Originally Posted by
Gypsy1
I am leaving from South Dakota through the Eastern gulf of Mexico, Belize, remote areas of South America (Ruins, Mountains, less than populated beaches, Eastern South America. I wanted lights while riding to be seen (don't really plan on night riding) so that why I thought a generator hub would be excellent option (cheaper than buying batteries). I don't want to treasure hunt for consumable items. Just keep it simple as possible.
You made a good point, I will not do a front headlight (battery powered) while on the tour.
At this point, I may sell the tablet and only document my travels in notebooks. I've reduced my tech usage over the past 7 years am may wait to upload everything upon my return, if I decide. I really only need the items that I'll be able to survive with. If the technology advances for better efficiency in the future I will look back at a complete system.
Unfortunately, here in Rapid City, none of the bike shops are educated on generator hubs, I was going to do the wiring but honestly, I'm not that educated with electrical. I can build bikes from the frame up and reverse.
I will still go with the hub Generator and do the build but might not set-up the lights until I get to Denver or Fort Collins. I'm sure there's a shop more dedicated to road and touring than just mountain bikes. Thank you all for your help!!!
I think you have to find a bike shop in a community with a lot of bicycle commuters to find a bike shop that knows dynohub lighting. There are a lot of bike commuters in my community, but I can only think of one shop that will sell you a dynohub powered taillight.
The wiring is REALLY simple on a dynohub setup with headlight, taillight and Sinewave USB charger. I use the Sinewave Revolution, not the Reactor so I am not familiar with installation, but I am sure it is the same two wire sort of wiring system that the other Sinewave uses. The Revolution just zip ties on the frame somewhere.
You might consider looking at the instructions for the Sinewave now. If it looks simple (I suspect it is running two wires to the hub), then you could certainly wire that before you leave SD. And with that you can charge AA or AAA batteries if you get the USB powered AA/AAA charger. That way you could at least keep your AAA powered taillight charged, along with your power bank on your ride to CO. Once there, decide later exactly what kind of lighting you think you need.
I have not used a headlight on a bike tour except for tunnels since I do not travel at night. My next tour, I am considering only bringing a headlight that runs off of a USB cord with no internal battery for those rare times I might need a headlamp. And with it likely never in use, it would be sitting in a zip lock in the bottom of my handlebar bag. If I ever need it, I would just power it off of the powerbank. With no dyno powered headlamp, I would not have a dyno powered taillight either. Thus, my Sinewave would be the only thing wired to my hub.
Touring I always bring two AAA powered taillights. My Iceland trip, one taillight died from corrosion in the rain. I was glad I had two.
Off topic - before you leave the country, you might consider signing up for a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) way to use the internet for making phone calls when you have wifi using an android smartphone or android tablet. I have called to USA from Iceland and to USA from Hungary using Google Voice. From Hungary, I used a netbook (small laptop) and from Iceland I used a smartphone that did not have a sim card in it. No sim card meant I had no phone plan or data plan, I was using the wifi at the hostel I was staying at. But with Google Voice I have a phone number and can call from locations where I have wifi. When I do not have wifi, they can't call me, so it is not as good as a real phone, but they can leave voicemail for me to listen to later when I have wifi. Google Voice does not work from a short list of foreign countries, not sure where the list is, but has not been a problem for me. To sign up for it you have to be in USA and have a phone here in USA at the time you sign up. Calls to foreign countries outside USA have a small charge, you keep an account with Google for payment for that. It came in handy when I had to call my credit card companies from Europe to try to get things straightened out. I signed up for Google Voice over 7 years ago, I can't remember how you sign up, so on that I can't provide any advice. On my Android smartphone I use an app called Hangouts Dialer to dial out.