carfreefamily

I pulled my '84 Trek 520 down off the wall and rode it around the block a few times. I realized that I probably have the cleanest remaining Helicomatic spoke protector in the U.S.A. I bought it off Craigslist in 2017 from someone who said his father bought it but never really rode it because of illness. I've ridden it in the Santa Fe Century, but I've pretty much just had it hanging on the wall after reading Sheldon's account of the Helicomatic system. It's a blast to ride. I'm thinking I should just use it until (of if) the Helicomatic hub comes apart and then replace the wheel. Maybe not tour the country with it, or maybe I should.

francophile 

I've said this numerous times on this forum, and I'll say it again.

I love the Helicomatic system, it's not even close as bad as some folks make it out to be. I firmly believe no human is right 100% of the time, and Sheldon is no different from the rest of us. He's documented and expressed more than a couple controversial things, some of which are simply opinion, others flat-out wrong, or proven otherwise by the test of time and/or science.

Would I prefer the rear hub to be easier to repack? Yup.
Would I prefer it didn't use a plastic bit on the drive side of the hub? Yup. (but to be fair, I've never seen that plastic fail)
Do I appreciate you get a beer opener with the lockring tool? Yup.
Do I like you don't need a bench vice or stout bar and special heavy steel adapter to remove it? Yup.
Is it generally low-maintenance, but also easy to clean an maintain? Yup.
Does it have a nice sound? Yup.

Whether you keep the dork disk on there is up to you. If you worry about chain jump taking out your spokes, more power to you. But generally speaking, you should never be ashamed of nor take crap for using or enjoying the Helicomatic product. Everyone has their thing, tell the haters go pound sand, then whip out your helicomatic tool, pop the cap on a cold one, and pound it back to assert your dominance.

LittleGinseng 

This^. Well said.

SurferRosa

The rear hub and cluster won't "come apart." The rear cluster may become unusable from cog wear. That's when you might want to replace the hub.

You may want to give the bike a full overhaul. That's what most of us would do. It's easy to remove the rear cluster lockring with channel lock pliers. So, on the plus side, there's no need for a dedicated freewheel removal tool.

carfreefamily

I completely overhauled all the bearings when I bought the bike - And I bought the Helicomatic tool with the beer opener to do so.
I'll ride it more often without paranoia - I guess replacement rear sprockets would be the more difficult issue. Those hubs didn't have an incredibly long run, if I remember correctly.

I'm not worried about the chain jumping into the spokes, but I kinda like the dork disc all the same.

francophile 

I doubt you'll see much less longevity in this case, not sure that's anything to worry about either. But maybe I ride a lot less than you, maybe doing hundreds on a good month, you may be riding several hundreds or thousands.

Thanks to Sheldon's words, Helicomatic used hubs or wheelsets can be found pretty cheap. I've got quite a few spares myself.

SJX426 

This is the only reason I don't run one on my Trek
P1000288 on Flickr
I have a lightly used 13-21 block if anyone is interested. 13-14--16-17-19-21

daverup 

I recently bought a "very lightly used" Helicomatic hub set off the C&V sales forum. I've already built them into a wheelset for a project.
With my short riding seasons and generally light duty use, I think they will be good for awhile.
I like that they are different, and I'm not going to see them on other bikes very often.

madpogue 

WRT the condition of the dork disc, it would be a tie. I have one on an '82/3 ('82 serial number, '83 features) Trek 412 that is equally pristine. I have two others that are a close second and... a not-so-close third.

But now that you mention it, they do seem a lot less susceptible to yellowing and/or cracking than other brands of the era.

Chombi1 

Count me in as another former Helicomatic owner that had it literally grind up its teeny tiny bearings, despite the maintenance, adjustment and lubrication I lavished on it. Loved the concept when I first got it on my Peugrot, but hated it after it granaded on me after just a couple of seasons of riding.

francophile 

Interesting. I wonder if there was maybe a specific year they switched manufacturing that led to grenading? I have at least half a dozen wheelsets with Helicomatic hubs. Haven't had one grenade yet.

SJX's post above looks like the steel was contaminated or something. Steel doesn't just crumble like that.

Chombi1 

The Heli thst blew up on me was on my 1982 PH10S, so it was an early one.
My 1984 Peugeot PSV also had a Helicomatic rear hub, but it was the first thing I modded on the bike with a set of Ofmega CX sealed bearing hubs, right after I bought the bike. Just did not want to re-live my experience with the Helicomatic hubs. Some might say I might have just gotten a defective example of the Heli with my PH10, but I don't think so, as it failed exactly like how many other people described how their's failed too. With the small outboard bearings failing.

francophile 

Of bikes I've gotten them off of, was primarily Trek and Peugeot, 83/84/85, so I'm not sure how much of my hardware came from earlier years. I've owned and rebuilt dozens and dozens of bikes '80-'82, but I only saved the wheelsets off two, PH10 variants, because those had some of my favorite Wolber rims, but I think only one pair had Helicomatic rear, maybe the '81?

I'm sure someone out there probably has anecdotal details to share with the later-year stuff with regard to failure, but the only issues I've seen with the ones I've ridden are rear axle warpage, sagging through the middle. I've also heard of rear axle shear but never seen it. I've seen a lot of early 70s Tipo hubs fail from axle shear, usually around the cone, or where the thread meets stock.

I get it. I wouldn't trust anything that grenaded on me. But with my experience, can't help but think such a flaw was a possible early defect, either with manufacturing, or quality issues with the product used for part creation.