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Anyway, I have also seen photos of French "constructeur" bikes with bottom bracket dynamo controlled by a shift lever near the top of the seat tube. But I have not seen photos of any dynamo controlled by that lever. In fact I find it a little difficult to picture just how that works. I guess it depends on the specifics of the dynamo, and I don't know what dynamo it was.
Anyway, I'd like to hear people's experiences, and I'd like to see photos (or Daniel Rebour drawings, or anything you have) of these systems.
a quick search pulls up one of the Yellow Jersey's pages that shows a Union BB dynamo with a remote control:
Union German Dynamo Systems at Yellow Jersey
The photos don't show how the cable actuates the dynamo, though.
A quick browse through The Data Book only shows a remote controlled bottle dynamo.
Similarly, a quick browse through The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles shows a few bottle dynamos that have a cable operated remote lever, but no remote BB dynamos.
I know that I've seen photos of the remotely operated BB dynamos, but don't think I've seen details of how the cable was used to actuate them.
It's definitely an interesting aspect of vintage bike lighting. My impression is that BB dynamos weren't in production for long... at least in the big scheme of things. When did they first show up?? Late 70's or early 80's? Once Schmidt started selling their SON hub dynamo around the year 2000, other types of dynamos started fading away quickly.
Steve in Peoria