Yes guys, I agree with most of what we are all saying..
I am in a sort of unique position in that in-the-day we sold, through our shop,? a boat load of these on misc French bikes, (Motobecanes mostly) and Trek touring bikes. I do not recall any flanges breaking off (although it could have happened), few extraordinary spoke issues (ditto) but we DID have multiple problems on the heavy usage bikes of the interface between the hub cassette itself and the spiral splined cassette body. It got loosey goosey, such that the "float of the cogs was =so wavering that is affected function...
I also believe that historically design was brave and forward thinking, just not good enough to use on a every day rider...? ?
Dale Brown cycles de ORO Bike Shop 1410 Mill Street Greensboro, North Carolina 27408 USA 336-274-5959 http://cyclesdeoro.com http://www.classicrendezvous.com http://www.carolinacup.com http://www.greensborovelo.com http://www.bikegso.org http://nbda.com
-----Original Message----- From: Harvey Sachs <hmsachs@verizon.net> To: jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net Cc: hsachs@alumni.rice.edu; 'Classic Rendezvous' <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 3:29 pm Subject: Re: [CR] Actually using a Helicomatic
Now, Jerry, I'm not guilty of practicing mechanical engineering, much less mastering it, but I did study strength of materials and stuff way back in the late Paleolithic (when real men were blacksmiths). If I translate what you wrote, it sounds like "Helicomatic is OK if you don't stress it and rarely use it." But, I think we all know enough to infer that even a light guy would probably not be wise to choose it for a cross-country adventure. Heck, once upon a time we had a 14 mm Lyotard Berthet pedal get loose in KY or WV, where there were no 14 mm pedals of any kind, and no pedal taps. Ever let your spouse know that she had a few hundred miles to go with a pair of radiator clamps holding her pedal together? :-)? ?
I think the Helicomatic tells a great story. At the time, it was cutting edge, but in hindsight it was just an expensively made but poorly designed detour on the way to real "free-hubs." So, I keep one for show-and-tell for the hard core bike porn fanatics, but why do I keep a batch of spare cogs and retainer rings?? ?
harvey sachs?
mcLean va?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++?
Jerome & Elizabeth Moos wrote:?
?
> I hear the horror stories about Helicomatic, but I've never had any trouble with ?
them. No flange failures, no broken spokes, no worn out bearings. I think a? ?
lot depends on rider weight. At 162 lb, when in decent shape,? ?
I'm not large by American standards, so maybe I'm just easier on equipment? ?
than a 200+ lb rider. Maybe the other thing is that I ride all my bikes,? ?
so no one gets ridden excessively. So maybe for a 220 lb rider who puts? ?
in 10,000 km per year on a single bike, Helicomatic is not a good design,? ?
but for me it's just fine.?
>
> Regards,?
>
> Jerry Moos?
>
<snip old stuff>?
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