservation, but never got around to fitting them as I'd get distracted by other projects/flights of fancy

If it's only your bushes that need drilling - it should be a piece of cake

The frame is now used as a 'sculpture' on my bedroom window cill. Might get back to it one day . . . ?

I have some photos of the pivot bolt's execution process if you like a bit of horror?

[simonineaston]

Bikes built in Kirkby

As an aside, I congratulate you on spelling Kirkby correctly. I've lost count of the number of Moulton enthusiasts who insist the place is spelt with only one k.

[rogerzilla]

Yay!

[gazza_d]

That's a win then. Kirkby frames can be a bugger.

[rogerzilla]

You should see their idea of frame alignment. The main frame is ok, but the spike...

I'm tempted to dock it to 2" and cap it. But then the seat tube might break.

[rogerzilla]

Bikes built in Kirkby

As an aside, I congratulate you on spelling Kirkby correctly. I've lost count of the number of Moulton enthusiasts who insist the place is spelt with only one k.

Half my family are scousers and the other half are wackers, so I have no excuse!

[rogerzilla]

Here's a thought - has anyone with a lathe considered making bushes from lignum vitae? Small pieces for turning are quite cheap, it needs no additional lubrication, it likes getting wet, and it has legendary durability. The orientation is critical: the end grain needs to be at the point of highest load, top and bottom. On commercial bearings, segments of it are used so the whole bearing presents end grain to the shaft.

[gazza_d]

So as you possibly know, I bought a Moulton Cone last year, which is basically a special edition SST.
I now have an SST service kit as well as a standard set of bushes which I bought from Simply bearings for the TSR. The only difference between the SB bush and the Moulton TSR bush is the flange thickness (I'm sure I have some used TSR bushes somewhere).
Anyway here's some pics comparing the TSR bush with the SST bush. The SST bush is on the left in all three.
The pivot sleeve hole is much thicker and the bush wall is thinner. The flange is slightly thinner than the SB bush. The bushes don't look they've been remachined so are possibly a standard size. I'll have to measure and have a search.

Gaz

[dezzie]

Handy to know, my new cone comes tomorrow!