Check Trek dealers of long tenure if you need Helicomatic spares; they were
Trek OEM in the early 1980's and there are probably axles and cones serving
as cobweb farms in parts drawers somewhere. Also, flat-flanged hubs like
Maillard probably will eat spokes less if they're relaced with the little
brass washers under the spoke heads.
Anecdote: I built a beater rear wheel with a cheap model Helicomatic hub
when they first came on the scene. During the first winter after the Mt.
St. Helens eruption I did a week-long tour from Portland to Seattle and back
by an indirect route--ruined the sucker in under 400 miles!
Kicked it's ash, you might say.
DAvid Feldman
Vancouver, WA
> In a message dated 3/10/03 12:26:02 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> CaptBike@sheldonbrown.com writes:
>
> <<
> *Due to clearance issues, they weren't able to put a standard size
> bearing with 1/4" balls on the right side. They got around this by
> using 5/32 balls and a smaller cone. These undersized cones wore
> rapidly, and replacements are nonexistent.
> >>
>
> The Maillard 700/team issue rear hub used 3/16" balls...perhaps an attempt
at
> an improvement over the 5/32" balls in the lesser model? After the demise
of
> Peugeot USA, Sheldon's point about the scarcity of replacement parts is
well
> taken. I've bought a few of the cassettes on eBay and I'd guess the
lockring
> tool is available at some former 1980s Peugeot or Trek dealers. A few of
> tools were usually saved because they had a bottle opener integrated in
them.
> Personally, I have owned 3 sets of these hubs and have nothing but praise
for
> them. I bought a couple of spare axle/cone sets back in the 1980s and
have
> since misplaced them. Good thing the cones are still good. One set has
over
> 10k miles. Another set has less, but very hard service (winter
commuting).
> I've never had the spoke problem Sheldon referred to and I never realized
a 1
> mm offset in shell spacing would have been so detrimental to wheel
> strength...but I don't have as much experience with helicomatic hubs as he
> does.
>
> Ed Kasper
> Detroit MI
>
> IIRC, it is possible to flip the inner cogs on the body if they get
> worn...they weren't uni-directional. Maybe this will help you get more
life
> out of your wheels??