Originally Posted by
TenGrainBread
Interesting observations. Just goes to show that "add bearings to it" isn't always the best design move.
But "add more bearings to it!" seems to help
The bearings are just hopelessly small. Back in 1998 I took apart a Microsoft mouse, and found ball bearings bigger than the ones in these brakes, used to support the rollers that track the movement of the ball! (
photo credit to myoldcomputers)
Some of the NGC450 brakes apparently came with bushings, called simply the NGC450 (without the suffix 'b' which must stand for
ball or
bearing or
bad), but it's unclear which is which because the marking "NGC450" is on the center mount plate, which I think is the same for all models.
Paul brakes (and brake levers) use bearings instead of bushings and work fine.
Which ones? Admittedly I had been under this impression too, but then when I took apart my Paul Racers to install the Spence Wolf-style booster plates I'd machined for them, they had bushings. And on the
Paul touring cantilever webpage, they specifically mention "Rubber seals and a stainless steel bushing".
Implementation is everything.
I agree, implementation
is everything. My old SAAB taught me this: the pinion bearings in the transmission have a bad reputation for failure, but they're the same size and general orientation as found in other cars. They fail because they're too closely spaced and the mounting is too flexible. The subtlety of it is crazy.