Dynohubs

Chris Davies said:

Hi all,

My new Galaxy has a bl***y enormous flatspot on the front wheel - not sure
if this was me, or the original owner. I need a new rim.
I have always been mildly offended by my B&M lumotec dynamo. It works
quite well (has never let me down, touch wood), but I have always wanted a
dynamo built into a hub, to reduce effort required to light the way ahead
and avoid slipping, and generally forget about it.
So my next question is: has anyone got a dynamo hub? What do you think of
it?

Got a couple of bikes that roll with a Shimano hub dynamo. You can buy
it here... much cheapness [compared to buying it in this country
anyway].

http://www.roseversand.de/rose_main.cfm?cid=160&spr_id=2&mid=0&vip=0&art=0

This is the 36 hole version. There is also a 32 hole version too.

Personally, for a standard all round light, I think they're great. Fit
and forget.

There is also the much more expensive Schmidt hubdynamo, which, I am
told, has even less drag than the Shimano.

Garry

in message <[email hidden]>, Chris Davies

(') said:

Hi all,

My new Galaxy has a bl***y enormous flatspot on the front wheel - not
sure if this was me, or the original owner. I need a new rim.
I have always been mildly offended by my B&M lumotec dynamo. It works
quite well (has never let me down, touch wood), but I have always
wanted a dynamo built into a hub, to reduce effort required to light
the way ahead and avoid slipping, and generally forget about it.
So my next question is: has anyone got a dynamo hub? What do you think
of it?

I gave my partner a Shimano Nexus dynohub (in a wheel, of course) for
Christmas last year. It's been really good. Apparently there are two
models and the newer model (which she has) has less drag than the older
one - but she reports that she isn't aware of any drag when the light
isn't on, and not much when it is. The automatic photosensor switch
which came with it also works very well.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
,/| _.--''^``-...___.._.,;
/, \'. _-' ,--,,,--'''
{ \ `_-'' ' /
`;;' ; ; ;
._..--'' ._,,, _..' .;.'
(,_....----''' (,..--''

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 22:15:39 +0100, Chris Davies

() said:

Hi all,

My new Galaxy has a bl***y enormous flatspot on the front wheel - not sure
if this was me, or the original owner. I need a new rim.
I have always been mildly offended by my B&M lumotec dynamo. It works
quite well (has never let me down, touch wood), but I have always wanted a
dynamo built into a hub, to reduce effort required to light the way ahead
and avoid slipping, and generally forget about it.
So my next question is: has anyone got a dynamo hub? What do you think of
it?

I've got a Schmidt dynohub, B&M senso-lights and standlight to stop me
disappearing at traffic lights.

I love it to bits. It is a great bit of kit, I barely know it's there
until the lights come on automagically. It is not cheap, though.
Scores very higly on the "shiney..." scale, but not cheap.

--
Matt K
Waikikamukau,NZ

On Sat, 21 Aug 2004 22:15:39 +0100, Chris Davies
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

has anyone got a dynamo hub? What do you think of it?

I have two: a Shimano which is very good and a SON which is superb,
but more than twice the price.

The SON allows for two lamps in series providing double the light at
speed, which is good. It also has lower drag. That's "unnoticeably
low" instead of the Shimano's "unnoticeably low", though. Neither
slows me down appreciably.

If you have the money I would get the SON. But you are unlikely to be
disappointed with either.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Chris Davies said:

Hi all,

My new Galaxy has a bl***y enormous flatspot on the front wheel - not
sure if this was me, or the original owner. I need a new rim.
I have always been mildly offended by my B&M lumotec dynamo. It works
quite well (has never let me down, touch wood), but I have always wanted
a dynamo built into a hub, to reduce effort required to light the way
ahead and avoid slipping, and generally forget about it.
So my next question is: has anyone got a dynamo hub? What do you think
of it?
TIA,

Chris.

T'other half swears by his. I can't remember which one it is, but I'd
assume the B&M - I know the rest of it (lights etc) are certainly the
B&M stuff.

He's currently off doing his version of the C2C and back again, which
seems to encompass heading more north before then turning west, so I'll
find out via the magic of SMS later - he's gradually been replacing
existing lighting kit with dynohubs - certainly two have them, I'm not
sure about the third, it being his alu racer. Good job he's taken his
own camping kit, it seems - though many of the campsites are shutting
due to waterlogging, getting into a B&B each night at peak season isn't
that easy due to minimum stay requirements it seems, though with teh
weather forecast for tomorrow, I'd be tempted to find a roof rather than
rely on a *very* light tent for protection from the wind and torrents
that seem to be heading his way...

Of course, he's mad as a march hare for doing it in summer hol season
instead of early sept anyway, and with a fully laden bike up hartside,
well... suffice it to say having driven up hartside, going cycle touring
is nowhere near getting to even the middle of my cycling want-to-do list
yet ;-)

--

Velvet

garryb59 said:

There is also the much more expensive Schmidt hubdynamo, which, I am
told, has even less drag than the Shimano.

Garry

Ah, this rings bells, I think this is what t'other half has on his
bikes, paired with the B&M control/lighting gubbins. I know he's
certainly been very impressed with it all.

--

Velvet

Quoted message said:

So my next question is: has anyone got a dynamo hub? What do you think of
it?

Don't have one myself but I know quite a few people who have a Schmidt hub.
They have nothing but praise for them. I'm trying to keep my spending to a
minimum, otherwise I would get one.

Ian

"Chris Davies" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all,

My new Galaxy has a bl***y enormous flatspot on the front wheel - not sure
if this was me, or the original owner. I need a new rim.
I have always been mildly offended by my B&M lumotec dynamo. It works
quite well (has never let me down, touch wood), but I have always wanted a
dynamo built into a hub, to reduce effort required to light the way ahead
and avoid slipping, and generally forget about it.
So my next question is: has anyone got a dynamo hub? What do you think of
it?

Lots of people (!), and I've not heard many negative words at all.

I think they're great. Choice is of shimano, which work and are great, and
schmidt, which work and are great and are a bit nicer and more expensive.
I've got an old shimano NX-10, which was fine, and the new ones are supposed
to be better.
I've also got three schmidts on various bikes - one of them would have had a
shimano except they don't do a 28H hub. (brompton).
Since I've got the money these days, I'd get schmidts. But if I didn't, I'd
get shimano and it would be almost as good.

You know how if you're in a car, you expect the headlights to just be there?
Dynohubs give the same facility to a bike. No battery faff, and no
slippage/alignment/wear issues.

cheers,
clive

"Just zis Guy, you know?

Quoted message said:

If you have the money I would get the SON. But you are unlikely to be
disappointed with either.

Guy

I was in Spa cycles a few months ago talking with one of the blokes
there who was building a wheel with a Schmidt Hub I think. Anyway he
said that he didn't think the extra cost of the Schmidt was worth it.
He told me that the wheel was being built for a guy wh was going to
write a review of the different units for Velovision. I am still
undecided myself as what to go for.

On 22 Aug 2004 06:36:09 -0700, [email hidden] (MSeries)

wrote in message : said:

I was in Spa cycles a few months ago talking with one of the blokes
there who was building a wheel with a Schmidt Hub I think. Anyway he
said that he didn't think the extra cost of the Schmidt was worth it.

If the new Shimano has cartridge bearings I might be tempted to agree,
although the 12V capability of the SON is a big plus (but then so is
the light-sensitive switch on the Shimano).

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

If the new Shimano has cartridge bearings I might be tempted to agree,
although the 12V capability of the SON is a big plus (but then so is
the light-sensitive switch on the Shimano).

You can fit the shimano switch to a SON...

cheers,
clive

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 17:49:38 +0100, "Clive George"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

You can fit the shimano switch to a SON...

Yebbut, would the 12V setup still work?

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 17:49:38 +0100, "Clive George"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

You can fit the shimano switch to a SON...

Yebbut, would the 12V setup still work?

Yes, I think so. By this you presumably mean the second lamp?

It would go something like this:

SON - Lamp 2 - Switch - SON
||
Lamp 1

cheers,
clive

Clive George said:

I think they're great. Choice is of shimano, which work and are great, and
schmidt, which work and are great and are a bit nicer and more expensive.
I've got an old shimano NX-10, which was fine, and the new ones are supposed
to be better.
I've also got three schmidts on various bikes - one of them would have had a
shimano except they don't do a 28H hub. (brompton).
Since I've got the money these days, I'd get schmidts. But if I didn't, I'd
get shimano and it would be almost as good.

I've got a Shimano NX-30 (bought from bicycles.de for about 20ukp 18 months
ago). It was moderate hassle building the wheel up (I wanted to learn how
to build wheels; trouble was my LBS sold me slightly too long spokes so I
got punctures. In 36 places at once. Once I'd filed them down it was
fine), but I wouldn't be without it now. I don't have a switch, so I run
the lights all day - the drag is negligible so I'm completely used to having
it on all the time now.

It's ever so slightly notchy at low speeds (like following pedestrian
speeds) and at high speed there is a little bit of vibration but nothing too
annoying. One thing to remember is that it's very easy to blow your rear
light if you have a loose connection on the front - my rear B&M D-Toplight
Plus didn't have any protection diodes, so putting 3W through it when
expecting 0.6W wasn't appreciated. It was just a case of replacing an LED
and resistor though.

It's completely fit and forget - I never have to worry about lighting again.
No lights to remove, no batteries to replace, no feeling of dread of dynamo
drag when you have a long cycle home at night - I don't even have to worry
about putting the lights on when it gets dark.

Quite why all quality bikes aren't shipped with dynohubs I really don't
understand...

Theo

Chris Davies <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

So my next question is: has anyone got a dynamo hub? What do you think of
it?

I have a shimano dynohub and am very pleased with it. The extra
resitance in unnoticeable when riding (although you can tell the
difference if you lift the front wheel and spin it with the lamps on).
I have a b&m lumotech oval front lamp and D-toplight back lamp. I
use it mostly for commuting. I was very impressed with the beam, for
seeing whjere I was going on the Dunwich dynamo (the first time I had
used the system on unlit roads. The standlight on the front lamp is a
crappy yellow-orange LED which is disappointing. I beleive some B&M
lamps have proper white LED standlights. The back light is ok but te
4 led mudguard mounted lamp that I got for my mum is better. The
switch unit that comes with it went u/s pretty soon which I gather is
not uncommon. Apparently they either break quickly or go on forever.
I am running it permanently on and have not been struck by any extra
load.

I also have a cheap pioneer dyna"hub" which clamps between the cone
and dropout and is driven by a washer that clamps against the spokes.
Mechanically it is [censored] and does produce a small noticeable drag but
it doesn't slip and serves it's utilitarian perpurse on a shopping
bike.

My mum is also very pleased with her shimano hub. I believe there is
a newer model shimano hub next month ut cannot find the link I saw
recently

best wishes
james

Clive George said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You can fit the shimano switch to a SON...

Yebbut, would the 12V setup still work?

Yes, I think so. By this you presumably mean the second lamp?

It would go something like this:

SON - Lamp 2 - Switch - SON
||
Lamp 1

If I've read that correctly (i.e. Lamp 1 & Switch are in parallel), then
there is no way of switching Lamp 2 off is there?

--
Jon
____________________________________________
jondotrogersatntlworlddotcom
============================================

Jon see_my.sig@end_of.message opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

SON - Lamp 2 - Switch - SON
||
Lamp 1

If I've read that correctly (i.e. Lamp 1 & Switch are in parallel), then
there is no way of switching Lamp 2 off is there?

I think the switch would turn off both lamps 1 & 2.

Jon

Jon Senior <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Jon see_my.sig@end_of.message opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

SON - Lamp 2 - Switch - SON
||
Lamp 1

If I've read that correctly (i.e. Lamp 1 & Switch are in parallel), then
there is no way of switching Lamp 2 off is there?

I think the switch would turn off both lamps 1 & 2.

Sorry. A rather potent red wine has mullered my brain! That wasn't very
clear.

I read the diagram as showing lamp 1 & lamp 2 as in parallel. I think it
depends on your newsreader. Bizarrely, mine shows lamp 1 & 2 parallel
except in the new message composer when it shows lamp 1 & the switch in
parallel.

I think I'll probably shut up now and go to bed!

Jon

"Jon" <see_my.sig@end_of.message> wrote in message
news:pan.2004.08.22.20.34.07.594157@end_of.message...

Quoted message said:

Clive George said:

Quoted message said:

>You can fit the shimano switch to a SON...

Yebbut, would the 12V setup still work?

Yes, I think so. By this you presumably mean the second lamp?

It would go something like this:

SON - Lamp 2 - Switch - SON
||
Lamp 1

If I've read that correctly (i.e. Lamp 1 & Switch are in parallel), then
there is no way of switching Lamp 2 off is there?

Ah - sorry, there was an implied extra bit of circuit. The way the second
lamp works in a normal SON setup is you put it in series with the first with
a switch to short it out. So with this in it looks more like:

SON - Lamp 2 - Shimano switch - SON
| | ||
second sw Lamp 1

Lamp 1 is driven off the shimano switch outputs - it actually ends up in
series like you'd expect, but I'm drawing how it looks from outside. (lamp 2
normally includes the second switch in the unit).

cheers,
clive