ONE OFF Moulton Special | Moulton Bicycle Club (dev)

Only one Moulton has even been produced in Titanium, and it is featured in a new book called Cyclepedia: A Tour of Iconic Bicycle Designs by Michael Embacher.

The story of this unique Moulton is told as follows:

A unique piece made of titanium Mike Augspurger’s company ‘One Off’ in Florence, Massachusetts, specializes in producing unique, made to measure pieces. This includes not only bicycles, for example, but also wheelchairs. The common denominator in these products is the material; One Off favours titanium, thought to be the most promising for future high end bicycles. In 1991 Mike Augspurger made the acquaintance of cyclist Alex Moulton. Their friendship was deepened through cycling trips, and the next One Off idea developed. Augspurger wanted to produce a Moulton AM from titanium with a frame that could not be separated, and his friend supported the project and supplied special Moulton parts. Only a couple of months later the new frame stood on the weighing scales. It proved to be 500 grams lighter than a Moulton AM Speed stainless steel frame but likewise could not be separated. Then the project came to a halt. It was only the second owner of One Off who completed the frame and fork to make the bicycle rideable. The Zzipper fairing provides better aerodynamics and the cycle’s frame is just as torsionally rigid as its stainless steel cousins. They produced only one piece, and it is the bicycle featured here. Alex Moulton was rather cautious of allowing others to manufacture frames using his design. He subsequently agreed to no more experiments of this kind.

Cyclepedia: A Tour of Iconic Bicycle Designs will be launched in London on Wednesday March 16th 2011 AT 18:30 at Look Mum No Hands! 49 Old Street, London ED1V9HX.

More photos are available on Michael Embacher's site

Comments (2)

Daved Sanders

15 years ago

Also appears in Tony Handland's book The Spaceframe Moultons on pages 286-287

Paul Guise

15 years ago

Seeing this bike brought back some memories (I owned/restored an AM SPEED in the 90's), so I dug out my mid-1990's One-Off Titanium catalogue. Sure enough, Mike Augspurger made another Moulton-style bike, and there are two pictures of it in the catalogue (one printed backwards - oops!). It's a spaceframe, but without suspension: "This could be the stiffest Ti frame (2.6 lb.) and fork (14 oz.) ever made. It is the hill climbing fiend with no suspension, 20 inch sew-ups from a racing wheelchair, 1 1/4 headset, no head tube, and an adjustable tripod stem." Mike made titanium wedding bands for my wife and I, and they're wonderful.

Only one Moulton has even been produced in Titanium, and it is featured in a new book called Cyclepedia: A Tour of Iconic Bicycle Designs by Michael Embacher.

The story of this unique Moulton is told as follows:

A unique piece made of titanium Mike Augspurger’s company ‘One Off’ in Florence, Massachusetts, specializes in producing unique, made to measure pieces. This includes not only bicycles, for example, but also wheelchairs. The common denominator in these products is the material; One Off favours titanium, thought to be the most promising for future high end bicycles. In 1991 Mike Augspurger made the acquaintance of cyclist Alex Moulton. Their friendship was deepened through cycling trips, and the next One Off idea developed. Augspurger wanted to produce a Moulton AM from titanium with a frame that could not be separated, and his friend supported the project and supplied special Moulton parts. Only a couple of months later the new frame stood on the weighing scales. It proved to be 500 grams lighter than a Moulton AM Speed stainless steel frame but likewise could not be separated. Then the project came to a halt. It was only the second owner of One Off who completed the frame and fork to make the bicycle rideable. The Zzipper fairing provides better aerodynamics and the cycle’s frame is just as torsionally rigid as its stainless steel cousins. They produced only one piece, and it is the bicycle featured here. Alex Moulton was rather cautious of allowing others to manufacture frames using his design. He subsequently agreed to no more experiments of this kind.

Cyclepedia: A Tour of Iconic Bicycle Designs will be launched in London on Wednesday March 16th 2011 AT 18:30 at Look Mum No Hands! 49 Old Street, London ED1V9HX.

More photos are available on Michael Embacher's site

Comments (2)

Daved Sanders

15 years ago

Also appears in Tony Handland's book The Spaceframe Moultons on pages 286-287

Paul Guise

15 years ago