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
> From: Howard Darr <hdarr@embarqmail.com>
\r?\n> Subject: [CR] Actually using a Helicomatic
\r?\n> To: "'Howard Darr'" <hdarr@embarqmail.com>, hsachs@alumni.rice.edu, "'Classic Rendezvous'" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
\r?\n> Date: Sunday, March 29, 2009, 8:28 AM
\r?\n> Dear All,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I was unclear about what hub I regaled as bulletproof in my
\r?\n> last post.
\r?\n>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Snip <<<<<Actually I have been going back
\r?\n> and forth since before Christmas.
\r?\n> On one hand I have 3 bikes with this hub in either the 5 or
\r?\n> 6 speed
\r?\n> iteration that are bulletproof.>>>>>
\r?\n>
\r?\n> The quandary is that I am unsure of the helicomatic.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> The hub that I love is the Shimano 600 first generation UG
\r?\n> cassette hub. It
\r?\n> is not quite the hub of today because the free hub body is
\r?\n> attached by a
\r?\n> press fit spline system instead of the familiar bolt
\r?\n> attachment.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> I was drawn to them back in the day because of the bearing
\r?\n> placement and the
\r?\n> ability to really reduce the dish on a wheel. I have stuck
\r?\n> with them
\r?\n> because many miles have passed and I have not broken or
\r?\n> bent axles, nor does
\r?\n> the freehub connection with cassette body seem to have
\r?\n> accumulated any
\r?\n> sloppyness. I appreciate the value of the aforementioned
\r?\n> benefits balanced
\r?\n> with the uselessness but vintage look of the oil hole.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> The only warning I might give is that since the largest cog
\r?\n> is closer to the
\r?\n> spokes the derailleur hanger must be straight if you run
\r?\n> smallish cogs.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Howard Darr
\r?\n> Kinsman OH USA