Built a touring bike and thinking about power for lights or phone charger.
Are the clip on dynamos any good?
Not wanting to spend a fortune
Do you mean a bottle dynamo (tyre sidewall, mounted on seat stay or fork leg) or a barrel dynamo (running on the tread of the tyre)?
TBH, if you don't spend a reasonable amount of cash, they'll generally be terrible and fail after the first heavy rain...
When I looked into bottle dynamos, I think they were around 2watts. Not really worth the faff really and had a reputation for failing regularly.
Hub dynamos however are the greatest thing on a touring / utility bike. Lights that cannot be easily stolen by scrotes and are always charges and ready to go. Well worth the modest cost - I wouldn't have a touring / utility bike without one now.
I've seen a couple of good reviews of the PedalCell Rim Dynamo.
Not cheap, but cheaper than a new wheel... https://ghyllside.co.uk/accessories/8127-pedalcell-bicycle-usb-charger-.html
There's also the Velogical, again, not cheap.
Not cheap, but cheaper than a new wheel… https://ghyllside.co.uk/accessories/8127-pedalcell-bicycle-usb-charger-.html
/blockquote>That seems quite a lot more than a new wheel. Would expect to get a SP dynamo wheel for under £200. e.g. https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m10b0s170p3038/SPA-CYCLES-SP-PD-8-Disc-Dynamo-Wheel
Fair few options for a usb charger for under the remaining £150.
As above, £100 gets you a Shimano dynamo wheel. And it'll just work properly and without faff.
Same with lights, I've got a £25 Chinese set of dynamo lights on one bike, they're Ok but not brilliant. I've got B+M IQ-XS and Secula lights on the other that cost £100 in total and they're amazing.
The little kemo usb box will charge a phone etc (albeit slowly, dynamos konk out at about 5W, although they will and some chargers can make use of, deliver more power at higher speeds downhill).
20+ years ago I used to use roller dynamos for commuting. Total power output was 3 watt AC for a standard dynamo so could run 2.4W front and 0.6W rear or 3W front only.
Mainly worked OK, although seeing potholes on an unlit road was a challenge even with a halogen bulb. Issues were noise and the rollers wear and then slip in the rain. B&M we're generally thought to be most reliable but I think I had Soubitez and Union which were OK for a year or so each. Best was a bottom bracket mounted Soubitez (like hen's teeth to find now).
As hubs are now more easily available unless really pressed for cash I'd get one of them. The bottom of the range Shimano dynamo hub is almost certainlyore reliable and probably cheaper than a B&M bottle one.
Dynamo wheel/light/charger are by far the most cost effective option in the medium term, I would think
I used an under bb Soubitez dynamo years ago for uni commuting. At the time it was ok, but depressingly noisy / draggy.
Been using a hub dynamo from Spa for a number of years and it is massively better. They aren't super expensive and anything else is just false economy.