No! Certainly not! These two companies were not in any way related or connected. Maillard was, until recently, based at Inchville on the north coast of France, not far from Dieppe. in a sense Maillard was Incheville, but more of this later. Pelissier on the other hand was the brand name of the hubs made by Ets. (Etablissements) Perrin, at Boen, not far from St Etienne, some 500 miles or so to the South. Perrin had been about for a very long time and was one of that group of accessory manufacturers such as Lyotard, Stronglight, Haubtmann (Solida) and Peyrard (Nervar) who established themselves within a very short drive of St Etienne which was the hub of the French cycle industry.
Perrin were making hubs in the 50s and possibly earlier and were important suppliers of hubs of all qualities to the trade. At that time they made a steel/alloy 3-piece hub, on the style of Airlites . etc. In the 70s they developed a range called Pelissier 2000 which were at the time probably the finest hub available anywhere. They had larger than normal LF flanges (S/F also availablea0, with asymetrical cuts. The main feature was the pair of rectified and balanced sealed bearings (remember Hardens?) which just ran and ran smoooothly... The L/F flanges were largerb than normal and had very large asymetrical cut-outs. They were very popuular with time-trialists in the UK who used them laced radially with aero spokes to deep section Wolber 18mm sprint rims. They were expensive at the time.. and a luxury. A small-flange version was aavailable. The total Pelissier rang was extensive including HUB BRAKES FOR TANDEMS. They madea lot of models of L/F hubs but none of them were forged like Maillard.The flanges may have looked like Maillard but they were attched o the barrel differently. The company's brand name in the 50s was EXCELTOO. Their Q/R levers usually had "1001" stamped on them, sometimes with a "P".
With Maillard hubs it is difficult to know exactly when the name appeared.Tthe cheaper L/F hubs are identical in appearance to Normandy hubs and to some Milremo ones. Maillards factory is in Normandy so it isn't difficult to see the connection. Milremo hubs were made for the Kitching-Bertin alliance. Bertin's HQ is not that far from Maillards town.. Maillard also made the range of hubs and freewheels under the brand name ATOM, which was often the lower end of the range and sold in millions to the likes of Peugeot and Gitane.
The Maillard family name was used on the better quality products, freewheels included, the hubs often using sealed bearings in L/F and S/F hubs. The top of the range hubs - the 700 - were also supplied under the SPIDEL group range. Later after the takeover by Sachs, the hubs were branded accordingly, the best model being the N.ew Success.
Unfortunately both companies have disappeared, Perrin was a fairly early casualty in the mid-80s I think, while Maillard soldiered on into the mid-90s until SRAM - an American company I reckon - bought out SACHS bicycle division and promptly liquidated the lot - that's where Huret went, along with Maillard. Incheville the home town of Maillard hosted the company in a large factory in the middle of the town, the main street of which was/is called after the founder of Maillard Industries. It is now a ghost town. the last time I was there the CGT Workers' union had blockaded the factory, there was a "sit-in" and the streets were hung with CGT banners.
A couple of years ago ZEFAL a fiercely nationalistic company who had done well during the ATB boom, bought out the rights to the Maillard and Huret brands, and along with Stronglight, posibly also bought by Zefal, set about launching Stronglight groupsets some of which were very attractive. However none of this got much past the prototype stage.
Ah well
Norris "Francophile" Lockley .. shedding a tear about these losses.. unfortunately one of my sons was the UK Marketing Manager for Sachs at the time and he lost his job along with hundreds of others.. and the cycle trade lost osme good products.
ew Success