Results vary. I haven't had problems with spoke breakage or bearings. Perhaps later Helicomatics addressed these problems.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
<castell5@sympatico.ca>; "Classic Rendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 11:24 PM Subject: Re: [CR]Query about Maillard hubs
> Jerry Moos wrote:
> >Actually, I like the Helicomatic. It was an ingenious first attempt at
what
> >would later become the cassette freewheel. Only problem is that they did
it
> >in a way that didn't become the standard, so parts are hard to find.
>
> That's not all that's wrong with them. There are good reasons they
> didn't become the standard.
>
> *Both flanges are 1 mm farther left than comparable conventional
> hubs. This led to a much higher than usual tension disparity between
> the left and right spokes. As a result, these hubs were notorious
> spoke breakers, and if you brought the tension up high enough to keep
> the left spokes from breaking due to fatigue, the right spokes would
> have to be so tight that the rim was liable to crack around the
> eyelets.
>
> The only way I was ever able to get these to be half way reliable was
> to spoke 'em half-radial.
>
> *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.
>
> These hubs are not worth putting any trouble or money into.
>
> Sheldon "One Of The Products That Put The French Bicycle Industry
> Where It Is Today" Brown
> Newtonville, Massachusetts
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