Marc, I'm glad you mention how much you like your sidewall generator. It's good to know.

Long ago, I had a French dynamo system. Does anyone remember the big French name that (I believe) is now gone? Anyway, it worked flawlessly. I now have an old German-made sidewall system on my Raleigh Twenty. I haven't ridden it enough to report on it, but after sitting in a garage for 20 years unused, it spun up and provided current, so that's a good start.

Another point about sidewall dynamos: they weigh less than the marginal weight the dynamo portion of dynamo hubs, and they offer no drag when not engaged. Those are pluses (as well as the lower cost). The minus, of course, is that when engaged, they introduce more drag than a dyno-hub does. At least I believe this to be the case.