Re: [CR]The Dreaded Helicomatic

Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 10:12:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [CR]The Dreaded Helicomatic
To: Tromper <growfmonster@comcast.net>, "Classicrendezvous@Bikelist. Org" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
In-Reply-To: <IIEPJAFFDIFMHLDPPHJNGEJLCFAA.growfmonster@comcast.net>

I have a couple of Helicomatics, and I like them. It's been written that they wore out bearings and maybe broke spokes, but I have seen no evidence of this. Now, I am usually about 165 lbs (about 10 llbs overweight), and I don't ride any one bike thousands of miles a year. So if a 250 lb owner put in 200 miles a week on this stuff maybe the supposed issues would arise. But that is true of a lot of European lightweight equipment, it simply wasn't designed with large overweight Americans in mind.

Regards,

Jerry Moos Big Spring, Texas, USA

Tromper <growfmonster@comcast.net> wrote: Howdy again folks,

I have actual acquired & am in process of drooling on my old Trek 720 - it has minimal miles on it, but it does have the dreaded Helicomatic. Actually I kinda like 'em but you mostly can't get parts for 'em. I have the old tool around somewhere... I checked out http://www.yellowjersey.org/helico.html which was great data, but I'm curious - are these as bad as folks say aka should I swap it to a cassette hub of some flavor,& save this wheel for special occasions or if I decide to donate the bike to a museum, or is it reasonably safe to ride (aka tour) on this?

Additionally if anyone knows which helicomatic was used on the 720 that would be real helpful.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Jon Tromp
Seattle, WA