[CR]Maillard/Normandy/Atom hub Redux

(Example: Racing:Jean Robic)

Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2007 10:10:21 -0500 (CDT)
From: <bikenut@verizon.net>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: [CR]Maillard/Normandy/Atom hub Redux

Harvey et al., IIRC the short version is this.....Pierre Maillard had a bicycle hub/freewheel mfg co. waaaaay back in the day....way back.....His hubs were labeled Atom (1940's on?) and Normandy (1950's on) They did indeed make hubs for Schwinn lightweights. Some time in the mid/late 1940's I believe that they bought the Prior hub company famous for their super-high flange hubs. They were a successful company when many French MFG failed in the 70's/80's. They were bought out by Sachs and then bought by Sram....or so it goes.....

I would further speculate that at some point in the late 1940's or 1950's Campagnolo subcontracted to them to make lower level 'Sport' hubs of which I have an example and a Campagnolo skewer that shows 'made in France' just under the Campagnolo name and bears an uncanny similarity to early Normandy med/large flange hubs with the round perforations.

My 1 lire & 1 Franc-

Matt Gorski Off to Laguna Seca & Pebble Beach Belmont Shore, California USA


>From: Fred Rednor <fred_rednor@yahoo.com>
>Date: 2007/08/17 Fri AM 09:11:09 CDT
>To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>Subject: Re: [CR]who made Normandy and Maillard hubs?
> > ...Wasn't Maillard Ron Kitchings' house brand?
> >
> > Harvey "slightly foggy" sachs
>
>Harvey, my foggy friend,
> Maillard were emphatically not part of the "Ron Kit" empire.
> They were a forward thinking French company, whose designs
>were sometimes a bit better on the drawaing board than in
>execution. (Think Helicomatic freewheels and aero pedals...)
> Actually, some of the stuff was very nicely made, including
>IIRC their "normal" freewheels.
> Fred Rednor - Arlington, Virginia (USA)