Dynamo hub Q

looking at getting a dynamo front wheel and bits for an attempt on the northcoast 500 next march. I know F all about these so was wondering if the STW group brain could help out and let me know what is need. Just need it to charge the phone and garmin etc. cheers..

Any 6 volt 3 watt hub will work. Persainnly i use an Exposure (made by Stutter Precision) unit and its fine but they aren’t serviceable. If I was buying again I’d probably get a Shimano XT which is cheaper and rebuldable but heavier and uglier.
I use a Busch and Muller light called a Luxos U that also has cache batteries and USB charging. It’s the same price as The Plug which I think is overpriced for just USB charging. B&M also make the E-Werk for USB only.
At a slow pace my set up will put about half a charge in an iPhone whilst running Strava. With the screen lit up constantly it can’t quite match the drain on the battery. But that’s going slowly. Go faster and it’ll charge more, use a less power hungry device and it’ll be fine.
You won’t be able to charge 2 devices at once though. There’s just not enough power.

Pretty much what PP says – the sp8 is lighter and less resistance to turning than many dynamos and its what I run. However if I got another I would get a shimano for the replaceable bearings given I have had one sp8 fail after 5 months

The Igaro D1 looks pretty good for USB charging. https://www.igaro.com/

brill, thanks, is this the shimano one:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-dh-3n72a-dynamo-front-hub/

si

I have a SON dynamo hub which isn’t user serviceable but is currently over 9 years old and still working perfectly. It’s on my off road all year round commuter so gets used in pretty foul conditions for much of the year.

The Luxos U is good when it works. I had mine replaced under warranty after (I assume) water got into it and it stopped working. But other than that it’s good, has a bar mounted switch and charged my garmin very quickly. It did struggle to charge a smartphone with strava though, but did at least maintain the battery level.

The new XT hubs are almost as light as the SP ones, and look much better than the older versions. You can get the SP with a 15mm thru axle, but I’ve heard people have had problems with longevity. Go for the fancy new XT one – DH-T785.

Get over yourself!! There’s folk touring round it on shopper bikes 🙂

Unless, of course, you’re seeking to break the current record time for it 😯

I use a 15mm SP hub and haven’t had any problems with it but I know some have. If I was starting from scratch I’d probably just go for a Shimano XT.

brill, thanks, is this the shimano one:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-dh-3n72a-dynamo-front-hub/

si

that one doesn’t take discs

Igaro d1 so far has lasted 100% longer than 2 cycle2charge.

For charging I just use a Kemo K172. Available at Maplins

turneround, I have that shimano hub in a 700c wheel (rim brakes) that spa built me a while back. It’s had commuting duties, and never missed a beat, but now I no longer commute is hung in the loft. If you’ll all excuse the blatant stealth ad (bad form I know), let me know if it’s of any use?
There’s a Busch and Muller IQ Cyo senso plus that goes with it if you are keen (in for a penny…).
</stealth ad> (sorry!)

Buy my bike, it’s already got a dynamo fitted

2 days for the NC500…

I’ll let you off.

@twicewithchips….YGM

twicewithchips, can you send me info / pics pls

I’ve got one of the Alpkit ones. Been good since the summer. Linked to one of those Kemo converters which also seems to work well and be surprisingly weather proof although a little bulky. Although current USB chargeable LEDs are really good (and I’ve got a few) I’m really tempted to fit a dynamo to at least one of my other bikes.

last question, can anyone direct me to a link that shows the power outputs of the various dynamo options. trying to see why an infinity s hub is really almost £150 more expensive than the new XT.

last question, can anyone direct me to a link that shows the power outputs of the various dynamo options. trying to see why an infinity s hub is really almost £150 more expensive than the new XT.

Most of them are 3w. A few 1.5 w

The difference in price is usually down to weight and efficiency

Will sort pics today, seems fairest to offer turneround dibs as it’s their thread.
On power mostly 3W, although I guess the exact output depends a little on wheel size (what tyres for…)

You can get much more than 3W, depending on what you connect to the output. It gets complicated, but they’re constant current devices at 0.5A, so if you put a load of LEDs in series you could be running voltages higher than 6V at high speeds.

trail_rat I was considering getting a cycle2charge. Have you had a bad experience with it?

No worries, just seen your reply to thos previous thread! 🙂

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/are-cycle2charge-dynamo-usb-adapters-any-good

I use an SP hub mated to a B&M EWerk & battery and Exposure Revo (via an either/or switch as they dont work at the same time). The E-werk can supply upto 1.5 AMPs if the device being charged wants to pull that much. I have used this set up for nearly 4000 miles of touring this year, and been disposable battery free for it.

I tried the B& USB-werk but found it didn’t provide sufficient current for my needs plus the on-board battery drained quickly if I was riding too slowly for the Dynamo to provide it with enough power which was below 12 kmh Which is quite often in my case 😳 ). I understand the USB werk has the same circuitry as the Luxos U light.

I looked at the Luxos U, but wanted a more powerful off road light so went for the Revo. The Luxos U does have a reputation for water ingress but I believe this is due to water running down one of the cables into the device so can be avoided through cable position. This is not from experience though.

Worth also noting that you could be doing a big descent and your dynamo shunting out enough power to light up a city, but the device you are charging will only charge at its own speed so much of that power will be waisted.

If I was starting again for road touring I would get the B&M Luxos U light and mate it to an in-line “pass through” battery (ie one that can charge and be charged simultaniously) with a quick charge feature.

Edit: And I avoided the cycle2charge because of too many stories of unreliability. I’d also like to try the one that Scotroutes mentions sometime as well

f I was starting again for road touring I would get the B&M Luxos U light and mate it to an in-line “pass through” battery (ie one that can charge and be charged simultaniously) with a quick charge feature.

I see what you’re doing there, making hay whilst the sun shines in effect. 🙂
The Luxos U does have a cache battery (2x150mAh in fact. I took mine apart….I don’t advise that though!) though and will charge for 4 minutes after stopping if it’s full. It does depleate on long slow climbs etc and takes a while to recharge if you’re also charging a device. That’s fine for most people in reality though.

In the interests of balance, I had a Cycle2charge for over a year and a half and it was flawless. Only ever used it on road touring & dirt roads though so didn’t have a hard life. I’m going to get an Igaro next as it’ll be easier to swap between bikes.

so, a wheel (stans grail) built on the new XT dynamo using a igaro D1 with exposure light would do the job….

Sounds about right! 🙂

Is there a 15mm XT hub? Google-fu failing me.

Don’t think so. I hope I’m wrong though.

I see what you’re doing there, making hay whilst the sun shines in effect.
The Luxos U does have a cache battery (2x150mAh in fact. I took mine apart….I don’t advise that though!) though and will charge for 4 minutes after stopping if it’s full. It does depleate on long slow climbs etc and takes a while to recharge if you’re also charging a device. That’s fine for most people in reality though.

Thats it Pete – getting the most when its available. Not sure the Luxos U is cache battery up for much really though (its the same as the USB-Werk). The NC500 route variation I did this Summer had over 14,000 metres of climbing with very quick decents, so it it just wasnt being charged long enough to work on some days. Alternately on the GDMBR some of the descents were 20-30 miles long so by the end of it the cache battery, my Garmin and a spare cache battery were fully charged. The Luxos U is a fantastic bit of kit – just need to be aware of its limitations. But like I said would not stop me getting one in the future.

(Anyone want to buy a Revo? 😉 )

No 15mm Shimano Dynamo hub available currently 🙁

The NC500 route variation I did this Summer had over 14,000 metres of climbing with very quick decents,

See, if you’d gone the opposite way with quick climbs and long descents you’d not have needed that fancy battery mullarky…. 🙂
Luxos U suits me fine. That’s why I said “most people) it puts half a charge in my phone on a slow paced 40-50 mile day.

Er….

But like I said would not stop me getting one in the future.

😕

BTW Serious about the Revo for sale – I have a cheap B&M light for road use and cant see myself needing an off road dyno light for a while now.

I’ve had 6000+ nearly all road miles in all weathers out of my xt and its still running fine. I had the same issues with the luxos u when I first got it (prior to the hub as I had another commuter with rim brakes at that point), however I got a replacement under warranty which has been 100%reliable although the paint at the front of the top is peeling off a bit. Haven’t actually used USB charging facility.
Now feeling guilty that I’ve not serviced the hub yet. I will soon.

Arse, I bought a new Revo from CRC just last week!

Send it back and buy mine 😀

Would love to, but fitted and wires shortened so can’t really send it back now!