- Alex Moulton
Dr. Alexander Eric ("Alex") Moulton CBE (born
9 April 1920 ) is an Englishengineer andinventor , specialising in suspension design.Moulton is the great-grandson of the rubber pioneer
Stephen Moulton , the founder of the family businessGeorge Spencer Moulton & Co. Ltd. , in which he worked after World War II, specialising in rubber suspension systems for vehicles.In the late 1950s, after the acquisition of the family business by the Avon Rubber Company, Moulton started up a new company,
Moulton Developments Limited , to design the suspension system for BMC's new small car, theMini , being designed by his friend SirAlec Issigonis . The combination of conical rubber springs and small wheels was one of the many innovative developments which allowed Issigonis to achieve the Mini's small overall size. This was later refined into thehydrolastic andhydragas suspension systems used on laterBritish Leyland cars such as theAustin Maxi andRover Metro .Moulton also designed the
Moulton Bicycle , again using rubber suspension and small wheels. Alex Moulton Bicycles is based inBradford-on-Avon , Wiltshire, England.Golden Book of Cycling
His entry in the "
Golden Book of Cycling ", which he signed when he was 71, says::Cyclists throughout the world owe Alex Moulton CBE a debt for his inventive genius in originating and developing a bicycle design that was not only sprung but also rigid. It was introduced at the London cycle show in 1962.
:Moulton had worked at the
Bristol Aeroplane Company before theSecond World War , later joining the family firm of Spencer, Moulton and Company atBradford-on-Avon , where he became technical director.:In 1956 the family business was sold and Moulton founded Moulton Developments Ltd to concentrate on the design and development of suspension systems for vehicles. From his work on the suspension of four-wheel road vehicles he turned to the advancement of cycle suspension employing small wheels and narrow tyres, together with sprung frames and forks. Moulton converted a former stable block at his home, The Hall, into a modern factory for the production of bicycles.
:The original Moulton Bicycle Company was sold to the then Raleigh company, with Moulton retained as a consultant but sales of the sprung bicycle were not fully exploited. Later, Moulton resumed production of sprung machines at his Bradford-on-Avon factory to feed the world-wide demand that still persisted.
:Some 30 years after the introduction of the first Moulton commercial model, the design continued to maintain its influence and popularity enhanced by further developments in 1991.
Honours
In 1976, Moulton was awarded the CBE for services to industry. Other honours include:
* The Diploma di Medagli d'Oro, Milan (1964)
* Queen's Award for Technical Innovation (1967)
* Honorary Doctorates from theRoyal College of Art (1967),University of Bath (1971) andCranfield University (1994)
* Elected to the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry (1968), Master of the Faculty from 1981-1983
* Fellow of TheRoyal Academy of Engineering (1980)
* Vice President of the Royal Academy of Engineering from 1985 to 1988.External links
* [http://www.alexmoulton.co.uk/ Alex Moulton Bicycles corporate website]
* [http://www.lboro.ac.uk/service/publicity/degree_days/2006/Summer/Moulton.html Loughborough University Honorary Degree Oration] presenting Dr. Moulton the degree of "Doctor of Technology".
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