so I want to get a dynamo wheel going for my commuter but don’t know dick about them, what a good build would be, what light to get, etc.
halp!
I have this:
(DH-3N80)
laced to this:
powering this:
(Lumotec IQ CYO N Plus)And it works great.
I also have a shimano alfine disk dynamo powering the same light and that works awesome too.
thanks dude. wowzers mctaffy, that light is 'spensive.
How often do you have to replace the bulbs?
I haven’t had to yet. I think it’s LED, so I’m guessing rarely.
It’s like riding with a motorcycle headlight on your bike.
edit late: it’s led light.
LED- IE, probably never.
Most hubs put out the same power- you are paying for weight, spoke hole differences, general hub quality, lower drag, etc. With lamps you are paying for brightness, sealing, and beam shape/ depth.
Any Shimano dyno hub is good for the money (meaning more money, nicer hub, but even the cheap ones are good for commuters). The Schmidt stuff is also great. Pair that with the most lamp you can afford, especially if you are riding in wet/ dark winter conditions.
I just got this http://www.amazon.com/SRAM-i-Light-Dynamo-730F-Silver/dp/B002SR5MOM/ref=sr_1_2?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1317402185&sr=1-2
It was $50 when I bought it 2 weeks ago, free ship
Going to pair with TB14 from AlfredBike which I just got
Reasons: Appears the main difference in dynamo hubs is resistance, sram and shimano are on similar levels, and while the schmidt son ones are less resistance, but 5x the price. I went with sram because it comes with sealed bearings on both sides, and it has a disc mount, for when I make a front disc brake commuter. Since I only paid $50 for the hub, I’m able to save the money on a better light, which is the Lumotec IQ (Same as Rusty). It’s around $103 when I bought it from Starbike. The exchange rate is to your advantage now.
I have that same Shimano hub but the “R” version of the light. The “R” version puts more light closer to the wheel, which I like. Not as good for high-speed riding, but I’m slow (so it works better for me).
Planet Bike makes a dyno-compatible light that’s not as spendy. I actually use a battery-powered 2W Blaze as back up, and it works quite well.
The IQ CYO (N Plus, or R plus if yer slow) is definitely the best light for your dollar. It is more than twice as good as lights that cost more than half as much, and eDeluxe lights that cost more than twice as much are not twice as good. at the current exchange rates they’re like $58 plus shipping since you won’t pay VAT. Find a few friends who need things from starbike and you get a break on shipping.
If you’re doing a lot of rain riding and don’t have dick brakes the Sturmey XL-FDD is a nice hub for winter commuting. heavy though.
Oh, and if you have a rear rack, the Toplight Line Plus is the best taillight of all time atmo.
The Planet Bike dyno light is pretty terrible, so is the Spanninga that VO sells. The only worthwhile dyno lights are made by B&M, Schmidt, and Phillips — accept no others.
If you don’t have any localbros interested, the shipping is a lot cheaper from France:
http://xxcycle.com/lumotec-iq-cyo-n-plus-175qndi,,en.php (50% more light)
http://xxcycle.com/lumotec-iq-cyo-r-n-plus-175qrndi,,en.php (for slowpokes)
http://xxcycle.com/eclairage-pour-dynamo-led-toplight-line-plus,,en.php (for rear racks)
http://xxcycle.com/seculie-plus-pour-dynamo,,en.php (for fenders)
Not only is the answer to that never, the same German StVZO regulations that force lights to have nice asymmetric reflectors also make it explicitly verboten to sell “non-traditional” lights with user-replaceable emitters — they have to sell LED lights as a sealed system.
[quote=crowding]The IQ CYO (N Plus, or R plus if yer slow) is definitely the best light for your dollar.
…
Oh, and if you have a rear rack, the Toplight Line Plus is the best taillight of all time atmo.[/quote]
Quoting for truth.
I’ve run a number of different Shimano dynamo hubs and they’re all good. My wife’s Xtracycle has the NX-30, the oldest and draggiest of the bunch, and it’s still totally fine. The newer ones - the -71, -72 and -80 - are all awesome. I have an Alfine coming on a wheelset for my new Big Dummy build and I expect it will be very nice, too.
The IQ Cyo is absolutely, positively the way to go. I’ve used mine through seriously gnarly rainstorms, including one 140mi day with about 70mi in an absolute torrential downpour (enough that my Knog speedo was flooded), with absolutely zero problems. As Rusty said, it’s like having a motorcycle light for your bicycle. I’ve literally had people flash their high beams at me when it’s been adjusted too high. And if you’re going this route, for sure get a tail light, too. I’ve put the Toplight 4D and Toplight XS Plus on our Xtracycles and they work fine for a rack-style light, and also used the Seculite Plus and 4D Lite Plus on fender mounts (I prefer the 4D Lite Plus but the Seculite is fine too).
TL;DR: Do it, man.
thanks for the help guys, seriously.
probably going mr. piton’s hub and light and open pro.
Really? I really like mine - I use the B&M when I’m going to be in the middle of nowhere in the wee hours, but the Blaze Dynamo is more than enough light for most other circumstances (and the flash is great when you can see the road). Handlebar mount is dum but that’s easily modified.
Is the hub in this wheel: http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=35509 (Handspun Deore LX x Mavic A319 collabo) shitty? I was thinking of purchasing that wheel for my touring bike instead of shelling out $300+ for a really nice SON equipped wheel.
The hub is fine – I’ve heard it’s simply a rebadged 3n72, and those are (aside from not being able to get replacement cones for them) excellent dynohubs.
Not shitty at all.
All the generator guts made by Sanyo (Shimano, Sturmey Archer, SRAM), SP-Dynamo (VO, Supernova), and Schmidt are quite good and indistinguishable on the bike apart from weight and some having a bit of vibration.
The only dynamo hub on the market today that actually sucks is the Renak Enparlite.
also note that they say the rim is 32h and further down say there are 36 spokes…
Cool, thanks for the info guys. I think I’ll order one through the LBS.
The only thing that is a semi-bummer about that wheel is straight gauge spokes, but I can deal at that price. Then I’ll get a Cyo from XX while I’m grabbin’ some other weird stuff they stock that I want.
The 36 spokes thing is a misprint. It’s a 32 spoke wheel. (Wish it were 36, but whatever.)
“get me into dynamo hubs” is a good thread also: http://tarckbike.com/node/13803
as is this thread: http://tarckbike.com/node/14215
and there is prolly tons of info scattered in the rando thread and other places.