None of my MM/MI cartridges have such problem even if they are 30-40 y.o. Most of the vintage MM or MI are high compliance (30-50cu), even if you can imagine that the rubber is a bit stiffer it is not a problem at all, they are still fantastic in terms of sound quality. Simple test on Hi-Fi Test LP and anyone can check suspension condition, those cartridges easily pass all 4 tracks, the last track is an extreme high modulation groove, bad cartridges simply jump out of the groove, but all my vintage MM/MI do not skip on this track. Checked this Grace LEVEL II Ruby yesterday on Hi-Fi News Test LP, great tracker! No problem at all. Same with every vintage MM or MI in my collection.
Sometimes I just don’t understand why people have so much problems, i never had anything like that with vintage cartridges, except for Technics MM cartridges! This is where the rubber formula is so bad. But even in this situation the rubber is softened, not stiff.
I have never seen a Grace, Stanton, Pickering, Audio-Technica, Pioneer, Garrott ... with softened or stiff rubber damper in my life.
Apart from Technics that almost always have serious problem with damper I recall only one model of Victor with the same problem (the X1), but in the next X1II series this problem was solved by the manufacturer (tried many samples and all are fine). Always hunting for NOS styli for vintage MM and bought many of them.