Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Spanninga Halogen Light Kit (from veloorange)

here (http://yhst-84224226242177.stores.yahoo.net/sphalikit.html)

a complete kit: dynamo, front and rear light, mounting brackets, wires. 32$!

seems spectacular. chris says its a very good kit for the price. he claims the lumotec is only 10 percent better than the headlamp included in this kit.


anyone have any experience with spanninga or know anything about this kit? I just ordered one so I'll post back here after i get it up and running.

Pretty good deal. I use a bottle type dynamo as well. Modern bottle and bb type dynamo's do not have anywhere near the drag of vintage dynamo's. Granted, a hub dynamo would be better but the Spanninga bottle type dynamo is a fraction of the cost and you can have it on bolted on your bike and ready to go in 1/2 hour or so according to your mechanical ability's. If you want to free yourself from batteries and keep your costs low, got for it!

If you want to free yourself from batteries and keep your costs low, got for it!

thats pretty much where i'm at. also, another thing for me to fiddle around with :-D

I bought one of these kits from VO and am enjoying the fact that the light is always at hand. I do have a problem with the mounting of the headlamp: Since I have full fenders, when it is mounted at the fork crown, the light gets impeded by the front fender. I guess I'll look at mounting it lower down on the fork. I'll need a new mount for that.

The main question I have is about drag. I used to have a bottle dynamo several decades ago, and I don't remember it having anything near the drag that this one has. On the stand it stops the wheel in just about 1 revolution from a decent speed (not scientific, I know). I thought this would be better with me on the bike (momentum is a great thing), however it still feels like I have a brake on. I tried adlusting the amount of contact with the tyre, but the friction is either too low - and the lights do not function, or too high and the drag is like an anchor.

Don't get me wrong; I was expecting some drag, but this is waaaayyyy too much. I hope I'm doing something wrong and that there's something you guys can suggest to make it work better.

I bought one of these kits from VO and am enjoying the fact that the light is always at hand. I do have a problem with the mounting of the headlamp: Since I have full fenders, when it is mounted at the fork crown, the light gets impeded by the front fender. I guess I'll look at mounting it lower down on the fork. I'll need a new mount for that.

The main question I have is about drag. I used to have a bottle dynamo several decades ago, and I don't remember it having anything near the drag that this one has. On the stand it stops the wheel in just about 1 revolution from a decent speed (not scientific, I know). I thought this would be better with me on the bike (momentum is a great thing), however it still feels like I have a brake on. I tried adlusting the amount of contact with the tyre, but the friction is either too low - and the lights do not function, or too high and the drag is like an anchor.

Don't get me wrong; I was expecting some drag, but this is waaaayyyy too much. I hope I'm doing something wrong and that there's something you guys can suggest to make it work better.


I mounted my Lumotec right on the fender....used a conduit hanger from the hardware store and drilled a hole in the fender. I little silicone around the hole, bolt the clamp to the fender, mount the light in the clamp, and voila, a headlight mounted close to the fork crown where it will light up the path very well and the fender does not block it.

The wheel on the dynamo must be aligned perfectly parallel with the tire sidewall. Using something with a straight edge like a yard stick place one end centered in the fork dropout and hold it between the tire and dynamo. The dynamo shaft should be perfectly aligned with the straight edge. As an example here is a photo of my dynamo with a section of welding rod being used as a straight edge showing how a properly aligned dynamo should look.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/dsc00016.jpg

The wheel on the dynamo must be aligned perfectly parallel with the tire sidewall. Using something with a straight edge like a yard stick place one end centered in the fork dropout and hold it between the tire and dynamo. The dynamo shaft should be perfectly aligned with the straight edge. As an example here is a photo of my dynamo with a section of welding rod being used as a straight edge showing how a properly aligned dynamo should look.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/dsc00016.jpg


Thanks for the tip, I checked it out and my dynamo is properly aligned. The issue seems to be the amount of force it takes to rotate the rotor itself. It seems to be very stiff and does not turn smoothly.

It may be that I am just not used to it yet, or that it needs some time to wear in. I'll give it a shot.

I also have an old 3-speed Dynohub that I may build into a wheel if this does not work adequately.