brianinc-ville

Just saw this thing on eBay, and can't find much technical info about it. Has anybody tried it? How does it even work? Is it an induction system, like the Reellight?

hartsu

Here you can find some experiences about the SunUp eco dynamo.
https://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tes.../index_en.html

Quite heavy when you compare the lighter hub dynamo.
I just ordered the SP PD-8 dynamo from that guy. It is lightweight and small.

unterhausen

not a bad idea, but it's pretty expensive. I probably would have ordered a SP dynamo from him had I not just ordered a Sanyo

ksisler

Re Sunup Eco" generator; The new model is selling on ebay for 125USD w free shipping. That is about twice that of the newer "low cost" (~$50) dynohubs cost. But other than that one, most dyno hubs cost more up front...averaging about $270 each if one uses the PeterWhite site as a baseline. Then one has to build it into a wheel so more cost there. If one needs a 48-spoke dynohub, the newly available cheaper ones are not available in 48...only the $270 classic one leading to the solution being about $425. That is an ouch for most folks!

I suspect the Sunup is an attempt to be as good as the classic dyno hub but in a bolt-on solution requiring no mods to the basic bike. I have confirmed with the company that it is compatable from 16 to 48-spokes. So the total bill is 125USD which is more acceptable to me than $425. I was interested enough to just order one off ebay. I am adding a good head and tail light sourced from PeterWhite's site which I will use for whatever dyno I finally end up using.

For what it is worth: One of my desires was to see if it would work on the right side of the front fork...Based on data gathered so far, it seems that such will not be likely. The space from the spokes to the fork blades is quite a bit smaller than what seems to be the space required for the dyno. I will try it to confirm it one way or the other. Shame such a placement wasn't considered during design since it is the only readily available space for use on most bikes. The intended left rear spot is already in use in many bikes for a disk (or drum) brake. I have already passed that comment back to the company. Seems their market is mostly toward bikes with rim brakes (Canti's, V's, Centerpulls, etc.).

So standby for some testing results in about a week to 10 days.When the unit arrives, I'll give it a whirl and post pictures and data to the forums for all to examine and smile or snicker depending on your bent on such.

lapaffe

Hello,
Have you had any lock putting it on the front wheel?

ksisler

Lapaffe - not yet. Just too busy right now. The unit itself is rock solid and works fine. Puts out good power for lights (awesome with LED). It will fit a front wheel when there is enough of a gap between the spokes and the fork blade. A typical road or touring bike setup would not have enough room. A wheel built with a disk brake hub surely would. When I can get back to it, I will build a wheel and a folk specifically for this use. I will be putting the disk brake on the drive side ahead of the folk (flipping the wheel around so the side with the 6 bolt holes are on the drive side) and put the dyno on the non-drive side.

I was almost ready to say that I would go out to the shop and stick it on a disk hub and see if it would be close, but found that both of the front disk hubs I have on hand are 135mm OLN (I am redesigning my world towards my new tandem design which will be 160mm rear, 135mm front with mounting points for disks and canti's on both ends (10" in rear, 6" or 8" in front) but I don't have any folks made to that size yet. It will have to wait a bit.

/K

lapaffe

Ok, thanks for the insight!

2_i 

Good to hear that. Past attempts at the dynamos of this type, including Pioneer, Sram and FER, were pretty junky.

ksisler

Lapaffe - apologies in that I didn't answer your question. The answer is no re the front wheel position. The device requires an amount of space that isn't available on the front. There is nothing that would have prevented the company from making the dyno to fit on the front, they just didn't think of it. The rapid growth in disk brakes pretty much ensures a declining market for them until they re-engineer it to fit on the drive side front. I discussed this with them and their best response was an offer to let me pay for the development and production of a new model that would fit there. There is now finally an 8 watt version...

/K