I've been using the Sanyo, probably the cheapest Dynohub, and I haven't noticed the slight increase in weight, the drag, or the tiny increase in moment of inertia in practice.

To be difficult about these things makes no sense to me, since I take great pride in being the source of my own energy. If I really wanted to conserve the calories burned by those 8-10 watts of output, I'd be burning dinosaur carcasses rather than burritos.

There's no need to buy terribly expensive stuff and build your own wheel, either. There's a seller on E-Bay who has a $95 wheel with the Sanyo, shipped. I'm sure it'll lead me down the path of upgrading, but I'm going to hold onto this wheel for a low budget commuter build down the road.

I'm not sure it's the answer for everyone, but I think the market share has been depressed by the historical problems the systems faced when they were powering light bulbs and some of the misconceptions that should be quelled by the capacitance in the standlight features. Even after short rides I have to discharge the capacitor with a conductor after returning home to my apartment because the rear, with no switch, will stay lit for 10-15 minutes of bright red light and makes my place like a disco lounge. Modern LED technology, the attendant electronics, optics and manufacturing have done wonders for these systems. I recall looking about 7-8 years ago and just buying a high power halogen lamp. When I looked again this year (mostly because I'm interested in solid state electronics and LEDs in particular, since I've been making solar cells for the past 5 years or so) I was absolutely shocked and disappointed I hadn't done the switch sooner.