100 Triathlons
Go to the early blogs to read how I got into triathlons. Click on any picture to enlarge it. "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood...who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly." Theodore Roosevelt 1910


Friday, September 22, 2023

My dream bike is finished! Moulton New Series Speed!

Away back in 1995, I was looking at Moulton bicycles for the first time, having seen them in various publications. I contacted the dealers in the USA and Steve Hed in Minnesota told he would send me a Moulton AM to try out. It was not for sale as it was one of a pair that Alex Moulton had sent to his wife Anne and himself. Steve had the foresight to insure it as the shipper destroyed the Mouton in transit. He was a friend of Dr. Moulton and visited BOA several times. Shaun Moulton also sent him John Benjamin’s Speedsix in 2002. Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0wsutGeSno Steve was world famous for his advisory collaborations with many pro cycling teams. HED wheels were also very popular in triathlon. Unfortunately, Steve suddenly died in 2014 at age 59 and Anne Hed kept HED Cycling building racing bicycle wheels to this day. https://hedcycling.com/ Fast forward to early 2023, I contacted Anne to see what happened to the other AM. She informed me that her daughter Rebecca was working on clearing out many of Steve’s bicycles and could I help with the Moultons. I reviewed the five Moultons they were selling and gave them my estimates. They asked me to see if any USA Moulton enthusiasts were interested and the bikes were sold. Except one. There was a NOS frame kit for a 2003 New Series Single Pylon/Speed in stainless steel! It had never been built and I was very interested. Since I had already valued the bike, I ended up paying more than I planned but the Speed arrived with two Moulton wheels and lots of extra parts two week later. Before even bidding I had checked with my friendly bike mechanic, Diane, to see if she wanted to take on the project. Diane agreed, having worked on my Moultons for years and owning five herself. Many of the parts that arrived with the bike were not made for the New Series and we soon discovered the New Series frame was missing a few bits also. The Hope 70mm front hub was missing a spacer and the Moulton front derailleur didn’t reach the outer chainring. Plus, the frame pivot bolt had gone missing too. Dan Farrell sent us a new style derailleur adapter, but it didn’t fit. USA Moulton distributor Loring Kohrt also contributed. Diane was able to find, fabricate, or machine the necessary parts and the whole bike came finally together. The few painted parts on the frame are light grey so the SRAM Force component in dark grey blended well. As it will be my new race bike for triathlons, it is equipped with Profile bull horn handlebars and Profile carbon fiber aero bars with SRAM barcon shifters at the ends. The red SRAM aero brake levers top off the package. Now to begin sorting the Speed for my next triathlon, # 201!

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