Moulton F-frame racks and bags

Rear rack types

All Moulton series 1 and 2 F-frames originally came with a large rear rack which is removable but only for repair or replacement; the bike was never designed to be ridden without it. The rear “spike” that supports the rack cannot be removed on these bikes and, in most cases, the bracing struts for the rack may also brace the seat tube against bending backward (I’ll do a separate blog on this, and whether a frame can be “docked”).

Rear racks come in two types of which I am aware. Most bikes have a completely tubular rack that attaches to the frame in four ways:

• A one-piece clamp which is slid forwards along the spike and then tightened
• A small self-tapping screw under the very rear of the rack
• An bolt-in upper strut, the other end of which attaches to the seat clamp
• A bolt-in lower strut, the other end of which sits on the main frame spar just in front of the suspension block. The “foot” at this end is adjustable to ensure the strut is tight between the rack and the main spar.

Later bikes have upper and lower struts permanently brazed to the frame. The racks for these simply attach with a two-bolt clamp, not unlike a scaffolding clamp. The racks themselves are largely made from U-shaped steel channel sections, no doubt cheaper than the tubes previously used.

The carrying capacity of a rear rack is a substantial 50lb, provided it is securely fitted, with the struts helping to take a share of the load. This is enough for a weekend’s camping, if you can find space to fit that much gear onto it. Nevertheless, many are bent through careless handling or from use as a child seat; most children big enough to ride a Moulton had friends who weighed more than 50lb! The tubular ones can be straightened quite successfully by hand (a clamping workbench helps) if you have a feel for metal and a good eye. The U-channels are more difficult, although at least the outer parts, most likely to be bent, are still tubes.

Front rack types

There are two types of front rack. The first only fits early series 1 bikes made up to sometime in 1964:

The later, more common (but more desirable!) type fits series 2 and even series 3 bikes made from 1964 onwards:

All front racks fasten in the same way: a long bolt through the two lower mounting tubes and the two unthreaded bosses on the main spar of the frame, with a short bolt through the top mounting tube into the head tube of the bike. The threading of the long bolt doesn’t matter as long as it fits through the holes, and the length isn’t particularly critical either as long as it doesn’t snag your legs. The short bolt is 1/4″ BSF and must be exactly the right length to pass through a washer, the rack tube and the head tube boss of the frame without fouling the steerer tube inside. The correct length is 1″, assuming a 1/16″ washer is used.

The difference between early and late racks is because the head tube boss on earlier bikes is much further up the head tube (178mm from the bottom of the head tube). On later bikes this distance is only 110mm. I don’t know whether the design was changed for a neater appearance or whether there was a structural benefit to the lower top bolt. The “low bolt” type adds an extra vertical stay, which the “high bolt” type doesn’t need since the load is taken by straight diagonal tubes.

Front racks came as standard on the Deluxe and Safari models but were otherwise optional, so are somewhat rare and expensive. A reconditioned front rack like the ones in the photos above (sandblasted and powdercoated) will cost around £75, whereas rear racks are comparatively cheap.

Some reproduction front racks were made by a Moulton club member for a while. The only one of these I’ve seen had a slightly shorter tube for the top bolt; use the original bolt at your peril, as it will foul the steerer! The genuine racks have a tube 0.830″ long (53/64″).

Front racks have a capacity of 20lb. The bags are much smaller than at the rear, so this is quite reasonable.

Bags

Moulton offered front and rear bags made by Arrowsmith. Not many of these still exist in usable condition. They were made of a plastic material, probably PVC, stiffened internally with something not dissimilar to cardboard. If a good one ever does come up for sale, it will not be cheap. The original bags were designed to fill the available space by sloping towards the frame (following the line of the head tube and the upper rack strut respectively), so they are wider at the top than at the base.

A Carradice Super C rack bag, or most other rack bags that attach with velcro straps, can be used on the rear. The bags for Raleigh Twenties/ RSW do not fit well, although they are a superficially similar shape; the mounting straps are all in the wrong position. Some small rack packs will also fit the front rack, but you will need to carefully check mounting straps first.

The best solution involves making new bags using either an original design or an original Moulton bag (however knackered) as a pattern. My front bag is a copy, in black Halley Stevenson 18oz canvas (same as Carradice “cotton duck”), of a bag that was handmade by a Moulton club member some years ago. It has a pocket in the base which tightly slips over the rack, holding the bag very securely in place, and is prevented from coming off by two short straps at the head tube end. The rear bag is a copy of an actual Arrowsmith rear bag, again in the 18ox canvas material but stiffened with HDPE sheet so that it keeps its boxy shape, just as the originals were stiffened with card. The bags are far higher quality than the originals, are waterproof and can be repaired with a needle and thread.

Since my sewing skills only extend to sewing on buttons and (badly) darning old saddlebags, my bags were made by Jon at Mack Workshop. His rates are very reasonable and he no doubt still has the patterns he made for these bags.