Originally Posted by
Jipe
For the Esprit, if you look at the picture below extracted from the Esprit webpage (
MOULTON Bicycle Company) you can see that it is build like the TSR and SST and is not a "shot-in"tube construction.
Ah, now I see what you mean! Still the Esprit is not a derivate of the TSR but rather a mixture of the AM with some elements of the TSR (like the tubes going around the seat tube). The cross sections are not wire but real tube which makes it more difficult and expensive to make. The fork is like the one of an AM, 17" wheels, classic (no Ahead) head set, etc. etc.
A test when it was new constates:
Frame: new to its class
As it sits in the current Moulton range, the Esprit might look like a revamped AM series frame, but it’s too different in too many ways to be a simple brushing over with a magic redesign wand.
For starters the frame is wider – and thus a little stiffer – in places than previous AM series frames, but the Kasei tubing is smaller diameter (though still not as small as a stainless Moulton).
The top-tubes wrap around the head-tube and the seat-tube (as seen on the APB and Pashley TSR). The rear suspension is a traditional single pivot design and not a unified rear triangle – the bottom bracket is part of the sprung chassis, not part of the swingarm. There’s a new fork geometry and tapered tubing, with a straight down-tube on the non-separable version.
The rear suspension spring and damper medium is a less complex rubber unit than the Hydrolastic fluid-damped unit used on other Moultons. It has a non-Flexitor swingarm pivot, and there’s a list of other smaller changes to keep keen Moultoneers interested.
The Esprit then is a full rubber suspension Moulton with a single pivot rear end and classic Moulton style forks. It’s available in separable and non-separable formats for less money than an AM18, but costing more than a Pashley TSR of similar spec. It’s also lighter than the AM18 and the TSR at 10.75kg, and comes in two versions with either drop bars and a double chainring set-up, or Mosquito bars as seen here with a single ring set-up.
Source:
Alex Moulton Esprit review - BikeRadar
In this test by velovision you can see pictures of the frame, the fork and the tubes - the steerer tube i.e. is far longer than on the TSR, clearly like the AM:
http://www.moultonbicycles.co.uk/ima...eview_2007.pdf
So the Esprit seems to be a hybrid between AM and TSR but with only very little amounts of TSR in it whereas the SST is an upgraded TSR with barely no AM in it aside from the dropouts. The Esprit is even officially called "AM Esprit" by Moulton whereas the SST is just the SST.