Sorry for the lack of posts lately. There’s been a bunch going on lately, and should have a few real good things coming through soon.
But the point of this post! A few weeks back I mixed things up a bit and threw a new Madera Helm spline drive sprocket on the old whip and figured I’d toss together a quick review of it for those of you who have been interested in it.
Alright, so let’s break this down first. The Helm is made from 7075 aluminum with a heat treated chromoly insert. The insert fits the 19mm 48 spline spindle that Madera, Profile and a few other off brand spindles, and then the 1/8th inch teeth. Available in 25 and 28 (what I’m running) tooth versions with a weight of 76 grams and color options of snow and black currently. You can pick the sprocket up for about $59.99 as well. Don’t forget this is American made which is bonus points for those of you who care about quality.
The installation for the sprocket was pretty pain free. Since it has the insert with the splines, you don’t need the bolt or the spacer that normally is needed with most sprockets. If you look close you can see there’s a spacer as part of the insert. Just a note, the sprocket and insert is all once piece. So basically, just slide it on and you’re good to go.
Riding the sprocket is nice since you don’t have to worry about the bolt coming loose and getting that wobble or rattle noise. The precision is spot on with the insert so there’s no play what so ever either which could have been a problem if that was the case.
I went from the Odyssey MDS so I was a little worried about bashing my shit on stuff, but so far, so good. I’ve managed to hit it a few times but it has stayed straight. There isn’t a bash guard option so for those of you getting your disasters and sprocket stalls where you’re making contact. I’d suggest maybe getting something with a little more protection if you’re into that or do a lot of crank arm and pedal slides.
Overall, I’m real psyched on the sprocket. It’s got a clean look, does a good job of simplifying things a bit with no bolt and spacer to deal with. It’s straight still after a few weeks of riding. I’d definitely recommend it for the guys out there who don’t smash on their sprocket. Remember you gotta have the 19mm/48 spline spindle for this to work also! Which, since there’s a good number of riders out there running Profile or Madera cranks, then you should be just fine.
You can pick up the Helm spline drive sprocket at…
Profile Webstore – $59.99
Dan’s Comp – $54.99
Empire -$59.95 (Profile version of the Helm)
