# New Departure Hub brake discs



## bentpedal (Mar 24, 2010)

Hi, Does anyone out there know where there are "new" or "newer" brake discs to be had for New Departure Hubs.  Anyone who's tore apart a few NDH's knows what I am talking about. I can hear you laughing-or not.  Buying a so called "rebuilt hub" on ebay only to take it apart and find it to be more trashed than the one you are rebuilding yourself.....well. I thought that sanding the discs in a radial motion a bit & then adding a couple of discs so that the stack was the same height as a set of good discs might be a solution. Any ideas out there?
thanks


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## militarymonark (Mar 24, 2010)

post a picture of what you have because there are two different thicknesses of the discs I do have plenty of used discs that are in great shape and will work well I just need to know which disks  you are looking for.


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## Andrew Gorman (Mar 24, 2010)

There are plenty of NOS disc stacks available- they show up on ebay all the time.


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## bentpedal (Mar 24, 2010)

Thank both of you, Patrick & Andrew for the response. I will post some pics, I am going on a small ski vacation for a few days- lucky me. will have to do it when I get back.  Andrew could you tell me what category the NOS discs are listed in. I am on ebay all the time & have never seen them. I am usually looking in the (collectibles-transportation-bicycles-bicycle parts) category where allot of the vintage bike's & parts are listed.
thanks again. Tom


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## Andrew Gorman (Mar 24, 2010)

I just searched for "new departure disc".  One was in 	

    * Collectibles >
    * Transportation >
    * Bicycles >
    * Other
The other in:
	 * Sporting Goods >
    * Outdoor Sports >
    * Cycling >
    * Vintage >
    * Vintage Parts & Accessories


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## bentpedal (Mar 24, 2010)

Andrew, thanks, thanks, thanks, I just put in a bid. ebay can be interesting to navigate sometimes. I bought a complete, working 1952 girls Schwinn bike for $24.99  It was in some really unusual category. The hub on that was in great condition & shined up like a new penny. It will be interesting to see what thickness they are. I think the older hubs had thicker discs. I placed a bid of 21 thousand dollars on them so I'm pretty sure I'll win. I'm gonna need another set of them, so I might be talking to you Patrick.
While we're at it, has it ever really been decided what is the best weight of lubricant that should go on the discs when re-assembling. There are some differing opinions out there.
Thanks, Tom


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## rustyspoke66 (Mar 24, 2010)

I have rebuilt a lot of New Departure hubs, some wrong and some right. I have discovered after years of rebuilding ND hubs that a nice coat of light oil works great on the discs. I use a chevron ISO 15 general purpose oil. However I believe the NOS discs should have factory grafite lube allready on them, they should be plug and play. Good luck and hope this helps.


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## old hotrod (Mar 24, 2010)

Also try Memory Lane for ND parts...often the prices are cheaper than feepay


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## ratdaddy (Mar 25, 2010)

i have some nos disc sets made by oxford.they are old in the orginal box.and work great for this app.i have been selling them on ebay for 12.00 a set shipped to lower 48 states.


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## bentpedal (Mar 25, 2010)

As I had mentioned earlier I found a listing on ebay for a disc set. The listing only read >1 NOS new departure brake disc set for CB hubs<  There was a picture of the box, the box only read "New Departure Genuine Brake Disc Set" Now I am wondering if the CB in the description was short for Model C Hub & Model B Hub & will not work on a model D Hub. As Militarymonark pointed out there are two different thicknesses of discs. I'm gonna be bumbed if they won't work. I wish the offer had been a little more descriptive. Any info I can get before these show up at my door would be nice. Thanks 

additional information
I was able to use a friends ebay account to ask the seller a question about the discs, - I haven't been home for a few day's-  I still don't know what the CB is all about but his reply was that -"they are the thinner discs. the thinner ones work better but the thicker ones lasted longer".  Good news all around. thanks for all of your replies.


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## Andrew Gorman (Mar 25, 2010)

There are are bronze and steel discs and all steel discs- the thickness of the individual discs  would vary but the total stack height would be the same.  The "Big Book of Old Bicycle Hubs" and probably some website will have all the gory details.  From bitter personal experience and per the New Departure manual, use grease on the bearings and motor oil on the discs.  The first ND hub I ever rebuilt  was packed with army surplus rifle grease and boy howdy was it a slug.  Once I learned how to lube these hubs properly they work very, very well and do not wear out the hub itself like  Morrows, Musselmans and Bendixes.  It can also help to put in a new retarder spring, which are also easy to find.  Downhill racers didn't like New Departures because they would overheat and cook out the lube-just because they had more braking area and were more effective.  I've always wanted to try synthetic oil on the discs to see if that would work better.


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## ratdaddy (Mar 26, 2010)

the ones i have are for a d hub.hey if they dont work send them back


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## bentpedal (Mar 30, 2010)

I bought some Mobil 1 synthetic axle grease for the bearings & I am going to try the synthetic oil on the discs. I thought it would be worth trying as well Andrew. With the higher heat rating it could be a good idea & the hub might just roll a little nicer as well.. If the NOS discs come pre-coated with something then I guess I'll go with that. But I have a couple other N.D.'s too get back together so.... When I finally get this hub put back together & give it a road test I'll post a comment.  As for all my going's on about the CB thing earlier in the post. Well even though there weren't abbreviation marks it finally dawned on me that CB probably stands for (Coaster Brake!)  Oh well, so I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Thanks for all you responses.


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## old hotrod (Mar 30, 2010)

I have used Mobil 1 grease and the only issue I found was that it was not really compatible with the non detergent motor oil I put in the filler...the oil kind of washed the grease out of the bearings-thinned it out. I still use it but I only put a couple of drops of oil in from time to time.


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## bentpedal (Apr 1, 2010)

So was the non detergent motor oil synthetic? & what weight oil was it?  I was  hoping the Mobil 1 grease and the Mobil 1 oil would work well together.


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## bentpedal (Apr 1, 2010)

Pic of very worn brake discs from a New Departure Hub.









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