Any recommendations on set up?

I’ve used exposure lights for 7 years now and I’m leaning towards them purely on customer service quality.

On 1 or 2 night trips I’m happy using the charge bank I currently have but I’m looking at doing multi day trips in the spring. I know I can cheekily ask cafes/pubs to top up I’m my bank but I’d like to be totally self reliant.

I’ve got multiple devices I’ll need to charge. Fenix 5x, phone, vape and bike lights.

It’s a while since I looked at all this, but unless tech has moved on, a dynamo hub running a charger will just about keep your phone running but not much else. They just don’t generate enough power, and it’s worse the slower you go (i.e. for MTB)

My Exposure Dynamo hub (really an SP one) will charge my phone slowly if nothing else is on. If I have route finding on it will just about hold the charge it’s on.
If my light is on it won’t charge the phone as well.
You can forget charging all those devices at once.
Either use the Dynamo to charge the power pack then use that later on to charge the devices.

It’s worth having one just for the lights in my opinion and maybe to slow charge something while the lights are off but that’s all you get and it is quite a bit spendy just to do that. USB chargers which attach to the hub are very very expensive.

I’m thinking about ditching mine and just using battery back ups

I have

a. A phone with massive battery which you can just turn off or airplane mode if you have a gps

b. A very large powerbank.

C. Dynamo light ( it looks like you are suggesting charging your lights? Thats daft)

So at night the lights are sorted. During the day you are just topping up even if you are draining more than you charge you only have to finish with no juice so its a pretty lengthy time before you’ve used it.

As for the vape go analogue for your trip?

USB chargers which attach to the hub are very very expensive.

£30

With care it’s possible to keep things going using a dynamo.

1. Characterise your usage – work out just how much charge each device uses a day.

2. Enable as many power savings settings as you can whilst still having functionality. Phone in airplane mode for example, just use it for a short period in the evening to get your social media fix.

3. Do step one again.

That should give you a rough idea of how much charge you need to generate, add 10% or so for losses in transferring charge. Directly charging phone or GPS can work but the variable and intermittent supply messes with some devices and they won’t play ball.

Unless you plan on doing a lot of night riding you won’t need to charge your lights very often – I did the HT550 on half a charge of a Joystick for example – round camp you’d just have the light on the lowest setting which in many cases is still too bright.

Take two powerbanks rather than one big one: you have redundancy in case one fails and you can charge one from the dynamo whilst using the other to charge devices if you get low during the day.

Dynamos don’t put out enough power to run lights and charge devices so you have to have a strategy.

I did a nine day tour in France (mix of on and off-road) and kept phone, GPS and lights charged and was effectively energy neutral. I made one mistake which was to charge my camera which almost flattened my powerbank and it took a couple of days of very careful usage to get to the end. A day of about nine hours riding at steady touring speeds was enough to recharge my powerbank and I’d then use that to top up phone and GPS, that would typically use up about 50% of its charge (10,000mAh capacity).

It depends on what sort of riding, av speed etc. Average SP/SON dynamo puts out 6v at ~15kph. At that dynamo output a B+M USB-Werk gives 500mah charge and ime the Kemo up there is just as effective. You’ll charge a Garmin 820 battery in a bit over 2 hours, or a 2500mah phone battery in 5 hours while at or above 15kph. It’s not so much about average speed as the output is usually regulated/limited and at low speeds you’ll get little out, so the stop-start of more technical MTB isn’t so compatible with dynamo lights an charging.

When gravel/road riding I can charge a phone and a Garmin 820 through an average day – Garmin takes about 2 1/2 hours tops. Technical MTB would be less easy but with careful use of maps/apps etc and less reliance on a phone it’ll work out. Could always pack a 3ah fast phone charger as a back up.

The main trip will be Southampton to Ayr for charity. Looking at strava for the trips I’ve done so far (gravel, cycle paths, south downs) I’m averaging between 15 and 20kph. The route north will be similar, if not faster as it’ll mostly be country lanes.

I’ll be taking a fast charger as back up for longish cafe/pub stops.

I’m looking at charging a 10000mah power bank during the day to boost the other kit at night when I stop.

I won’t be riding at night so just needs to charge some day time flashing lights and ill have a petzl USB head torch.

If I dont take the vape, I may slip into some bad habits and get divorced!

I looked into this when speccing a dymamo on a new audax bike. Realistically going to be doing 3-4 day trips, and the advice from the audax forums was to just take a power bank, so my dynamo will be for lights only, and that’s at road speeds.

I’m looking at charging a 10000mah power bank during the day

20hours of riding above 15kph then. Better off charging the devices in the day I think.
FWIW for every 3-8 day tour I’ve done in the last 6 years (1-3 a year plus a few overnight weekenders) I’ve used a dynamo to USB unit and not taken a power bank. Just don’t need it at road/gravel speeds.

I looked into this when speccing a dymamo on a new audax bike. Realistically going to be doing 3-4 day trips, and the advice from the audax forums was to just take a power bank,

They were wrong : ) imho there is nothing better on an audax or road touring bike than a decent dynamo and charger (well, apart from guards). You’re free of needing to stop unless you want to. That’s what these bikes are for, to me. The only reason an audaxer uses a power bank is that it’s cheaper/simpler (fair) and the distances are fixed and predictably paced, ie the whole point of audax : )

I dont think ill use the whole 10000mah in a day so hopefully not need to cycle that long! From memory it fully charged my phone (which hadn’t been on flight safe), garmin and vape and used only half of the power.

So let me just clarify the kit you would need.

Hub
USB unit (don’t know much about these)
Connecting leads.

Any recommendations and advice on fitting?

The k-lite stuff is very good and very efficient.
If you are riding to charge a powerbank, then using that powerbank to charge you gadgets, you are losing out. Better to charge them all directly.
Still take the powerbank, but I reckon you can manage it all so everything is nicely topped up by the evening.

I ride with a dynamo and a 5v system to charge phone, GPS and watch. GPS really struggles so needs almost constant charging, so at night I have a small powerbank to power it as I ride through the night. I have made my own 5v system with 2 USB ports and a switch to select what I want to give power to. Saves trying to swap cables mid ride or when it’s raining.

One thing to look at in a powerbank is USB C with quickcharge 3.0 for charging the powerbank. Then you will get more charge during your coffee stop.

Another point, if it’s really hilly like in Wales, you will be climbing for a long time, at slow speeds. This speed may not produce enough current to charge anything. Then your descent is fast, but short, not enough time to charge any worthy amount. I do not rely on a dynamo for offroad or very hilly rides. Offroad, the diameter of the wheel is most likely larger, so it is effectively turning slower – less current.

Suppose it depends really on how many nights/days you’re away from power.

Used to use my dynamo to charge phone via a B+M USB Werk.

Then realised that my planned multi-week bikpacking trips were a non-starter so wound up simplifying things with an Anker Power Bank.

For example I use one 20000mAh bank for three day self-supported camps including lighting. Sits easily in a small bag under the top tube. USB light on the bars which also has a diffuser globe to attach when in use for tent light. I go easy on the phone. I travel by day, a little night riding if caught out. Also take a book to read.

You can get the Anker PowerCore Essential 20000 £19.99

Buy three? 60 quid all in? Just another option.

If going the dynamo route and reliability is key then I hear good things about SON Delux (top end) or Shimano XT mid-range.

My utility bike has a bog standard Shimano DHsomethingsomething with an LED light setup and it never stops working. I combine this with two power-banks for in-tent charging/night-light. I’ve even taken an iPad on short trips and charged from the 20K bank, so got some work done when away from cafes. Not recommended! 😉

Also have a 10000mAh with a small flashlight built into it. I like to have options. If money was no object then I’d probably get a SON Delux and a Forumslader V5 Ahead charger or a Cinq Plug5 plus

https://cinq.de/en/power-supplies/433/plug5-plus

Buy three? 60 quid all in? Just another option.

Certainly a much cheaper option. I like a lot of light, so mainly have the dynamo for light. If I wasn’t riding much at night, powerbanks all the way.

Lots of useful articles here.

In depth articles and tests or various set ups.

For light recommendations, there the obvious choice based on the first post – an Exposure Revo. Other options for looking into might be Sinewave Beacon (has charger built in), SON Edelux 2 (fairly bulletproof and well reknowned) as well as the Supernova gear.

I’ve gone for a SP hub and SON Edelux front and SON rear. Might use a seperate USB charger at a later date but only really for the Garmin, but currently use a power bank for tech charging.

In other news, IIRC the Exposure hub is a re-badged SP (Shutter Precision) one.

Just regarding the power bank Vs lights thing. People seem to recommend a switch so you can charge a power bank during the day then switch over to lights at night and use the power bank you’ve charged during the day.
Am I missing something or can any inline switch do this job? K-lite produce a switch but it’s £60! Wouldn’t any old switch do?

Yes, you just need a DPDT switch from the dynamo to switch the light and the USB.
Make sure your switch can cope with 100v. I have measured nearly 100v on a dynamo with no load!

The only reason an audaxer uses a power bank is that it’s cheaper/simpler (fair) and the distances are fixed and predictably paced, ie the whole point of audax : )

Fair point – if I was properly touring or bikepacking in the wilds I’d probably want dynamo charging. And solar.

For road use, I found a Luxos U was plenty for light and would keep a phone/gps charged indefinitely.

That was basically spending all the time riding, though – if you’re spending a lot of time off the bike, there’s less time available to charge / more time available to faff on your phone.

I’ve got a fairly cheap B+M front light, that is not only dynamo powered, but outputs to a USB too…

Was about £70 from ‘A German website’.. can’t remember which

I did a whole days riding with it, and the garmin 800 was plugged in and remained on 100%

DrP

Oops pics are a bit big.

That’s an Igaro D1 which has a male and a female DC connector soldered and then epoxied to the regulator casing. That’s inside the steerer tube. There’s two leads to the switch; unregulated and a regulated lead. The switch controls the power to those two outputs. One charges USB devices and the other goes straight to my dynamo light (a Revo). I did try the Sinewave Beacon on my MTB but as a dynamo light I didn’t like it and think the Revo’s much better.

Forgot to mention that’s a 3-way on-on-on switch. So…just light (for climbing mountains at night time), just charger (for day time when I want to boost charge my phone), and both light and charger (for around 14mph and above constant speeds)

In the style of recommend (or at least just detail) what you’ve got – I decided to get a dynamo setup for long distance stuff a couple of years ago, I went with an XT hub and a B+M Luxos IQ front light and a seat stay mounted rear light. The front light has a built in USB output so no faffing with converters etc.

My aim was to be independent of plugging things in for navigation, light and phone. I use a wahoo elmnt bolt for navigating which will do 16 hours on a charge with gps, power and HR with backlight on occasionally and less so with backlight on permanently. I don’t use my phone for much beyond checking weather and accommodation and occasionally radio / podcasts and some whatsapping. This combo allows me to ride overnight without problem and with lights on all the time I can top up the wahoo so I start night with it 100% battery and keep phone ticking over. If I turn the light off things charge more quickly. This worked through several multi day rides last year without plugging things in the wall at all and on adventures with the chance to plug things in kept everything topped up.
For me the most useful bit is the always on/available light, it ‘just works’ and means I am only really looking at charge on the navigation which take an hour or so to get to full charge with the front light on as well, also can just charge a USB power pack too.

Hub
Front light

Edit: This is mostly road / gravel riding so no walking pace type off-road when minimum speeds start being a problem for dyno output

As a blatant plug I am selling a Dynamo light set up that does USB charging in the classified section. Front and rear light and USB connection for charging.

Arrrrrrgh! Im really torn! My tighter than a submarine door scottish background is leaning towards just using the 2 power banks (10000mah and 30000mah) i already have.

The problem is I really want to be self sufficient and I’m planning two 7 day trips next year. Theyre UK based so I’m sure I could poach some power from cafes and pubs to top up the banks but I dont want to have the constant worry of finding somewhere to charge stuff. I just want to go!

Some great helpful advice folks, the forum comes up with the goods time and time again!

I would always prioritise what needs charging (obv I know).

I have a couple of different dynamo types; a Shimano Ultegra level one and a couple of SP’s. Lights I have a B&M Luxos U with built in USB charging and a couple of their Lumotec IQ’s with which I use a USB Werk for USB charging. I also carry a small ~5000mah power brick as a back up:

* Both dynamo types have been A1
* I’ve had one Luxos U fail
* I’ve had one USB Werk fail
* I prioritise Garmin charging over everything else and usually recharge from the dynamo in the afternoon to finish the day with it fully charged
* I recharge direct to phone, camera etc as needed to avoid extra losses charging the brick then recharging a device.
* I charge my watch from the brick as it won’t run and charge at the same time
* I top up my phone, camera, brick etc whilst the Garmin is not charging
* Any time I have access to mains power (cafe, pub, bunkhouse, hotel, campsite etc), I get my stuff fully charged. This the number 1 priority. Forget ‘do you have wifi’, it’s find a sneaky wall socket…
* Remember it’s not all 100% reliable and it will let you down at some point. Just make sure your most important device (nav for me) is least impacted
* I don’t want to carry the extra weight/bulk of multiple bricks and prefer to be semi self sufficient

Phew!

I’ve got a fenix 5x for nav. I can easily get 12hrs from it in nav mode. It also charges very quickly so it can be topped up at night.

On airplane mode my phone practically lasts forever but I share my location with my wife for safety reasons so can’t have it on airplane mode all day.

The vape charges pretty quickly and will probably do that overnight to.

Any lights I have will be charged during the day.

The bank I have has pass through and 2 charging ports so pretty flexible with that.

I like the look of the luxos IQ, purely for simplicity as I wouldn’t need a separate USB charger. Some of the reviews are not to kind about the weatherproofness of it though?

Some of the reviews are not to kind about the weatherproofness of it though?

There are at least 2 versions. The earlier one had a 3.5mm jack style connector for the USB fly lead/handlebar controller and this let water in. My friend had one and it died in the rain. Mine are/were the later version where this has been corrected. My first one died spontaneously mid tour for no apparent reason.

I wonder if the cache battery goes into deep discharge during periods when it isn’t used and then fail when used again. Same happened to my USB Werk which has a small cache.

The Luxos IQ U is a cracking light when it’s working tho…

One point to note about phones – they use the minimum amount of power they can get away with to make a connection. So if you are in an area with a weak signal they’ll up the power until they make contact. That also means that if you’ve no signal the phone is on full power trying to find one. From your description of one of your trips it doesn’t sound like you’ll be too far from the mobile network but it’s something to consider.

It’s not just phone signal though, do you actually need bluetooth enabled? Things like that all soak up charge and if you don’t need them why have them running? Maybe consider hiring a SPOT or Garmin InReach for safety/location/tracking purposes.

Get yourself one of these (or similar, mine is badged as Muker) https://www.amazon.co.uk/AboveTEK%C2%AE-USB-Voltage-Current-Multimeter/dp/B00ICR1UB6, start with a full charge on your devices then after a day’s usage put it inline when charging of your devices and you’ll see how much charge you need.

Depending on speed you’ll get anywhere from 200-500mAh out of a 3W dynamo, let’s say you ride for ten hours at an average of 400mAh so 4000mAh. Now the equation is fairly simple: (daily usage – 4000) * number of days < size of powerbank. If that is true then you won’t need to find mains supply to recharge – you might want to do it anyway if you get chance.

Here’s a DIY setup for a switch – https://ianbarrington.com/2016/03/08/switch-over/

As you can tell from the responses, there’s a few ways to skin this particular cat, it’s really just a case of figuring out what will work for you and what compromises you are prepared to make.

* I charge my watch from the brick as it won’t run and charge at the same time

Is it a Garmin? You might already know this, but you can enable Media Transfer (or whatever isn’t enabled) and it lets you charge and record at the same time. if it’s not a Garmin, sorry, cant help!

Other than that, I do exactly as you say.

piesoup
Free Member
* I charge my watch from the brick as it won’t run and charge at the same time

Is it a Garmin? You might already know this, but you can enable Media Transfer (or whatever isn’t enabled) and it lets you charge and record at the same time. if it’s not a Garmin, sorry, cant help!

Other than that, I do exactly as you say.

Thanks for the tip.

Had a look into it:

1. In Settings, USB Mode should be set to ‘Garmin’
2. When connecting to external power, ‘Use as Mass Storage Y/N?’ should be ‘N’

It’ll then charge with the normal display, errrm, displayed and you can fiddle with activity recording etc.

Huraaah!

Just did a 100 miler today.

Listened to music on my phone (not in airplane mode), vaped away as normal, used the garmin for nav and had 2 flashing lights front and rear.

I’ve charged everything back up to 100% and its only used up 20% of my 30000mah bank. Im thinking if I’m careful and top up the bank as and when I can, I might be able to get away with 1 week using it.

Just stop vaping and you’ll save weight and need less power at the same time.