Stay Away from Maillard Helicomatic?
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Stay Away from Maillard Helicomatic?
Sheldon Brown says the Maillard Helicomatic Hub is no good; came on many early Treks. Some of the early Trek brochures say "Atom Lux-Compe Helicomatic" (1984 Trek 610) while others actually state "Maillard 700 Helicomatic" (Trek 660). Are they the same thing?
#2
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I think the main problem with them nowadays is that you'll have a heck of a time finding a compatable freewheel to put on it.
#3
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They are mentioned frequently on the C&V section of these forums. You might search/ask there.
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You would probbaly even have a hard time finding the wrench to remove the locking ring for the freewheel, they are all in use as bottle openers now. The helicomatic freewheel was propriatary to the hub using a rifled spline to mate the two.
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#5
Prefers Cicero
The lockring tools are often available on ebay...I bought one about a year ago. Also they and some other replacement parts may be available from sites like Yellowjersey.org but are getting scarcer.
https://www.yellowjersey.org/helico.html
https://www.yellowjersey.org/helico.html
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Mallard made normal hubs for freewheels, but the Helicomatic was an attempt to fix the problem of axle breakage by moving the right outboard bearing out further. Great concept, poor execution on Mallard's part. The freehub/cassette resolved the axle breakage problem.
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Sheldon "Caveat Emptor" Brown
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