Thanks again everyone for your responses.
Originally Posted by
jeisenbe
What manufacturer made those hub dynamos? Are you sure the dynamos were broken, rather than the lights?
That's a good question. It could have been the lights. They were all Lumotec lights with Shimano dynamo hubs. I guess because the lamp worked on the grandpa bike I assumed that on the other bikes it must have been the dynamo at fault and not the lights.
I've heard only good things about the modern Shimano, Sturmey-Archer and SON hub dynamos, and have heard no reports of them wearing out early. Really, what is there to wear out? They are made of permanent magnents and wire. The bearings will eventually wear out, but that would happen with any sort of hub.
I think corrosion could be a main culprit in spite of the fact the dynamos are supposed to be sealed.
Remember that Shimano makes a "Rollerbrake" (their trademark), which is basically a drum brake turned sideways, with many of the same pros and cons. The Sturmey Archer hub with drum brake and dynamo is a great deal, however, and I have read it has the same basic internal dynamo as the Shimano.
The Sturmey Archer hubs are much better looking too, IMO. They have a more vintage-ish look. The Shimano roller brake isn't very pretty at all. There are a lot of stamped parts that scream "low-end". In addition to that, Sheldon Brown has this to say: "I particularly advise against using a front Rollerbrake, because the front hubs made for these brakes incorporate the infamous and wrong-headed "Power Modulator " mechanism which reduces the effectiveness of the brake." (
Found it here.) The only problem with the Sturmey is that feedback about it is very sparse. The only significant thing I've found was this YouTube video, which was disheartening:
With your desire for drum brakes, I would go with the Sturmey Archer drum/dynamo hub. You will either need a new bike or new wheel anyway (unless you already have a front drum brake?), and the dynamo is a very small incremental cost in this case, not much more than a bottle dynamo. The bottle dynamo DOES have several moving parts which care be damaged or worn out. I think the hub dynamo will prove more durable, especially in Los Angeles, where the bike will be banging around in bike racks.
I'll be building this bike up from scratch. New wheels have always been part of the equation, so the cost of having them built is a
fait accompli. My concern about the reliability of the hub dynamo is that I don't want to end up having the wheel rebuilt
again in a couple of years.
At this point I've pretty much decided to go with the Sturmey 8 speed drum brake in the rear, and the Sturmey drum/dynamo hub up front. The dearth of reviews of the hubs has me more nervous about it than I'd like to be. If someone knows a good source of rider/owner reports, I'd love to know it.
Originally Posted by
hammond9705
I've got a SON hub dynamo that is 3 and 1/2 years old, probably has 5000 miles and still running strong, never had a problem. I know that if you read the rando forums, that people get many more miles then that on them too. I've always heard very good things about the SON hub which is why I invested the money in one.
I've heard great things about the SON hub as well. But as I've indicated, it's not in the running because it's not offered with a drum brake.
Thanks again everyone for your input.