The Bicycle of the Future

It would be difficult to overstate the impact of the original Moulton bicycle on the cycling world when it was launched in October 1962. The rise of the motor car and its popularity had pushed cycling into what seemed an unending post-war decline. The revolutionary Moulton bicycle brought new thinking to the bicycle, with particular emphasis on comfort and practicality.

This fabulous clip from British Pathé shows a range of Moulton bicycles being assembled, Alex Moulton with a young Brian Cottrell at the drawing board, and Alex Moulton and David Duffield demonstrating the suspension. As well as showing the racing potential, the practicalities of Moulton’s design are covered too - Wendy Holbrook cycles through 1960s Bradford on Avon and a suited gent loads his Moulton stowaway bicycle into the boot of his new Morris 1100. He, of course, has the benefit of Moulton suspension on the bicycle and in the car, the 1100 being the first car to feature Alex Moulton’s Hydrolastic interconnected suspension system.

Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. Alex Moulton, well-known designer of suspension units for cars, has invented the first bicycle with suspension. Shots of Moulton...

Thanks to British Pathé publishing this flim clip on YouTube, we are able to show you how Alex Moulton introduced his small-wheel, full-suspension bicycle - as the film states, the first real change in bicycle design since the Penny-Farthing. These 1960s bicycles are now of course over fifty years old, but many remain in use and are often much-cherished by their owners. The significance of Moulton’s design is highlighted by the enormous number of small-wheeled bicycles introduced by other cycle manufacturers including Raleigh and Dawe, with the ubiquitous Raleigh Twenty being the Nottingham-based firm’s biggest seller throughout the 1970s. Indeed, whereas in 1960 there were no adult small-wheeled bicycles, by 1970 one-third of bicycles sold were small-wheelers; and all were inspired by Alex Moulton’s revolutionary creation.