Lex Fati

Nice job putting this together, Paul. I'll have to remember Calhoun as another option in the future. Being able to get a pre-built wheel makes dyno lighting more accessible.

I second the Shutter Precision hub as a good quality dynamo hub at a reasonable cost, and it is available in a disk brake version. I have the rim brake version on my winter bike and am very happy with it after two years and lots of miles. Compared to the Schmidt SON on my primary, I haven't noticed any difference as far as drag, resistance, or power output.

Having gone dynamo, I won't turn back, but Tarwheel makes a very important point about the significantly higher initial investment. Both have their advantages, and initial investment usually makes battery the sensible choice for many people. For a 1/2 hour commute, good battery lights are probably more than sufficient.

I would be cautious of making direct "brightness" comparisons between dynamo and battery lights, though. Battery lights are usually measured in lumens (brightness), while dynamo lights are measured in lux (brightness over area). It isn't uncommon for a dynamo light's beam to cover more of the road than its battery counterpart, even though the battery light is brighter.