Okay now I've stopped the sarcasm, I'll give the whole story ;
Customer walks in with a helio hubbed wheel & asks for new bearings - he's already stripped it and doesn't have the old bearings with him. So I think I've nothing better to do than put 1/4's on the left and 5/32's on the right. Not so ! with 1/4" bearings in the right-side you can't get the axle through the hub, let alone the cones on the bearings. Back to the drawing board and hence the question. I end up stripping another NOS Helico Matic hub of similar appearance but four years old (84) and find the 13 x 5/32's in both sides. End of problem.
It could be that the low to middle end Maillard hub's used this arrangement and it was the top-end stuff that used 1/4" on the left ! I don't know. Thanks for the answer anyway.
Bob Reid Stonehaven Scotland
> From: Jerry & Liz Moos <moos@penn.com>
> Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 09:18:39 -0500
> To: Bob Reid <bob.reid1@virgin.net>
> Cc: Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Subject: Re: [Classicrendezvous] Helicomatic Bearings
>
> Bob, I just checked Sheldon's website. He has a section on Helicomatics under
> French Bicycles, and it implies there there that the 13 5/32 was on the right
> side only, while the left was the usual 9 1/4. Don't think I'm ambitious
> enough to strip one of my Heliocomatics to resolve this discrepancy.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos