Maillard (bicycle components)
Maillard was a French manufacturer of bicycle components . The company and its patents were taken over by Fichtel & Sachs in 1980 .
Maurice Maillard (1883–1964), born in Boulogne sur-Mer, first founded a car business in 1909 and adapted many mechanical parts for bicycles. During the First World War, many competitors in the Saint-Étienne region were engaged in arms production. However, Maillard built a factory in Dunkerque . In 1947 he was the only French manufacturer of freewheels (91 percent of national production) with an annual production of 300,000 pieces.
Maillard manufactured bicycle hubs , pedals and cassettes. In the 1950s and late 1960s, the company took over the smaller manufacturers Atom (freewheels and pedals) and Normandy (hubs). Some of the names were still present on Maillard products until they were taken over by Fichtel & Sachs. Maillard developed the "Helicomatic" - derailleur . However, this did not prevail due to various adjustment problems. In the early 1970s, Maillard was one of the world market leaders with 1,770 employees.
A technical feature of Maillard parts as well as many other French components are dimensions that differ from the international standards. The installation width of the front wheel hubs was often less than the standard 100 mm. The 5-speed rear hub was often produced with an installation width of 124 mm instead of 120 mm.
Many French racing bikes were fitted with Maillard hubs as standard. These include the manufacturers Motobecane and Peugeot .
Web links
The online Heliomatic Museum http://www.borgercompagnie.com/helicomatic/history.html
Footnotes
- ↑ L'industrie du cycle dans la région stéphanoise In: Revue de geographie de Lyon. Vol. 49 n ° 2, 1974. pp. 155-184. http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/geoca_0035-113x_1974_num_49_2_1645?_Prescripts_Search_tabs1=standard&
- ↑ http://velobase.com/ViewBrand.aspx?BrandID=40d2a564-4984-4607-bf33-3cad77fcf335
- ↑ http://sheldonbrown.com/velos.html#helicomatic
- ↑ L'industrie du cycle dans la région stéphanoise p. 160