Folding Bikes - son hub for the brompton?

any1 here installed the 28-hole son hub on their brompton?

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/currency/USD/product-Schmidt-Schmidt-SON-XS-Dynamo-Front-Hub-for-Brompton-28-Hole--Silver-11025.htm

beside using it as a lighting system, do u use it to charge any of ur electronic devices? if so, how well does it work?

also where can i get one of this in the us? i know thors is selling a son hub, but it is a 32 hole version and it is for the 20" dahon folding bike. so i dont think it will be compatible for the brompton.

also is there any other cheaper alternative hub than the son hub which will work on the brompton?

beside using it as a lighting system, do u use it to charge any of ur electronic devices? if so, how well does it work? what is the life expectancy this hub?

I think Peter White Cycles, the SON distributor for the USA has the best info on this:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/ewerk.asp



also is there any other cheaper alternative hub than the son hub which will work on the brompton?

There is a Shimano Dynohub, 74mm OLD, 8mm diameter axle that Brompton are using in 2010. It's available as part of the Capreo groupset, although I'm not sure if the 8mm axle is available from any other source than Brompton.

Any ideas the exact date on this shimano hub and the exact price?

fyi...just got an answer back from sjscycles and they said the shimano hub will be available in mid-march and for about £80. if yes, then i will definately get it.

vincent,

what are you going to use it for?

endless possibilities. shimano hub with dahon recharge battery:

http://www.dahon.com/accessories/2010/biologic-reecharge

charge gps devices, mp3 player, iphone, blackberry, and other electronic devices. also dynamo lighting too. good for touring.

endless possibilities. shimano hub with dahon recharge battery:

http://www.dahon.com/accessories/2010/biologic-reecharge

charge gps devices, mp3 player, iphone, blackberry, and other electronic devices. also dynamo lighting too. good for touring.

Well I wouldn't really call charging batteries endless possibilities. That's one of the reasons I decided against a dynohub: Because they're front wheel only, which means you can only use it while moving, which means you're basically limited to charging batteries to be drained once stopped, which is very inefficient and bad for the environment.

Instead I'm trying a rear wheel dynamo so I can lift the rear wheel and power things directly without worrying about going anywhere. For example, while touring if you stop for the night you can power your iPhone while you use it. And during the day you can still charge batteries if you want, but I think I'd rather lay out a solar panel on my rack (you can almost get as much power from a small one as you would a dynamo with acceptable drag).

Only thing is I'm not sure if my bottle dynamo will last very long, but I figure it's a good experiment to see how well this paradigm works. If the only problem is bottle dynamo durability then maybe I'll try to build a dynohub rear wheel.

What if u already have a rear hub like the 3 speed or 8 speed sa? Sorry but I don't want to make u feel stupid but with the biologic recharge, u can still charge the device if u stop pedaling, go watch the video and read the description. And solar panel is not ready for the prime time yet. Go read some problem on solar panel (i.e. cloudy, raining day).

What if u already have a rear hub like the 3 speed or 8 speed sa? Sorry but I don't want to make u feel stupid but with the biologic recharge, u can still charge the device if u stop pedaling, go watch the video and read the description. And solar panel is not ready for the prime time yet. Go read some problem on solar panel (i.e. cloudy, raining day).

I said I'm going to use a bottle dynamo (ie sidewall dynamo) which is not built in a hub. There are no rear hub dynamos (even externally geared), so if the bottle dynamo can't take the punishment a rear hub dynamo would have to be custom built.

You're not making me feel stupid at all. On the contrary I don't think you realize that with the ReeCharge you have to charge the ReeCharge, then the ReeCharge has to charge the battery in your device, and then the battery in your device has to power your device. This is very inefficient.

Also, my suggestion for the solar panel was not for a replacing a dynamo. I was just saying that, when touring, 90% of the time a front wheel dynamo isn't going to give you anymore power than you would get from a solar panel, except you have drag. The primary disadvantage of both of these is that you cannot generate power while stopped at night (or for rain).

With a rear wheel dynamo you do everything you can do with a front hub dynamo, plus you can generate power while stopped (as opposed to releasing power from an inefficient and environmentally irresponsible string of batteries), plus on sunny days you can completely disconnect it and use a 100% drag free solar panel.

I'm not saying a front hub dynamo isn't best for you. I just wanted to pick your brain because what I'm suggesting is unprecedented and experimental and so I can use as much information as possible. However, my point is I don't think it's fair to say a front hub dynamo has "endless possibilities" when there are some very significant and clear limitations.

Chucky, I know of two rear wheel hub dynamo options.

An old Sturmey Archer AG hub shouldn't cost as much as a new Nexus one, and has a three speed hub built in. There's even a AF option, with a four speed hub, super cool but probably harder to find. The AG won't put out as much power as a new dynamo hub, but it's pretty useable. I have one from the early 50's running LED lights on my old 3-sp and its fine.

The other option, much cooler, is a Pioneer dynamo that attaches to the left side of your rear wheel. There's an ebay seller who sometimes has some sets including this; Spanninga halogen head light, LED tail light with supercapacitor to keep it lit while you stop, and the Pioneer hub dynamo. Very nice unit. I accidentally destroyed some parts of mine, but am using the dynamo on my xtracycle with good effect. I don't remember the seller's name, but it's worth an ebay search on the word Spanninga, I think it's worth the price (around eighty bucks, as I recall)

Chucky, I know of two rear wheel hub dynamo options.

An old Sturmey Archer AG hub shouldn't cost as much as a new Nexus one, and has a three speed hub built in. There's even a AF option, with a four speed hub, super cool but probably harder to find. The AG won't put out as much power as a new dynamo hub, but it's pretty useable. I have one from the early 50's running LED lights on my old 3-sp and its fine.

The other option, much cooler, is a Panasonic dynamo that attaches to the left side of your rear wheel. There's an ebay seller who sometimes has some sets including this; Spanninga halogen head light, LED tail light with supercapacitor to keep it lit while you stop, and the Panasonic hub dynamo. Very nice unit. I accidentally destroyed some parts of mine, but am using the dynamo on my xtracycle with good effect. I don't remember the seller's name, but it's worth doing a search for it every now and then, I think it's worth the price (around eighty bucks, as I recall)

Oh, good information thanks. Do you have any further information on the panasonic unit (model number, etc)?

You're not making me feel stupid at all. On the contrary I don't think you realize that with the ReeCharge you have to charge the ReeCharge, then the ReeCharge has to charge the battery in your device, and then the battery in your device has to power your device. This is very inefficient.

Hi Chucky that is not quite right. When you move the generator will charge your appliances. The battery has two functions in the reecharge .
1. you will be able to charge something when you are standing still and not move
2. to straighten out the current and hertz and amps and what not else to work with the latest I phone


In other words, if the batteries are empty they will charge on the side of your other plug in charge. If they are full the charge runs right by them, with the exception of that I phone thing when it is as you describe ...

It is very nice touring if you have instruments who need lots of batteries otherwise, like GPS or similar.... Instead of changing batteries every day ( or more ) you can run the GPS straight from the reecharge ...

Solarcells ..I have a big one on my boat, let me tell you they are a whole new set of problems, most small ones suck on the battery when not enough sun !! Just to scratch the surface. Heavy and HUGE ... The only way you could do anything with a solar cell is to have a trailer and you load up the trailer with dolar cells AND the much hated battery .....

whats with that rice cooker ? You need electricity for a cooker ?
:-)
Thor

I said I'm going to use a bottle dynamo (ie sidewall dynamo) which is not built in a hub. There are no rear hub dynamos (even externally geared), so if the bottle dynamo can't take the punishment a rear hub dynamo would have to be custom built.

You're not making me feel stupid at all. On the contrary I don't think you realize that with the ReeCharge you have to charge the ReeCharge, then the ReeCharge has to charge the battery in your device, and then the battery in your device has to power your device. This is very inefficient.

Also, my suggestion for the solar panel was not for a replacing a dynamo. I was just saying that, when touring, 90% of the time a front wheel dynamo isn't going to give you anymore power than you would get from a solar panel, except you have drag. The primary disadvantage of both of these is that you cannot generate power while stopped at night (or for rain).

With a rear wheel dynamo you do everything you can do with a front hub dynamo, plus you can generate power while stopped (as opposed to releasing power from an inefficient and environmentally irresponsible string of batteries), plus on sunny days you can completely disconnect it and use a 100% drag free solar panel.

I'm not saying a front hub dynamo isn't best for you. I just wanted to pick your brain because what I'm suggesting is unprecedented and experimental and so I can use as much information as possible. However, my point is I don't think it's fair to say a front hub dynamo has "endless possibilities" when there are some very significant and clear limitations.

how is a side dynamo more effective? u said u dont need to pedal and it will still charge ur devices? where does the energy store to when u stop pedaling on ur side dynamo?

like thors said, the reecharge charge when u pedal, once it is fully charge, and if u have any electronic plug into it, it will charges ur devices directly. and at the end of the day, you can remove the reecharge from ur bike and also plug into ur electronic device. i think that is more efficient in my book.

and it is "endless possiblities for me" cuz it charges all my electronic device, for u maybe not, cuz u bring an rice cooker on ur tour.

Hi Chucky that is not quite right. When you move the generator will charge your appliances. The battery has two functions in the reecharge .
1. you will be able to charge something when you are standing still and not move
2. to straighten out the current and hertz and amps and what not else to work with the latest I phone

...and in order to implement these two functions the power you generate charges the Reecharge, which in turn charges the battery in your device, which in turn powers the device. It has nothing to do with whether or not this happens simultaneously or whether or not the total charge in the battery is increasing or decreasing. This is the physical process by which the power is transfered and you can observe the inefficiency of this process by reading the power consumption reported by your laptop's motherboard and comparing it to the actual power drawn at the outlet.



In other words, if the batteries are empty they will charge on the side of your other plug in charge. If they are full the charge runs right by them, with the exception of that I phone thing when it is as you describe ...

And how does the ReeCharge magically know the regulation requirements of the device it is connected to? It doesn't. It obviously just charges it's own internal battery and lets this battery supply power to the external device. The manual even hints at this when it says "the Reecharge's internal battery needs to have some charge before it can charge other devices".


Heavy and HUGE ... The only way you could do anything with a solar cell is to have a trailer and you load up the trailer with dolar cells AND the much hated battery .....

Not for a miniscule 3W. A 3W solar panel is about 0.25 square feet.

Just saying, I don't see what's so great about a front hub dynamo when for touring it still has half the drawbacks of a solar panel: still only generate power during the riding day and you still need a battery.



whats with that rice cooker ? You need electricity for a cooker ?

No, but you need energy of which human powered electricity is a clean and safe form.


how is a side dynamo more effective? u said u dont need to pedal and it will still charge ur devices? where does the energy store to when u stop pedaling on ur side dynamo?

I didn't say you don't need to pedal. I said you don't need to be moving.

If u stop moving, how does it still keep the light on? It must be stored somewhere, right?

Ah, have just stumbled across this thread.

One of my my Cargo cycle prototypes has been running about on test & development runs on a Sturmey Archer 3 speed Dynohub wired into a set of Busch Muller lights C/w capacitor sytem for stationary back up lighting.

Due to the effectiveness of the combination of this hub and lighting system, over the last few weeks, I have been buying up every S-A 3-4 speed dynohub from ebay and other classifieds that I could.

What I really want is 5 speed and 8 speed Dynohubs, but that is not going to happen in the foreseeable future.

If u stop moving, how does it still keep the light on? It must be stored somewhere, right?

Not if you keep the wheel turning (off the ground).


Ah, have just stumbled across this thread.

One of my my Cargo cycle prototypes has been running about on test & development runs on a Sturmey Archer 3 speed Dynohub wired into a set of Busch Muller lights C/w capacitor sytem for stationary back up lighting.

Due to the effectiveness of the combination of this hub and lighting system, over the last few weeks, I have been buying up every S-A 3-4 speed dynohub from ebay and other classifieds that I could.

What I really want is 5 speed and 8 speed Dynohubs, but that is not going to happen in the foreseeable future.

Why do you prefer this to a front dynohub? Only reason I'm interested in a rear is because it's possible to drive the dynamo while stationary if you prop the wheel up whereas the front wheel can only turn if it's moving over the pavement.

ic now. So u gonna carry a rice cooker and than a trainer to lift up the front wheel? What next? U gonna carry a 36" hdtv, a microwave, a fridge, a washer, and a couch on ur next tour?

ic now. So u gonna carry a rice cooker and than a trainer to lift up the front wheel? What next? U gonna carry a 36" hdtv, a microwave, a fridge, a washer, and a couch on ur next tour?

And I suppose you intend to eat your iPhone on tour? Of all the ways to make food for yourself I think a rice cooker is one of the smallest and lightest options.

Not if you keep the wheel turning (off the ground).



Why do you prefer this to a front dynohub? Only reason I'm interested in a rear is because it's possible to drive the dynamo while stationary if you prop the wheel up whereas the front wheel can only turn if it's moving over the pavement.


I am also prototyping a delta trike, tadpole recumbent trike & quad. I'll be production building with the hub gears rather than derailuers across the range, a front dynohub is not an issue with either of the two wheelers, or the delta trke, but a single dynohub on a front wheel could be an issue on the tadpole trike and quad. A geared dynohub would also optimise production stocking levels by being common across the range.

And I suppose you intend to eat your iPhone on tour? Of all the ways to make food for yourself I think a rice cooker is one of the smallest and lightest options.

So do u even own a ewerk? Have u tested out with ur rice cooker? Btw I don't own an iphone. and the last thing i wanna do after a long day of touring is cook. i rather eat out at a local restaurant than cook for myself.

So do u even own a ewerk? Have u tested out with ur rice cooker? Btw I don't own an iphone. and the last thing i wanna do after a long day of touring is cook. i rather eat out at a local restaurant than cook for myself.

E-werk is in the mail. Next step is to shop for a suitable rice cooker.

Anyway, why don't you just charge your devices at the restaurant? Then you don't need the dynamo or the Reecharge. They probably have a 36" hdtv for you to watch also.

chucky
do me a favour and send me a link of that cooker ... I am always looking to make things esaier on the baot and if such a thing exist I might have a few ideas to use it ( its kinda rough to use the alcohol stove in heavy winds and sea state)
thanks

thor
corsair28r@hotmail.com

E-werk is in the mail. Next step is to shop for a suitable rice cooker.

Anyway, why don't you just charge your devices at the restaurant? Then you don't need the dynamo or the Reecharge. They probably have a 36" hdtv for you to watch also.

Nah I don't wanna bother the restaurants for power outlet when it is crowded. I will stick with the recharge and shimano hub. When u get ur ewerk. Take a pix of it with ur rice cooker with u pedaling. Wanna see how well work. And I don't need a hdtv on my tour. I got tons of tv shows and movies on my blackberry.

chucky
do me a favour and send me a link of that cooker ... I am always looking to make things esaier on the baot and if such a thing exist I might have a few ideas to use it ( its kinda rough to use the alcohol stove in heavy winds and sea state)
thanks

A rice cooker is a simple device which basically consists of a small pot and an electric heating element that automatically shuts off once the temperature inside the pot goes above boiling (indicating that all the water inside has been absorbed or evaporated).

It is a staple appliance in every asian home. There are countless manufacturers and you should be able to buy one almost anywhere. In fact, there was actually a book just published called "Where There Are Asians, There are Rice Cookers".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_cooker

So u beside carrying drinking water, u will also carry gallons of water along with rice cooker on ur tour? about how many gallons and how many lbs of rice will u be carrying on ur bike?

ok I now know what a rice cooker is
the ones I found have like 120 volts and 5 to 10 amps
That would suck a 12 volt Car battery with inverter empty before the rice is even warm
I can only imageine that you need 20 ( twenty !!) 6 volt generators in line and drive like a maniac to get that thing warm .... for a couple of minutes before one of those sidewall generators shakes loose and goes into the spokes ....
sidewall generators rub off the sidewall of the tire as well, so one would expect to have pleanty rear tires together with all that water and rice .....
Water .. you could take a survival kit which cleans bad water .. I think you have to pump that for an hour to get one cup of good water .....
that would give some workout for the arms while you sitting on the bike and peddling like crazy ....

Chucky ... I am making fun of you ... I am sorry bouut that
just take a small spiritus or gasoline cooker like Climbers take and you should be golden
:-)

Thor

So u beside carrying drinking water, u will also carry gallons of water along with rice cooker on ur tour? about how many gallons and how many lbs of rice will u be carrying on ur bike?

You'll need a lot more water for drinking than making rice. Besides going somewhere where you don't have access to water is crazy and stupid. Even wild animals are smart enough not to do that.

10 pounds of rice should feed you for a month if you don't eat anything else and it doesn't need to be refrigerated or anything. I don't know where you think you're going to tour where you'll be near a restaurant for every meal, but the rice will be a lot lighter and more compact than almost anything else you could bring with you to eat.

What's it to you anyway? If you want to go on a tour of all the McDonald's in the country then be my guest.

You'll need a lot more water for drinking than making rice. Besides going somewhere where you don't have access to water is crazy and stupid. Even wild animals are smart enough not to do that.

10 pounds of rice should feed you for a month if you don't eat anything else and it doesn't need to be refrigerated or anything. I don't know where you think you're going to tour where you'll be near a restaurant for every meal, but the rice will be a lot lighter and more compact than almost anything else you could bring with you to eat.

What's it to you anyway? If you want to go on a tour of all the McDonald's in the country then be my guest.

Oh getting touchy aren't we? I thought I just like to pick ur brain. So tell us how many gallons of water u will be carrying total for ur 10 lbs of rice? And not only u need water to cook the rice, u need water to wash/rinse the rice unless u wanna eat dirty rice. And not every place u go have access to water. Where do u usually tour at? If u need to carry rice, that mean u will be touring in the country side or some remote area.

ok I now know what a rice cooker is
the ones I found have like 120 volts and 5 to 10 amps
That would suck a 12 volt Car battery with inverter empty before the rice is even warm
I can only imageine that you need 20 ( twenty !!) 6 volt generators in line and drive like a maniac to get that thing warm .... for a couple of minutes before one of those sidewall generators shakes loose and goes into the spokes ....
sidewall generators rub off the sidewall of the tire as well, so one would expect to have pleanty rear tires together with all that water and rice .....
Water .. you could take a survival kit which cleans bad water .. I think you have to pump that for an hour to get one cup of good water .....
that would give some workout for the arms while you sitting on the bike and peddling like crazy ....

Chucky ... I am making fun of you ... I am sorry bouut that
just take a small spiritus or gasoline cooker like Climbers take and you should be golden


Worst case scenario you need to heat about 1/3 cup of water to boiling for a rice meal. This takes about 26kJ of energy. The E-werk is rated for up to 16W. So in the worst case if you ride with your dynamo hooked to a rice cooker you can have a meal roughly every 7 hours when riding.

However this assumes you actually need to heat the water to boiling like you do with a 120V rice cooker that cooks in 5 minutes. But if your a cook you know that the longer you let something cook the lower the temperature needs to be. People cook rice (and pasteurize water) in 2-4 hours with solar ovens which produce much less power. So I think it's safe to say that the rice will cook in under 2 hours with the dynamo. Also, this assumes you use the E-werk, but a resistive heating element is just about the simplest and most efficient electrical device possible so you can just hook up directly to the AC dynamo and probably get much more than 16W, especially if the wheel is off the ground and the only resistance is coming from the dynamo. So you cook the rice while riding and if it's not done when you're ready to stop you can finish it off by pedaling with the wheel off the ground.

Comparing to a 120V appliance meant to be plugged into the wall is like comparing regular 60W light bulbs to your bike dynamo. It's just ignorant.

Making fun won't make you smarter nor will it feed you.


Oh getting touchy aren't we? I thought I just like to pick ur brain. So tell us how many gallons of water u will be carrying total for ur 10 lbs of rice? And not only u need water to cook the rice, u need water to wash/rinse the rice unless u wanna eat dirty rice. And not every place u go have access to water. Where do u usually tour at? If u need to carry rice, that mean u will be touring in the country side or some remote area.

You can wash your rice before you pack it or you can buy prewashed rice. You need 1 cup of water per day to cook your rice (1 cup uncooked rice per day). You need a lot more than that to drink. Therefore, if you have enough water to drink then you have enough water to make rice.

ok I loose
you go ahead and cook that rice while you are riding ...
makes all sense

thor ( being ignorant )

Okay, I know we're talking about electricity generated by bicycle dynamos here, and I assume the idea of a rice cooker is to some degree facetious. Nonetheless, taking the question "how can I cook my rice?" seriously for a moment:

If I were going on tour in a place with ample water but without regular resupply of food or fuel; in short, a tour on which I would be required to live on grain that I carry with me; I would not chose to cook rice at all. Malted or sprouted wheat (or barley, spelt, etc.) would be fine. Soak a cup of the whole wheat grain ("berries", I don' t know why they call them that, they're not berries at all) in water, changing the water every day for several days, until the grain germinates; then eat it. No cooking is required. Yes, it takes a while, so you'd have to have several jars of it in the pipeline, as it were; but malted/germinated wheat would be just as nutritious as rice. When you change the water, you can of course drink it, to be sure to catch all the nutrients. I'm sure it is equally possible to malt or sprout brown rice, but I am less sure that would be so good to eat; I'd experiment a bit before committing myself to such a diet.

a place with ample water but without regular resupply of food or fuel; in short, a tour on which I would be required to live on grain that I carry with me; I would not chose to cook rice at all. Malted or sprouted wheat (or barley, spelt, etc.) would be fine. Soak a cup of the whole wheat grain ("berries", I don' t know why they call them that, they're not berries at all) in water, changing the water every day for several days, until the grain germinates; then eat it. No cooking is required. Yes, it takes a while, so you'd have to have several jars of it in the pipeline, as it were; but malted/germinated wheat would be just as nutritious as rice. When you change the water, you can of course drink it, to be sure to catch all the nutrients. I'm sure it is equally possible to malt or sprout brown rice, but I am less sure that would be so good to eat; I'd experiment a bit before committing myself to such a diet.

Some good information here. Thanks for sharing. But hot rice has to be the most delicious means of surviving at a subsistence level.

I also thought cooking rice with a dynamo is a really impossible, at most completely impractical, idea; so before shooting my mouth off I made some simple calculations.

With a 300ml pot, insulated on all sides with 1cm thick polystyrene foam, a 3W dynamo will heat the full pot of water to 80degC in a bit over 30min. That seems quite doable. The water won't get any hotter than 80degC with a 3W dynamo but assuming you could cook rice longer at lower temperature, that is fine. With a 16W system that becomes much more possible again.

So, I changed my mind - it seems like something to throw some effort at to test the idea! :thumb:

I also thought cooking rice with a dynamo is a really impossible, at most completely impractical, idea; so before shooting my mouth off I made some simple calculations.

With a 300ml pot, insulated on all sides with 1cm thick polystyrene foam, a 3W dynamo will heat the full pot of water to 80degC in a bit over 30min. That seems quite doable. The water won't get any hotter than 80degC with a 3W dynamo but assuming you could cook rice longer at lower temperature, that is fine. With a 16W system that becomes much more possible again.

So, I changed my mind - it seems like something to throw some effort at to test the idea! :thumb:

30 min? It takes 4.2 Joules to heat 1 gram of water 1 degree celsius. So to heat 300g 60 degrees it takes 75600 J. There are 5400 J delivered by a 3W source in 30 min. You need more like 7 hours, but it's still doable because 300ml of water makes enough rice for an entire day. You only need like 100ml for a meal, so we're down to 140 minutes, and if we use a 16W source we're down to about 25 minutes of heating (figure an hour total cooking time to satisfy murphy's law).

I think I'm going to use one of these:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41g87KZWk5L._AA280_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/Lewis-N-Clark-12V-Travel/dp/B001TUZRXU)
or maybe one of these if I decide it's more expedient to cook for the whole day at once:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31tzEKsm1ZL._SL500_AA280_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/12V-Hot-Pot-20-oz/dp/B000667QL4/ref=pd_sbs_sg_5)

30 min? It takes 4.2 Joules to heat 1 gram of water 1 degree celsius. So to heat 300g 60 degrees it takes 75600 J. There are 5400 J delivered by a 3W source in 30 min. You need more like 7 hours...Well I screwed that up somewhere... good thing I don't do calcs for a living! :P

Ah crap I do! :twitchy:

so any1 have a link of the specs of this shimano hub that is supposed to be coming out in march?

Check out the eastern European staple, kasha, buckwheat groats. Much more sustaining than plain rice. Easy to cook, too. If you pre-soak it the cooking time can be greatly reduced.

If you pre-soak it the cooking time can be greatly reduced.

Interesting point; wouldn't it apply to any grain? If it's going to take many hours to heat the water, the rice in the cooker would effectively be soaking a good long while no matter what.

Experiment, guys, and report back!

I have used the 6 & 12 volt plug in kettles before when I was a freelance mechanical engineering fitter travelling and working across Europe .... they are next to useless!

However, I do enjoy camping and have undertaken 10-14 days cycling holidays & expeditions, and for boiling water quickly and cooking a meal for 1, 2 or 3 persons the Kelly Kettle takes some beating. https://kellykettle.com/ in mine, I have boiled 2.5 (UK) pints of water in 3 minutes using a handful of shredded paper, I have cooked meals for 3 of us, burning either; twigs, dried grass, bark, wood chips and off-cuts from a saw mill, BBQ charcoal & brickettes. it will even burn dried animal dung. It is light weight, easily stored and carried, and very quick and efficent to use, mine goes everywhere with me now when we have days out, camping trips and cycling tours.

I admire you for wanting to power a rice cooker from a bicycle dynamo, but know that you are following the wrong path there. As a mechanical engineer and bicycle advocate my heart says " go for it man" but as an ex-military man of many years service in most of the world's severest conditions, who knows the benefit and moral boost that a quickly made hot drink or a meal can give to a person, especially if you can immediately have a 2nd one, my advice for you is to follow the conventional path of using a light weight stove.

Yes, RHM, I think it would apply to all grains. Buckwheat groats, by the way, aren't really grains. They're fruit seeds or something.

I used to do a lot of backpacking so I'd choose foods that required no cooking or were quick and easy to prepare and clean up afterwards. You can find a lot on this subject on backpacking forums and in backpacking books

Gareth - Have you ever seen the Zip Ztove, now called the Sierra Stove? It was my old favorite.