New Departure model A hub

[mymikesbikes]

Good Evening, I have an old Ben Hur with 28" wheels. The rear wheel spins almost a whole revolution before it stops. I was told here that you can add a shim to the inside to help it brake better. I'm over my head on this one. Anyone out there know how to do this?? Thank you, Mike

 

[cyclingday]

@oddball was working on these shims.
I’m not sure how far along he got, but you might send him a note, to see how it worked out.

 

[mymikesbikes]

@oddball was working on these shims.
I’m not sure how far along he got, but you might send him a note, to see how it worked out.

Thank you I will. I really appriciate this.

 

[Andrew Gorman]

Here is a picture of the old repair sleeve. Possibly you could build up the braking surface of the hub with a slice of tubing loctited on place. ND also made oversize brake assemblies to fix this problem.

 

[olderthandirt]

what about copper plating several coats then if needed sand to fit the outside diameter ? ,i had an acquaintance who had some severely pitted bumper guards for a 1959 356 a porsche ,they were no longer being made so he had the fellow at the plate shop dip them about 10 times in copper he then sanded them flat on both sides with a block of wood and sheets of wet or dry <black sand paper> until he had the pits worked out this required several trips to the plate shop until he had all four of them perfect .they were then chrome plated and looked better than new .the plate shop owner told him how to do this but said it was too time consuming for them to do it .but that he could do it if he chose to hand block and finish contour them then he could get a nice job using just his labor

 

[gkeep]

Hello,
Did you ever resolve your New Departure Model A issue? I have a mid teens Pierce with a ND model A and have overhauled many times to try and get reliable stopping power. I tried one of the brake sleeves and it improved mine but was still not great. Eventually I bought a replacement brake set, part A8 and found that my old brake disk assembly was much smaller in diameter from wear, the new one would not fit in the hub with the sleeve in place. I pulled out the sleeve and the new brake assembly really improved braking but as someone here on a CABE has said these hubs are not so much brakes and speed attenuators. There are some who say theirs stop on a dime and can lock up the tire. Not mine, it still has issues engaging when you backpeddle, sometimes 4 or 5 times before it starts to drag when you first start riding the bike. After a few minutes riding it becomes more reliable but still only engages about 80% of the time and may engage immediately or back peddle half a turn before you feel drag. It keeps you focused and planning ahead.

If you've found the solution to your braking issues I'd (and I'm sure others here) would love to hear about it. These brakes have such a small thin bit of metal on metal contact compared to later brakes it's no wonder they dont' stop as quick, I should probably build a rider wheel with a model D, Morrow or Bendix before its too late...

 

[Archie Sturmer]

I noticed in the Model A replacement parts diagram, it shows piece A8 (used with A9) comes in an oversize option; so maybe the hub shells (piece A1) were known to wear some. On a hub that I have disassembled pieces A8 & A9 are one assembly, (not sure if the 3 pins are meant to be driven out for maintenance).

A 1918 patent from Old California.

 

[mymikesbikes]

Hello,
Did you ever resolve your New Departure Model A issue? I have a mid teens Pierce with a ND model A and have overhauled many times to try and get reliable stopping power. I tried one of the brake sleeves and it improved mine but was still not great. Eventually I bought a replacement brake set, part A8 and found that my old brake disk assembly was much smaller in diameter from wear, the new one would not fit in the hub with the sleeve in place. I pulled out the sleeve and the new brake assembly really improved braking but as someone here on a CABE has said these hubs are not so much brakes and speed attenuators. There are some who say theirs stop on a dime and can lock up the tire. Not mine, it still has issues engaging when you backpeddle, sometimes 4 or 5 times before it starts to drag when you first start riding the bike. After a few minutes riding it becomes more reliable but still only engages about 80% of the time and may engage immediately or back peddle half a turn before you feel drag. It keeps you focused and planning ahead.

If you've found the solution to your braking issues I'd (and I'm sure others here) would love to hear about it. These brakes have such a small thin bit of metal on metal contact compared to later brakes it's no wonder they dont' stop as quick, I should probably build a rider wheel with a model D, Morrow or Bendix before its too late...

Not yet. I put it on the back burner to allow the hair to grow back were I was scratching my head at on this one. I'm sure I'll come up with something.