why is it what it is?

My love of the bicycle is well known: it, and the Voyager spacecraft, wherever they are now, are twin peaks in the history of transportation.
Another man who loves bicycles is the engineer and inventor Dr. Alex Moulton. In the 1950s he bought a high-end 'traditional' 10 speed bike, and marveled at how wonderful it was to ride.
But Dr. Moulton the engineer got off the thing and studied it with his highly critical mind. He analyzed its 'architecture'; its geometry, the sizing of its wheels, everything, asking himself: 'why is it what it is?'
He developed and carefully tested new theories, and produced his first Moulton bicycle in 1962. It had small wheels, suspension, and no top bar. It was more effcient than traditional bikes, and truly unisex. It was an odd looking machine, but became as much an icon of the 1960s as the Beatles.
Then in the late 1990s Dr. Moulton returned to his invention, bringing the same analytical approach, the same testing of ideas and theories, and the same engineering genius.
The result can be seen in the picture above. The Moulton New Series, with its intricate web of a frame and Flexitor suspension, is a thing of beauty, and, by all accounts, a joy to ride.
Dr. Moulton is clearly a man who never kneels before received wisdom, but will subject it to his sharp and critical mind. He is a fine example to anyone, and I like his question 'why is it what it is?' almost as much as one of the answers to it, the fabulous New Series bicycle.