Phil Bikes

From Cycling, September 9, 1967:

“Making good use of Sunday’s strong wind Vic Nicholson regained for Moulton Bicycles the Cardiff to London record. His time for the 151 miles was 6-14-54 seconds, beating Brian Catt’s three-months-old record by nearly 18 minutes.”

Note that this is the Moulton of Sir Alex Moulton, whose “tiny machines” (to quote Kent Peterson) are an icon of British bicycles, rather than one of the many other Moultons across the Pond, including this one, lost to history, or the well-known frame builder (and now blogger!) Dave Moulton.

One thing to notice in the photos is the enormous chainring the bike used. The article states it was 111 gear inches, which would be around 67×12 on a bike with 20 inch wheels, or 51×12 on 700×23 tires.

click for full size image

From Cycling May 21, 1966.

In which Cycling subtly inserts ads for itself into the magazine. From May 21, 1966.

From Cycling May 21, 1966.

The Phantom of Reynolds and Mays, 1869. Ah, ye goode olde days(e) of articulated steering, sprung steering-heads, wooden wheels, and solid rubber tyres.