Dr Alex Moulton
Alex Moulton (right) with draughtsman Brian Cottrell in 1962. Brian was still working for Alex in 2012.
test’ feedback loop to great effect. A ‘cheese board’ showing the failure modes of all these prototypes still exists, and the eventual results are ably demonstrated by a Hydrolastic unit removed from a car after 250,000 miles and found to be within original equipment specifications for springing and damping.
Moulton’s company – Moulton Developments – was set up as a triumvirate between BMC (as car manufacturers), Dunlop (who would manufacture the suspension units) and Moulton himself. Despite its remote location from the industrial heartlands of Longbridge and Coventry, Moulton Developments was to stay in the grounds of The Hall in Bradford on Avon. With the first Suez Crisis focusing minds on fuel economy, Issigonis was charged with the urgent task of “driving these bubble cars off the roads” by Leonard Lord at BMC. The now-legendary Mini was launched in 1959, suspended on Moulton rubber cone springs similar to those first used at Alvis. Given the limited development time available, it had not been possible to progress the Hydrolastic interconnected suspension to production in time for the Mini launch. Hydrolastic was to debut on the Austin 1100 in 1962, and eventually found its way onto the Mini in 1964 .
Whilst eking out petrol rations in 1957, Moulton bought himself a ‘Curly’ Hetchins bicycle as, in his words, “a serious alternative means of locomotion”. Immediately he was both delighted and intrigued by the efficiency and liveliness of this lightweight steed, but he was also struck by the inconvenience of (and danger posed by) the horizontal top
tube and the lack of facility for carrying luggage. Inspired by the space liberated by the reduction of wheel size on the Mini, validated by comprehensive testing, Moulton conceived the idea of a small-wheeled bicycle – with an open frame for convenience, front and rear suspension to improve rider comfort and allow the use of high-pressure tyres, and large luggage carriers. Following some analysis of riding positions and efficiencies, he approached Dunlop for help in the design, testing and manufacture of suitable tyres and rims; those currently available being for juvenile bicycles and in no way performance orientated. Dunlop, at that time employing over 1000 staff in the manufacture of Moulton rubber springs and flexible couplings for BMC, acquiesced to put their technical weight behind the bicycle project. With the fundamentals in place, he embarked on another challenge, one that he had not faced in aeronautical or automotive fields – the search for form.
Whilst clearly having difficulty in resolving the appearance of his new bicycle, Moulton was sensitive to public reaction and sought to avoid shocking potential buyers. Given that bicycle design had stood still for 70 years, one can appreciate why he took so much care over seemingly minor details. For example, the alignment of the chain was constrained by the requirement to keep the ‘top run’ parallel to the main tube, and the ‘lower run’ parallel to the ground; and the unnerving ‘tallness’ of the head and seat tubes was disguised by ‘billiard cue’ paintwork. Having progressed from models to prototypes, he eventually approached Raleigh with a view
Moulton was an idiosyncratic, intensely intelligent and strongly driven individual.
to offering them a licence to manufacture. Hugely dominant in the industry, Raleigh were initially keen but soon dithered. Moulton, with characteristic conviction, built a bicycle factory in the grounds of The Hall and launched the Moulton bicycle in November 1962.
Not only were the appearance and configuration of this new bicycle novel, the pressed-and-welded construction methods were clearly more influenced by automotive practice than the lugged-and-brazed bicycle frames that were ubiquitous at the time. Thanks to the ferocious demand for the Moulton bicycle, Alex’s friends at BMC stepped in and offered to build it for him. Within a year, Moulton stood as the second-largest frame builder in the country and Raleigh was forced to take notice of, and respond to, their upstart rival. The Raleigh RSW16, with fat tyres and no suspension to circumvent Moulton’s patents, seriously damaged the reputation of the small- wheeled bicycle, despite several competition successes by Moulton’s track team.
In the years after 1962, Moulton Developments grew rapidly, both as bicycle manufacturers and as design authority and technical masters of the automotive suspensions. In the former case, the factory in the grounds of The Hall was to manufacture most of the export bicycles – up to 250 a week – before Raleigh acquired Moulton Bicycles Limited in 1967. The suspensions business, with thousands of Hydrolastic units being fitted on Minis, 1100s, 1800s, Austin 3 litres and Maxis, was to progress from the iterative design-make- test methodology to a much more scientific
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