I’ve been looking at building up a hub dynamo for the commuting/training bike and I can’t seem to see past the following:

Dynamo: http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/shimano-alfine-disc-dynamo-front-hub-15w-black-32-hole-prod37209/

Light: http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/busch-and-muller-cyo-iq-t-senso-plus-headlight-for-hub-dynamos-prod31343/

Bearing in mind I already have spokes and rim sorted, is there really anything better for the money? It’ll be going on my commuting/training road bike which I ride 14 miles each way on to work and back.

The hubs quite low for wattage you need to be looking at 3w, I’d look at rose bikes the prices are a lot better and they have a wider selection, I have the same front light you are looking at there, the senso feature is a bit of a gimmick and not really worth paying extra for. Rose had the senso on offer so I got it for the Same price as the normal one.
http://www.rosebikes.com/products/bike-components/lighting/dynamos/hub-dynamos/

Is 1.5W actually enough? I thought most dyno hubs were 3W.

I did wonder if 1.5W was good enough. Anybody used both?

1.5W will be enough for LED lights but probably not if you want to a USB charger for phones/gps. I’ve got the Alfine DH 501 (3W) and it’s really good, spins smoothly and works great with one of these: http://www.cycle2charge.de/

Hmmm wonder how easy it would be to connect one of those to my existing DIY front light.

It’s for my commuting bike, so not worried about charging anything else. Would 1.5W be OK in that case with the above light?

Have a look here, about 1/4 of the way down. Personally I’d spend a little bit extra and get a 3W hub which will be more versatile if you ever want to do some touring or audax riding.

I had this same dilemna recently, it drove me a bit crazy. Basically what I found out is that 1.5w seems to be the new standard, as the old 3w standard was pushed for by the German government back in days when you really needed 3w to power the old tungsten lights. The new LED lights are obviously much more efficient, but also much brighter. I found it very difficult to get any more info than that, and certainly not anything usefully specific re power consumptions etc.
Fwiw I went with a shimano 3w xt hub and b&m lights from Rose bikes, it all came to around £100 and I’ve been really, really happy with it all.

I also struggled to find out if there was much advantage in having 1.5w hubs, as the price and weight seemed to be roughly the same and the extra effort needed to turn modern dynamos is so very minimal anyway. However your research may be much better than mine! 🙂

Is there a good place to go looking for dynamo info? CPF perhaps?

SPF?

I’ve found this site to be useful:

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/lightingsystems.htm

CPF = candle power forums

That site looks good, thanks.

Worth going for the IQ Cyo Premium, its a fair bit brighter than the regular IQ Cyo, and a much wider beam.
I think you might as well get the Senso version, so you don’t need to worry about switching it on or off. Plus its cool if you go through a tunnel and it lights up.

I think the 1.5W hub would work, but you would have to be going faster for the light to get to full brightness. Might as well get a 3W hub, its not much heavier and hardly any drag anyway.

Yes, much cheaper buying it all from Germany. ie Rosebikes or Bike24 etc are good. Rose can do custom wheel building as well.

Just been leafing through Rose’s dydnamo bits and founs this: DH-3D37 (centrelock)
and this: DH-3D32 (6 bolt)

Both for about for ~£32 posted to the UK (although the shopping list would probably end up with some lights and other stuff added).

Both claim to be 6V/3W, what am I missing as they seems to be relatively cheap and every other 6V/3W Disc compatible hub I’ve looked at up to now seems to have been about £50 or more…

cookeaa – Member

what am I missing as they seems to be relatively cheap and every other 6V/3W Disc compatible hub I’ve looked at up to now seems to have been about £50 or more…

That they’re almost twice the weight of a PD8 and are poorly sealed by comparison. They also have a mahoosive cross section…if you’re at all bothered by aero…

FWIW I went with a SP PL8 and a B&M IQ Cyo Premium. No complaints so far.

The hub was about £100 though.

If it’s just for commuting the cheaper hub will be fine. As said, it’s heavier but the seals will be fine unless you plan on submerging them…

That they’re almost twice the weight of a PD8 and are poorly sealed by comparison. They also have a mahoosive cross section…if you’re at all bothered by aero…

Weight – not an issue.
Aero – not an issue.
Poor sealing? – just How poor? The hub would be going on my fixed road commuter, would a liberal smearing of marine grease under the seals prolong bearing life?

TBH I am more concerned about the hub’s leccy generation capabilities, I would want to run both a front and rear light off of this hub…

I must say I am tempted to Just try it out, and as if by magic, a mate has just offered me the old wheels off his own fixie so I could rebuild The front with one of those hubs in time for winter duties… Already got a kaffenback disc fork going spare in the garage, the planets are aligning for me it seems…

This is a good dynamo resource.

I’ve been running the dh-3d32 for about 12 months now and despite the weight it’s been faultless, I’ve certainly not noticed any issues with the seals and I’ve used it daily regardless of whether because its on my commuter.

Poor sealing? – just How poor?

When I was researching this there were people on other forums saying that they’ve had these Shimano hubs and that they’ve lasted for years on end despite being left outside and never maintained etc etc.

DrLex- that was a great resource, thanks very much!