Anyone know about Moulton F-frames?

[rogerzilla]

I've already bought one, but thanks.  I told the powdercoaters not to retap any threads because they would be imperial.  The clueless look I got suggests this was a valid request!

[rogerzilla]

All the stuff is back from the powdercoaters and, for £120, it's pretty good.  I paid for an extra lacquer coat and that makes it as shiny as enamel.

Re-riveting the refurbed suspension block is the first job, I imagine, as it was the last part to be dismantled.

[rogerzilla]

It turns out my frame isn't drilled for a badge but the badge LWaB kindly procured for me has holes for pop rivets.  No way am I taking a drill to the frame, but I will rivet a bit of scrap metal, file off the mushroom and superglue the fake rivet to the badge before I atick it on with double-sided tape*.

I have also managed to source a (repro) front rack for next to nothing and the rack pack I've had for years turns out to be a really good fit for the huge rear rack.

I really should crack on and build the wheels.  Front spacing is 98mm, which is rather odd, but I can make a Shimano hub fit by changing the washers between the cones and locknuts.

*my mother used to work for Nitto (no, not that one) who make most of the stuff used by the car industry to attach badges and trims.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

You may need to file out the fork to fit a 9mm axle and delete the volute springs because of the thin dropouts. Personally, I’d respace it to 100mm as well.

[aidan.f]

An offer. 28h Mavic 500 front hub with aluminium axle. Bearings are silky smooth.
Could allow you to file flats onto the axle saving your new power coating?

[rogerzilla]

I've already built the wheel, but thanks.

[rogerzilla]

Question: is it feasible to increase front spring preload by inserting a piece of 22mm aluminium rod between the spring and the spring abutment?  I happen to have a piece of such rod, and a tube cutting guide.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Yes

[rogerzilla]

Yes

Thanks.  I'll see how it rides first, as fitting the rod only involves removing the wheel, mudguard and brake.  Might try half an inch if it feels as if I'm too heavy.for the stock setup.  It's more or less like winding up the preload adjuster on a TSR.

[rogerzilla]

I...er...just bought another wreck.  Mainly because it has an original front rack, which was worth the price of the bike alone, but I'll easily get the money back stripping it for the spares I don't need.

[rogerzilla]

Remarkable.  A series 1 frame (bronze bushes, brazed-on bellows retainer, cable loops brazed on) and the rear forks are completely uncracked.  I've cleaned off all the paint in the usual area and not even the braze is cracked.  It must have had a lightweight, low-powered owner.

And I got an intact set of bellows, and a front rack off it.  Yay.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Sounds like a win all round. Once you have some cable guides, that sorts everything?

[rogerzilla]

Yes, it does.

The top bush in this one is the least worn I've seen yet.  Just one very small shiny patch.  It can't have been ridden much, as the main spring still has most of its black paint.

I think I'll refurb today's frameset too and sell it as the basis for someone else's build, with a rebuilt fork.  I have enough bits.  The headset chrome was pretty rusty (cleaned up with oxalic acid, obviously still pitted) but the actual bearing surfaces are A1.

[orienteer]

Probably too late to warn you how addictive Moultons are 

[rogerzilla]

Probably too late to warn you how addictive Moultons are 

I just like pulling things apart and cleaning them up.  All the forks I've done have come apart without much trouble; I think the secret is to have a well-fitting Philips screwdriver, as well as a shot of Plus Gas.  I found suitable items to use as drifts for the rear pivot bolt and sleeve (Plus Gas is good there, too).  The things that are worst to get apart are the bolts holding the stays to the mudguards - always a rusted mass.

[rogerzilla]

It's back on its wheels.  Well, on the old front wheel, because the thinner washers for the Shimano front hub haven't turned up yet.

Any tips for refitting the rear rack without scratching the paint on the "spike"?  Edit: fixed that (oil and a bit of wiggling did it).  Next problem: the M8 seatbolt I bought won't go through the rack-to-spike clamp and the lower strut.  The lower strut is too tight against the underside of the spike, which puts the bolt off line.

Was the original rack bolt (actually a seatbolt, with an antirotation lug) 1/4"?  The one that came off was M8, so unlikely to be original, and had been bent a bit to get round the problem 

[rogerzilla]

20211004_145807 by rogerzilla, on Flickr

A quality bit of framebuilding from the Scousers at the car factory.  It looks like a few degrees but the front and back chainline, with the chain running straight from ring to sprocket, is only about 4.5mm off.  I suppose the rear forks could be off too, and probably are.

I may yet swap the components to the series 1 frameset after it's painted!  I'll see if it's detectable when riding.

[rogerzilla]

New issue...the series 1 frameset has filler under the (factory) paint, presumably lead loading.  This precludes powdercoating.  I had this on a Holdsworth frame a couple of years ago.  Frames get dented at the factory, they fill the dents with lead, ship them out and the buyer is none the wiser.

This is why we don't make stuff in the UK any more.  We were shit at it.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Given the weight of Moulton frames, does the factory put a layer of lead over the entirety of every tube, just as a precaution?

[robgul]

20211004_145807 by rogerzilla, on Flickr

A quality bit of framebuilding from the Scousers at the car factory.  It looks like a few degrees but the front and back chainline, with the chain running straight from ring to sprocket, is only about 4.5mm off.  I suppose the rear forks could be off too, and probably are.

I may yet swap the components to the series 1 frameset after it's painted!  I'll see if it's detectable when riding.

I thought the Scousers were making the bikes in a washing-machine factory (Bendix machines) at Kirkby?  Part of Pressed Steel Fisher

[rogerzilla]

Given the weight of Moulton frames, does the factory put a layer of lead over the entirety of every tube, just as a precaution?

I went round there.  False alarm, just a smear of something Bondo-like which the blaster was worried about attacking, in case there was a hole underneath.  He blasted it while I was there, and there was nothing underneath, not even a dent.

I ordered half a metre of 16mm threaded rod, some nuts and washers.  My headset press is nowhere near long enough for the Moulton head tube, and a hammer/block of wood (ok on chromed steel cups from a damage POV) doesn't get the cups seated right.  16mm seems huge, and is, but it fits the inserts from the Cyclus headset press neatly.

[rogerzilla]

20211020_101849 by rogerzilla, on Flickr

The mother of all headset presses.

[rogerzilla]

Trying to decide whether to have the Speed's spike docked.

Pros:

It's bent anyway, Kirkby got the main frame straight but the spike leans about half an inch to the left!  Not accident damage, just shite framebuilding.

Will fit on trains and in the bike shed as the width becomes normal with no rack

Much reduced weight

Looks boss

I don't need a rack.  I have a Bagman.

Cons:

The rest of the bike is original, with the special stem and bars and even the Raleigh 717 pedals.

May be a structural weakness, but that assumes the top rack strut can take significant compression.  Dr Euler and my hands (I've straightened one, and it is not stiff) say this is not the case.

If I get it done, I will leave 2" of tail, get it capped, and have the brazed seat tube joint checked by Argos.

[rogerzilla]

Frame #2 (the restomod) is back from powdercoating.  Re-riveted the suspension block.  Went to press in the rear bushes but they are actually smaller (612 thou) than the 5/8" pivot tube and can be turned in the tube, so that was abandoned and the pivot kit is being returned 

There is another eBay seller who does well-fitting pivot kits but he is out of stock right now.  He's going to make some more.  The seller who made the duff kit also sold me the bike with the wonky BB shell, which is why I am building up this frame!

[rogerzilla]

Test ride of about 10 miles.

Good:

Handling is really good.  This is with dropped bars and a 90mm stem.  Better than the TSR, which is twitchy.
Suspension is very good.  I've probably put too much preload in the front but it still does something and there is very little pogo uphill.  Better than the TSR there, too.
BB height is acceptable for getting a toe down.  It wasn't on the series 2 (a series 2 is 3/4" higher at the back, which is moronic given the effect on frame angles and BB height)
It's actually quite fast.  You wouldn't know you were on Brompton wheels.

Bad:

2nd gear does skip. I shall swap out the internals as I'm picking up another F-frame as a donor.  But don't tell the seller. Actually, I may just wedge a spare AM mechanism in, since it climbs nicely.  It's a 3 or 4 speed trigger.
It rattles insufferably at the back.  It could be the mudguard or it could be the chain hitting the brake pad nut.  If it's the latter, I may need to go back to single-pivot brakes.  DP brakes need to sit high on a spacer to clear the suspension block.