Description
This programme is about the design development of the small wheeled Moulton bicycle. The week's course unit is about structures (mechanics) and microstructures (materials), and one of the aims of t...he television programme is to show how the same materials can be used in different ways (e.g. high pressure rubber tyres and soft rubber suspension) to solve the mechanical problem of a bicycle in terms of utility and comfort. The programme was filmed in the small museum which Alex Moulton has set up to display all the early prototypes of the small wheeled bicycle as well as some extremely non-standard high performance machines. He uses some of these early models to explain the development of his ideas as to the shape and mechanics which led to the definitive form of the bicycle which he introduced at the Bicycle show in November 1962. The student viewer should view the programme critically. Alternative approaches and solutions to problems discussed by Alex Moulton certainly exist and the course unit should be used to find them.