We have to admit to a soft-spot for Moulton bicycles. In historical terms, their manufacture spanned a brief era, but what an era! Dr Moulton rethought the bicycle from fundamental principles, creating a unique machine that helped to define the 1960s. Small wheels, suspension, fitted luggage, and one-size-fits- all monotube frame… The Moulton was both radical and practical, and for a brief period it overwhelmed the cumbersome clunkers of the day.

Nasty corporate suits soon conspired to destroy the Moulton, and by the mid-70s it had gone, although the good Doctor still builds a few rarefied models for gentlemen with bottomless wallets.Today, your average punter thinks small wheels are bad news, rather like his dad in the 1950s. And that’s why we keep a candle burning for the ‘classic’ Moulton.

We reviewed the first edition of this book in October 2002 and the hard back reprint is broadly the same – painstaking research, exquisite illustrations, and helpful if rather dry text.This concoction is livened up with a few contemporary advertisements, which are becoming interesting sociological documents in themselves: ‘The smooth one’ (aimed at men), ‘The lookable one’ (aimed, one assumes, at women), ‘a with it move!’, (young people) and so on. The ‘Classic’ Moulton is more a directory than a history book: every model, and every part is identified, enabling us – for example – to pin down Grandpa Henshaw’s Moulton as a Deluxe M2.Wonder what happened to it?

New in this revised edition is a fascinating chapter drawn from rare photographs and factory archives, explaining how the bicycles were made. It’s all priceless stuff for Moulton buffs, historians, and anyone else with a love of nice bicycling things.

The ‘Classic’ Moulton . Paul Grogan . ISBN 0-9543265-0-4 . 80 Pages . Hardback UK price £28.50 Europe £29.50 Elsewhere £33 . Credit card sales 0121 743 8646