The best thing about Helicomatic is....
 

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they can be swapped out for Shimano cassette hubs without changing spokes. :)

I was thinking something along those lines when I read the thread title. The other is the removal tool also has a bottle opener because you need to be three sheets to the wind to keep it on a bike:)

Wow! I'm impressed that you found a positive.

I have a helicomatic sitting right next to me :(

I hadn't realized they were so bad. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Now, please tell me that they have quick-release spoke flange holes to facilitate this conversion :innocent:

-Kurt

They're not and they were.

They can also be swapped out for a standard Mailllard 80's low flange without changing spokes.

Helicomatic was a very nice evolutionary concept on the path from threaded freewheel to freehub, but the execution left a bit to be desired.

Thanks, I was just looking at a Peugeot Ventoux that has the Heliomatic. I'd like to change it to index shifting which I expect will mean the Heliomatic will have to go.

...they are not made anymore.

Thank God! They didn't even make decent paper weights. Mine kept rolling off the stack. The one thing they did excel at was locking up and turning any bike into a multi-speed fixed gear..............until the RD tore off.

...That some suckers will still trade you bits and parts for them.
...That you can sell the Helico freewheels to stubborn Francophiles who insist on using them.
...That you can sell them in bulk to SS/FG riders who want to lob something more "symbolic" then a handful of ball bearings at jack@$$ motorists.
...That you can use them in conjunction with a hammer to knock things into place when working in the shop.
...That they give us yet another thread to justify C&V's laudable existence.

-Kurt

Full stop! Without reliability we need discuss no further. Specially on bikes that demand just that, like,........oh,............tourers.

Reminds me not to ask the French for engineering ideas and at the same time about the Heaven vs Hell joke.


Leave it to the French to have nationalized flawed design work.

I recently bought one without really knowing what I was really getting (implulse buy). I guess it's part of the learning curve. It's a mavic tubular with helicomatic hub and a new 5 speed cassette. I'm considering it an tubular experiment on a back up bike. It's not going to explode - the goal is to get a year or 2 out of it - it's like new...

When I took it to the bike shop, the tech said "you know, this is a helicomatic". No a good sign. I was told that they do have a tendency to crap out, but another tech indicated that with the new cassette and very little use - it's ok...we'll see. It's probably not the best of decisions, but also not the worst...

haha, yay I just picked up a 79 team record with a helicomatic read hub, seems to be riding smooth, and is almost at quiet as a fixed gear. But then again I've only had the bike 2 days so we'll see how long it lasts...

Replacing it.

My 02 KTM 125cc and my 08 KTM 250cc both came with a 13mm box end wrench with a bottle opener on the other side too. I use them more than I ever expected. Both sides even :) .

#1 --
....they are better to sell than to use.

#2 --
....the Maillard Helicomatic tool to remove the freewheel actually works if you don't have a sledgehammer. And when working with the Helicomatic stuff, the bottle opener end on the tool is ironically needed to get through the process. Such amazing foresight by those French engineers! (Perhaps they couldn't design a cheap corkscrew onto the Helicomatic tool so they went with the bottle opener.)

Ok- who has the longest running helicomatic? The winner should get a gold painted maillard bottle opener/tool.

Now see - everyone wants a helicomatic now...sorry, you can't have mine. They're now super-cool.

http://i.ebayimg.com/14/!BRHHB8wCGk~...PbYKQ~~_12.JPG

Oh yeah. By the way - the death fork doesn't come with any beer opening apparatus/accessories.
That said. Helicomatic hubs are now cooler than death forks...

In the hands of decent mechanic and looked after by a diligent cyclist, Helicomatics are great. Absolutely nothing wrong. If you abuse them or don't maintain them they go bad quickly. I know quite a few people who rode PBP and toured extensively with them without ever having difficulties. In fact, those are precisely the people that the system should have been marketed to, not to mechanically inept bicycle beginners.

I believe that I have 7000-10000 miles on one of mine. The cones look like they have the grand canyon running through them, but they have not "failed".

I have a hub/cog/lockring set that is in immaculate shape. I was thinking about returning my 560 to stock trim lately, but not sure I want to pay to have a wheel built on it, knowing once the cogs wear, it's all over.,,,,BD

And yeah, they're not that bad, until you need repairs done to it, hehe...

I took a couple of helicomatic wheels some years ago and removed the cogs and screwed the 15 tooth back on. Gave me a decent chainline and with a 42 up front I had a very cheap singlespeed.
The freehub bodies disintegrated after a few months though.