Longevity of Sidewall Generators?
06-21-07, 12:34 PM
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Longevity of Sidewall Generators?
I'm really curious about the longevity of sidewall generators such as Dymotec's offerings. Can anyone provide insight on this? Thanks. 
06-23-07, 09:45 PM
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I used to own a few bikes with these sidewall generators. In fact back in Japan where I grew up almost all commuter/around town type bikes have em. I have never had any problems with them, very robust.
06-23-07, 09:57 PM
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i'd recommend against the ones you can buy at canadian tire/kmart/similar stores. The one I got was usable, but not really worth the $10 USD i paid for it. It had an overheating problem. (would shut off until cooled off, if i rode faster than ~ 12mph for more than a couple minutes) The incandescent bulbs burned out fairly quickly too.
I switched to cateye LED lights that I use on blinking mode, and I rarely have to worry about batteries-- i recharge 'em every 4 months or so.
You may have already known this, but from what I hear any sidewall generator is a poor choice in the rain. The one I had was hopeless in the rain, in any case.
I switched to cateye LED lights that I use on blinking mode, and I rarely have to worry about batteries-- i recharge 'em every 4 months or so.
You may have already known this, but from what I hear any sidewall generator is a poor choice in the rain. The one I had was hopeless in the rain, in any case.
06-24-07, 06:20 PM
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Originally Posted by powerglide
I used to own a few bikes with these sidewall generators. In fact back in Japan where I grew up almost all commuter/around town type bikes have em. I have never had any problems with them, very robust.
There were plenty of bikes in Japan that looked like they'd had the snot beat out of them, but their generators still functioned. I think you'll be fine with one of these; it may outlast the bike!
