However, I do sorta think there’s a certain amount of truth in

I do suspect the continuation of the XPG by the main players also has a little to do with using up existing stocks .
Historically, the bigger players have always been a bit slower to adopt newer LED tech.

I believe Trout has answered the question fully. Pointing out that not only is there nothing wrong with an XPG but also that

the XML`s dont come alive until 1.5 amps drive and peak at just over 3 amps

as a dynamo nominally puts out 0.5A, so unless more parts are added (and with this an increase in size, cost, weight and reduced reliability), to create a new efficient LED driver arrangement for all ranges of bicycle speeds and power requirements to drive the XML family (not easily done, nor necessarily a desirable solution) I believe that the XPG family of LEDs is actually better suited to a dynamo application than an XML application.

Exposure have developed two totally new lights for 2013, one dynamo and one battery, I suspect that the volumes of their existing range (Toro, MaXx-D, 6-Pack, Joystick, Flash, Strada, Race, Diablo) is more than enough to just “use up old stock” if that is what they were trying to do, why develop a totally new product based on a technology you intend to use up?! From what I’ve seen of their product development, I firmly believe if they thought a technology would give them an advantage for their target application they’d adopt it, and ditch the old one, as fast as possible.

As for head torches, I’m a rider who prefers the bar light as the main light most of the time, so I use my joystick, or diablo on a medium power to supplement the bar light, see found corners, into dips etc. and then I recharge it from the dynamo during daylight hours, I used this setup for the 10 days of the EWE, riding past 11pm most nights and always started with a fully charged joystick every evening.

XPG LEDs? Is that as XMLs weren’t available at the point of development (although I note that the Reflex gets them), or are XPGs more efficient at the kind of power that a dynamo can generate?

XMLs have slightly different electrical characteristics, which may mean a re-design or re-tuning of the circuit. I know from first hand experience that designing circuits for dynamo lights that work as well as the Revo is very hard. Making a circuit that works from a battery requires many more components, but is just a matter of chosing the power output(s) you wnat and throwing it together and is easily changed for a different LED type.

I suspect that it’s more that an XML has similar outputs per current than an XPG, but is far mor expensive. XMLs are adopted by battery lights as you can use fewer of them, reducing cost, for a dynamo light the advantage is questionable, the same number of LEDs may be required for the same light output ad the ost per LED is higher for an XML. So I suspect (note this is my opinion only!) that the main driver for XPG is that they represent better value for money for the same light output.

Not to mention of course that the XPG has a smaller LED element, meaning a better light pattern from the LED in the optic compared to an XML. Not important in a battery light if the XML is putting out far more light, but for the same light an XPG may well be the LED of choice for the currently available optics, irrespective of price. This may well change in the future. It’s worth noting, looking at Hope, Exposure, Lupine etc. that still more top end lights use the XPG than the XML.

GAGGATIP The beauty of the dynamo is that it offers many, many possibilities as you have a power source that travels with you do to many, many things. It doesn’t require too much imagination to come up with a combination of these to fit your own needs perfectly. However, it’s early days for everyone, so I guess we’ll all have to wait a few years until the available range of product options develop to include the various conbinations of things people want.

You indicate you want an internal cache battery, others have expressed a preference for a USB charger plug for all manner of electronic devices, others a rear light (this compatibility currently comes as standard), oithers want various combinations of light output control and on/off switched. Most of these add cost size and weight but, assuming this is a successful product, I am sure the options will come in future years. However, most of this functionality is available, as you point out, through external bolt ons that already exist in the market. In fact, I prefer this as I have already used my dynamo for a very mixed variety riding:

1) Commuting – I used the front and rear light, having both lights on all the time and not worrying about batteries is wonderful, especially with a super bright (normally battery hungry) rear light

2) Mid week night riding – I just leave my light on full beam all the time, while others fumble for switches to turn their lights down on the climbs to preserve batter life. particularly good in winter when everybody’s battery life suffers.

3) Epic rides & Bikepacking – I use the front light at night and an external charger (that I remove for commuting) to recharge my garmin, phone and headtorch in daylight

4) Touring – Same as bikepaking, but I take an external cache battery to give me USB power to recharge things if/whhen I set up camp in one place for a few days

A dynamo USB charger would also be ideal for using your smart phone and Strava, as you phone could be on all day, with the battery hungry GPS and you’d not have to worry about battery life or massive, heavy external batteries

Hope that helps? Although I suspect you’re aware of all of this from your post. I hope the next product is one with an internal USB charger, allowing me to plug in my phone, GPS or just an external battery, without the external wires, and just have one thing clipped to my bars that does everything (provides light and charger power)

Oh, and IMHO internal batteries are a bad thing for a dynamo. Heavy, suffer in the cold and after 500-1000 cycles will potentially be a gonner, not something capacitors suffer from. However, as you’ve seen with your current light, and as commented above on the Supernova E3 triple, normal capacitor standlights have severe limitations too. As for the internals of the Exposure light, well, I’ll let them reveal that of they choose to! I’d recommend the Revo over the B&M, it’s incomparibly brighter, you couldn’t compare the B&M to a MaXx-D now could you?!

I have the supernova E3 triple on the commuter … at walking pace it pulses the single light. As soon as you ride, the single light goes solid and is enough to see by at slow speed, but all 3 kick in pretty quickly as soon as you gain any speed whatsoever. Stand light is nothing other than a be-seen light. I’d be interested to see just how quickly the exposure comes on solid.

I started off buying a Supernova E3 triple, as it was supposed to be so much better than anything else, but quickly sold it as no cop for the techy, twisty riding I wanted to do at night that involved wanting a bright, flicker free light, when travelling at low speed, that lasted more than a few seconds. The Exposure light does just that, dropping to a minimum of 400lumens when you’re going really slowly (i.e. almost stationary) through nadgery sections and then the brightness starts to pick up as soon as you start moving again.

If you’ve not ridden it for a few days, you’ll need to ride to the end of the road, or the car park to bring it to life, but that’s much easier than faffing around plugging it into the mains and waiting 12hrs for a battery to charge!

My Exposure Revo just took me, off road, through over 800miles of techy off road in Aidan Harding’s EWE race, riding in darkness at the start and end of each day and at the other end of the scale has been a regular on mid week thrashes in the woods as well as my daily commute to and from work, both on and off road depending on how the mood takes me.

The E3 however, flickered at low speed and had a standlight that barely lit the far end of the front tyre within 5 seconds. Both totally unacceptable off road.

The only thing about the claims of lumens is that aren’t the standard dynamos limited power output at the moment ? 3W at 6V can only give so much power to the light unit … i’ve read that taking all the efficiencies out of the supply and lights doesn’t leave enough to be able to give 800 lumens? ( more like 450 ish )

Unless the exposure one is a bespoke dynamo supplying more power, or the light has better efficiency leds???

Not wanting to be rude, but the full answer to this isn’t very exciting, and if you’re asking that question then you probably won’t be familiar with either the electronics knowledge or the way the legislation defines dynamo lights to get to the end of the answer without asking a dozen more questions or, more likely, just falling asleep! In a nutshell, the legislation was written around city commuter riding speeds and assumed a plain incandescent bulb (now superseded by the halogen bulb). The way an LED operates is not the same and allows any standard dynamo hub to produce way more power than the 3W classification of a dynamo hub, assuming you;re riding at more than walking speed, the faster you go, the greater the maximum available power from the hub you light can draw upon.

The hubs supplied by Exposure for use with their lights, are not only lighter and more efficient than thir SON equivalent (comparing the 3W hub with a 6-bolt flange to the SON equivalent, not the 2.4W hub with the centrelock spline, as SON have done, naughty boys!), but I know that this hub has been durability tested at these higher powers, with the latest generation of lights in mind, something worth noting when choosing your hub ;-)

Oh, and as you’d expect, a company like Exposure have measurement equipment to check light output. When I took my 800lm Revo dynamo light out with a friend’s 1000lm ebay light, the Revo was waaaaaay brighter. Subjectively, it compares to my old MaXx-D light on full when on the trail. Please check your facts more thoroughly, perhaps use a demo light, or just as for clarification, before suggesting that the light might only be producing a fraction of the quoted, tested and verified output and badmouthing on a very popular forum what is potentially a great a new product trying to overcome a lot of outdated negative image based on old fashioned, incomparable technology

Having said that, I will concede comparisons to older dynamo technologies are inevitable, with the lazy suggesting things such as; heavy, draggy, no light at low speed, flickery, turns off when you stop. however, this is like comparing a Six-Pack to an Eveready Nightrider D-Cell battery light!

Bez The Mk1 production light I have been using for a while now is smaller and lighter than the prototype sample I think you have seen (plus the main beam is brighter and the standlight brighter and lasts longer too!) but no switch that I know of at the moment, however, I’m sure you’re a clever guy you could easily put an on/off switch in the power line from the hub to switch between full power and standlight power, which is approximatelyy half brightness, to “dip” your light (but no beam pattern change) for oncoming traffic?

I hope that was, in some way, useful to at least some of the questions on this thread?

Thanks for the recommendation smudge

@ Bez – I’d love to help out, but don’t have the time to make custom setups for everyone’s needs. What you want is possible to make, however, if you already have a dynamo wheel and a “low beam” light but no great surplus of spare time, I’d recommend getting yourself the new Exposure Revo dynamo light[/url]. You could use a mechanical switch to cut the power to the light from the hub, which would turn the light down to running on the minimum standlight power alone (which I believe is a around about half power), to give you a “dip” mode, but still leaving you enough light to see potholes, ice, puddles even when moving at speed. You could even switch the power between the Exposure Revo and your current commuter light, should you wish to run both lights to give you a choice between one or the other.

I don’t believe the Revo, as I have tested it, has a full kill switch, but I used an on/off with the main power (which I spliced into the light myself) to do the same as it was clear that it was too bright to shine at car drivers on full power, unless I tipped the beam downward significantly. I now no longer get flashed by oncoming traffic!

The debate over “Exposure light on 24hr low mode or a not very bright dynamo” for commuting, is easily solved with the new Exposure dynamo light[/url]! Called the Revo, it’s ~800 lumens, all the time, a proper standlight for off road (not a dull, be seen, glow that most lights, including the E3 triple, have. It also allows you to plug the standard redeye into the back to have a never goes flat rear light too, and the rear light even gets powered from the standlight when you stop. Accept no substitute!

What’s even better is it’d more than bright enough for proper, technical off road. I used one in the recent EWE race, but also use it for daily commuting and mid week night ride thrashes in the woods with my mates and I’m the only one not turning my light down to some mid or low power mode for the majority of the rides to save power ;-)

I can’t wait, although it does look like it’s really going to be quite hard. Yes, it’s probably going to rain quite a bit too, which is a pain in the butt, I just hope it’s dry enough between the rainy days that I get to spend more than the first 2miles with dry feet and shoes!

I’d agree that Axa light is probably not bright enough for proper off-road, I was thinking more of touring/audax use.
Its rated at 50 Lux, so I’m assuming it is about as bright as a B&M IQ Fly / Cyo, which have a good beam shape and are plenty bright enough for road use. Including for seeing where I’m going on unlit roads, not just in town.

We’re agreed then, these lights are fine for that use. It wasn’t long ago we were all riding around on the Mk1 Exposure light at ~200lm on full power or with 5W & 10W halogens, marvelling that we could ride at night properly at all!

Whats the beam shape like on that light? Does it dazzle traffic?

I believe the beam shape is not managed in any special way for the road, not on the current light I have at least. The beam points wherever you point the light, so you might want to point it more downward for road use, than for off road. This is pretty common except for lights made for sale in Germany, where it’s legislated.

Having the 80lm redeye rear light makes it a great option for on road use for me, as the safety of a really bright rear light without the possibility of the battery going flat or dimming slowly until I notice on day, is very attractive.

There’s some sort of small backup battery in there isn’t there? If you brake hard for a corner does the light output reduce instantly or is it somehow stablised by the battery?

No batteries are heavy, have a finite life of only 500-1000 cycles, don;t like colt temperatures and require complex charging and discharging control that puts up cost and complexity at the cost of reliability.

The Exposure Revo uses some very special indeed capacitors (and some other cleverness) to store some energy and keeps the light running, gently reducing the level to “still really very bright” when you slow right down or even stop for “quite a while” according to my testing i.e. the light stayed bright enough to ride by for long enough for me to eat a cereal bar from my back pocket, look at the map on the garmin, get bored and a bit cold and carry on riding, happy it more than met my needs! I’m sure there’ll be some official stats when the official launch occurs later in the year.

My advice is, rather than look at the numbers (we all know there’s a world of difference between a 1000lm light from Hope or Exposure and a 1000lm light from eBay), ride one. I was properly amazed that it was a dynamo, having ridden a few of the previous offerings available and rejected them as unsuitable for off road & fast singletrack.

What charging device did you use, B&M E-werk?

The answer’s in the longer, and probably too long for a forum post, full blog post, which is linked at the bottom of the original post

FULL BLOG POST LINK HERE[/url]

On chargers, I said: “I’ve tried a few different chargers, including the offerings from Softhema, Kemo and making my own. There are plenty more available from other well known brands. They’re all small, lightweight and simple, comprising of just a few components. This is excellent as it makes them super reliable too. In this case I’m using the Softhema offering as it straps most neatly onto my bike setup, with the long thin form factor attaching neatly to the brake hose. A small toggle switch on the bars switches the power between from the lights to the charger so I can use the hub power to top everything up during daylight hours.????”

The B&M device liiks great but is waaaaay more expensive than I was happy to pay, similarly the dahin device and the Tout Terrain plug, but these offer more functions, such as a battery power cache and lovely package solutions.

Great post. I really like that system, now if only there was a 135mm option to fit my fork (

There is! You can buy a “clip on” dynamo that attaches to your spokes, that fits any width of frame or fork and can be fitted to the right (non-disc) side of your MTB or the left side of your rear wheel if you’re running rim brakess, i.e on your road bike.

CLICKY LINK HERE

For dynamo lights and charging, the Axa Nano Plus looks interesting. it is a light with a USB plug built in. http://www.axa-nano.com/

Yes, it is a light, but it’s not bright enough for off road, there’s no low speed light boost like on the Exposure model, the standlight only lasts for 4 minutes and even then is a “be seen” light, not a light to see by. Good luck trying to ride on or off road in the dark! That light is intended for “urban” use, i.e. riding on roads with streetlights and the purpose of the light is for cars to be able to see you. Beware: All dynamo lights are not equal! The Exposure light is a genuine replacement for my MaXx-D off road, a massive step up from the normal single LED lights that are designed with town use in mind, where the light output will drop dramatically at low speeds. Oh, and he Exposure light is pretty amazing on road too, of course

I got a pv-8 built into a lightweight road wheel last week. A23 hub and 24 Sapim Lasers. Used it on the Dunwich Dynamo this weekend with a B&M Cyo and was brilliant.

That’s because dynamo lights are an awesome solution! :-)

The B&M Cyo has a great reputation and having tried a few different LED dynamo lights, I’m sure, on road, particularly in a group, it’s great, and especially while moving at a decent speed, but I’d not want to try and use one off road! Nor alone on a dark country road at night due to the narrow beam, again, this is really designed for town use, but these lights can make good, occasional use touring lights for when it’s getting dark and your day’s taken you longer than you thought.

One question, when you spin the wheel by hand (with the light off) do you find it stops very quickly? Or is this just mine? My shimano alfine dynamo hub will spin for a while like this.

Mine spins for “ages”. I suspect rim and tyre weight have a big influence on the time the wheel spins for, as this inertia will be significant. The PD-8 has fewer poles than the shimano hub and is significantly lighter (less than 2/3 the weight!) and, as such, draws slightly LESS power at low speeds (they both produce the same power at riding speeds when connected to the same devices) so the PD-8 has less drag and should spin for longer?

Those SP dynamo hubs look rather nice. Any reports on long-term reliability?

I’m running a PD-8 off road and a PV-8 on my road bike and have commuted off road regularly on them and have done multi-day road tours with lots of luggage and even submerged it in water when going through a puddle on a flooded road that was deeper than I thought and they’ve just kept pumping out the power to the light 24/7

I’ll be using mine for all 1300miles of the EWE without any concern, and the hub has already got quite a few miles on it.

I hope that helps with at least some of the questions above this post!

Excellent work Rob, Ive been following your blog and i’m very impressed with what you have been doing. Keep it up 8)

Cheers Smudge! I hope you get the chance to be equally impressed with how the dynamo light behaves on the trail ;-)

The hub outputs AC and the light is expecting to see AC, so you do not need to worry about which wire is which to and from the hub or the light. The only DC stuff is sealed within the light circuit and within the sealed charger circuit to make it (hopefully, but not necessarily, clearly!) “easy” for you to wire up.

I have a Kemo unit, which I use alongside my earl dynamo light, which my mates nicknamed “the deanamo” so I am speaking from my personal experience. The Kemo charger works very well, and hasn’t exploded my Garmin or my phone!

OK, so my XXL is a little out there in sizing! But there are two other “normal tall size” guys out there that make more sensible points of reference:

1) Josh Ibbett has an XL, but tha’s to get a longer, racey position.

2) Dave Arthur, who is more your size, has the L and whilst he’s fast on race day on it, he built it up with the focus on being a fast trail bike, and it’s very, very good at that, so I’d maybe go with the L. That said, it’s well worth trying to get a test ride first of course.

Not sure about the “they come up short in the top tube” comment, maybe some facts and figures from the geometry charts are better to look at than that comment, my XXL has a massive 26″ top tube, yes it’s an XXL but that’s one of the longest top tubes I can find on any stock bike, even looking at other XXL and 22″ frames!

The XL has a 25″ top tube, which is a length that I can still get away with, and is long enough for me to still get a stretched, head down bum up position. The L has a 24″ top tube. Maybe get a tape measure on your current frame? The bent top tube means plenty of standover pretty much no matter what size seat tube you get.

Hope that helps and, more importantly, that you enjoy your new bike, no matter what you end up with :-)

I’d say the next thing you should do is put some end plugs in the ends of your handlebars as ALL race organisers (including those at Thwtford who are normally very well organised) will insist you do and will not let you out on course if they see unplugged bars ;-)

Santa Cruz Highball Carbon Singlespeed (singleator now replaced with colour matched Trickstuff Exzenticker in red)

Full spec & more detailed photos HERE

Or, the UK’s first 29er, with custom, prototype 22″ EBB inbred courtesy of Brant plus custom prototype 29er USE SUB fork, a proper one-off!

Full spec & more detailed photos HERE

My Santa Cruz Highball Carbon on XXL size :-)

Loving the wide, flat USE bars

More photos and build spec on my blog post HERE

Mountain bike or road bike?

On a MTB, you could go up around Chinley Churn, which goves you several similar options towards Highgate Lane and then to Roych Clough, or you could head East and go through the Wash and up through Rough Clough that way it’s straighter and makes a nice change as it’s rarely ridden.

I’d say it really depends on what you want to do? Aggressive, trailcentre-centric riding or fast/long xc or endurance riding.

I’d recommend the following, assuming from the setup you’re after fast, long rides in the hills without compromising handling, rather than a jump bike, looking at your current setup:

– SPD (clipless, if you prefer) pedals

– Hydraulic disc brakes

– Serice shock & forks

– New gear cable inners (and outers if you’re feeling flash!)

– Tubless tyre conversion, ideally with a modern, wide, tubeless compatible rim. Lighter, faster rolling, more puncture resistant

– Wider, flatter bar (if your back will take it)

All of that may blow your budget. If it doesn’t, spend the rest on pies :-)

Oh, and for lights, having tried both, it’s DEFINITELY worth waiting for the Exposure dynamo light that I believe they’re bringing out this year (shown at the London Bike Show) rather than buying the Supernova E3 triple which I bought and then sold as I was disappointed with the performance of it (low max light output, poor low speed performance for technical off road, low speed flickering and an appallingly low standlight brightness).

In the mean time I made my own light rather than use the Supernova. Before you ask; it was HARD! Much more difficult than a battery light which consists of a ready made driver, some batteries a lens and a ready made circuit board and is basically a 4 piece jigsaw. This actually made it onto Fresh goods Friday the other week! (SEE HERE)

I’ve got the PD-8 on a rigid MTB and a PV-8 on a road bike I use for training on in the winter and I can’t say I notice the vibrations. I thought I could discern them on my rigid MTB when on the road at first, but it turns out it was the buzz of the knobbly tyres when I disconnected the light circuit!

If I really feel for it, at low speeds, on smooth roads and with high tyre pressures I can fell a “buzz” on the road bike but I don;t notice this during normal riding.

You’re right about the drag not being noticeable, the maximum power draw is less than the effort saving of an aerodynamoc time trial helmet. If this matter on a MTB we’d all be wearing aero helmets! ;-) The gain of having a light on full rightness all night is so much more of a benefit than the imperceptible drag IMHO

@paulpalf – yes, that is, indeed me, riding around the Dolomites in the latest MBUK. Thanks!

As for just PCBS, or any other options. Let’s just take this one step at a time, before we start talking shopping options, alternate light output options etc.! The reason a good, off road capable, “see by” light does not exist is because it’s pretty hard to do, so let’s just let me get what’s existing (and thoroughly tested) to market and then think about the next steps.

It might take a morning to design a circuit development and an afternoon to make up a new, modified circuit. But to then test it, develop it, and re-test repeatedly until it’s behaviour is to my satisfaction and to keep on testing it until I’m happy it’s been thoroughly tested and has enough proven durability in all conditions in as many different riding situations as I can think of in before letting other people loose on it, is not an overnight process!

I’m just one man, with a full time job, a girlfriend and a requirement to ride my bike in my spare time (a lot!) as well as someone who tinkers with DIY lights so go easy on me with the request for options please!!!

@rewski Yes, the power from the dynamo can be used for whatever you want. In fact, if you read my blog, you can see I don’t just light the deanamo, I use the power to do exacty that: Charge my GPS and phone. However, it’s not just a matter of plugging the dynamo to your phone, you’ve got to control the unregulated AC output into your desired DC power source and be careful you don’t blow your GPS or smart phone up, so careful with your experiments there! ;-)

The Exposure light is “similar” in that it has three LEDs and looks like it uses a similar lens, but that’s where the similarities end:

1) No flicker at slow speeds

2) It’s brighter when riding along

3) Most importantly, when you stop (or slow right down), the light is bright enough to see with, not just a “be seen” glow and you can even ride off road with it. It also lasts for more than just a few seconds like the E3 (their website quotes 2 seconds for just 1 LED. When I owned one, by the time I’d stopped 2 seconds was up!). This makes the Exposure light great for pulling out of junctions commuting and also makes it a sensible off-road option or dark country roads at high speeds & an alternative to a battery light for all uses, not just commuting like the current offerings only target.

In general however, any dynamo light is a great solution in my book as they’re always there and you never have to worry about burn time or fiddling with switches to prolong life!

I’m curious about how much the full bike weighs, have you had it on any scales?

It certainly seems a great bad weather bike.

Cheers for mentioning my tinkerings, too kind :-) I actually started off trying to get myself something that I could ride to work off road with in the dark that was dynamo powered. Nothing out there got close except the Supernova E3 triple, but that fell a long way short of what I wanted (I know, I bought one and then sold it again!).

However, this was ~2years ago and I have now morphed my tinkerings into an on-road setup too, and one that I actually toured to North Wales with over Christmas in 1.5days, mostly in the dark and was more than happy with, as well as my off road setup that I use riding technical singletrack in the woods. I also have a “be seen” light.

Having accidentally developed a “range” and ridden these for a long time, what I am working on now is actually getting these off my kitchen table and available as I have had a lot of interest from people wanting to use one for everything from commuting, town bikes, endurance racing, training, just riding about to multi day on and off road tours and races. I just don’t have the time or the facilities to even answer the emails I have got so far, but watch this space!

More on my light
– On my blog here: CLICKY #1
– On Singletrack here (scroll down!): CLICKY #2

If you want an efficient & light hub that’s cheaper than a SON and also available with a disc flange, then I’d have a look here: CLICKY #3

For now I guess the E3 Triple is a good option, there’s also an Autralian Troutie equivalent called K-Lite who makes a “see with” dynamo that is a brighter offering.

My advice: Buy something economic for now and be prepared to sell it on if either my lights ever see the light of day or when Exposure bring out their new Dynamo light that was on display at the London Bike show[/url]. Also covered on road.cc, singletrack and road.cc both really seemed to like it.

Seriously, anything with that level of corrosion’s got no place in a bike, let alone in a brake, can you really be surprised that they failed after you let them get in that condition? You wouldn’t complain if a badly rusted chain snapped

What? Well, yes, you really should oil your pads to prevent corrosion, just like you do your chain. Or maybe just some WD40 after a ride or when you’ve cleaned it to disperse the worst of the water! :-S

Or maybe the corrosion isn’t rider abuse, but a quality problem, exactly like fourbanger said just above…..

Surely a dynamo hub and a converter to output power to a USB plug? Light, infinite power, no rummaging for batteries or chargers and batteries waste loads of energy being made and have nasty chemicals in them too.

You’re welcome Rik, I’m looking forward to seeing the finished bike and complete set up :-)

And now you can read a little bit about my dynamo light, the deanamo, on Fresh Goods Friday[/url] from this week!

CLICKY LINK[/url]

The old Hope bottom bracket, and the TA one worked in the same way. I had both over the years and was fine without lockrings.

If you’re worried, threadlock would help, but I’d rather not use it (and never did) as it could make removing them a PITA!

Enjoy your bling ti loveliness :-)

6-Bolt Disc and non-disk versions of the SP dynamo hub range are available from their ebay store HERE

CLICKY LINK

There’s a couple of words, pics and specs on my blog HERE

A pic of the full bike, and just how teeny the hub is, can be seen HERE

I’m a big fan of the SP hubs that are the lightest out there, as efficient as anything else available, and have extremely low drag when unloaded (not true of all older hubs available).

I’ve not tried the tout-terrain or plug devices, but I should imagine they’d work superbly with an SP hub as a lighweight touring set-up to charge a GPS, phone etc., there is no reason why it wouldn’t work and these devices have been designed to work with exactly the output the SP hub gives.

Hope that helps.

Yeah, I’ve seen the Deanamo and the Exposure light and the Supernova E3, but they’ve all got standlights. That means they’re no good for what I want: when I flip the switch to dip beam I need the light to go out immediately

I have it on good authority (I made the Deanamo and have held the Exposure light) that both the Deanamo and the Exposure Dynamo (which was available to be seen at the recent London Bike Show) have switches that, when you flick them, turn off the standlight…..

You can’t measure internal diameter accurately to 12microns with a 2 point gauge.

You’ll need a three point gauge for this degree of accuracy .

As above, forks and bottom bracket will both be fine.

Good point about the seatpost, also front mech band diameter (although spacers can be had) and seatpost clamp too will need checking.

The latest Scandal has a tapered steerer tube, but a headset can be bought from on-one that will accept a straight 1 1/8″ steerer

Does running your MaXx-D central, or 1cm to the side really matter when you’re trying to illuminate an area several metres wide?

Alternately, you could mount your Garmin on the bars, on the other side of the stem. I do this and, yes, when standing next to the bike I can wobble the Garmin more freely fore and aft when I grab it with my hand and move it, but in reality, out on the trails, it sits still and I don’t notice ant vibration, I just used the smaller o-rings that were supplied with the mount kit.

Buying a £300 light seems a pretty extreme solution!

(Written by a Garmin 800 & MaXx-D user on several different bikes)

You could always just add washers to your bolts where the outer ring used to be (or behind the middle ring).

Not pretty but way cheaper than special SS chainring bolts.

bigsi – 12hr solo???!!!

You mean 6hr solo surely, it being a 6hr event and all?

Taff – There’s always plenty of trackside just after the start/finish area (and a good amount just before it, more than most races have in total!) for self pitting stashes and for pit crew to both hand bottles and heckle en-masse, probably while all swinging cats, so I wouldn’t worry about space if I were you ;-)

I love my Santacruz Highball Singlespeed with Syncros FL Carbon fork, I haven’t ridden my other bikes for over 2 months now! :oops:

The Bike (taking me to work on the South Downs)

Those Forks

Winter tyres now fitted!

Don’t forget some slime tubes!