Originally Posted by
SquireBlack
The best output for your pedaling effort, and for your money, seems to be the
Forumslader V5. It comes as a kit, which I think is within my capabilities to assemble. I haven't figured out how to actually order one, though; their website says "order by email", but gives no address. Does anyone have one?
One downside to the Forumslader is that it requires you to switch off the bike lights to charge a device. Of course, when the lights are on, there is much less power available for any charger to harvest, but I found (somewhat to my surprise) that the B+M USB-Werk would work fine with the lights in "daytime running light" mode. If all I'm doing is keeping my GPS topped up, there is plenty of power. Many other chargers have the same "feature", I've been learning.
Gauvins has used one, check out:
Forumslader (USB charger) - first impressions
If I recall, he could feel the drag on the hub when charging things because it was so efficient at getting the most out of the hub.
Cycle2charge is another one out there that claims high output, no cache battery. I considered ordering one but when I saw the cost with shipping to USA from manufacturer, I decided to use what I had instead of trying a new one. I just looked for the link for them and saw they no longer sell direct, but I am not researching that further.
https://www.cycle2charge.de/index.php/en/
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On my rando bike I get 2.5 watts on average while rolling from the Sinewave Revolution, lights off, this is based on my speed on exercise rides which are mostly on the flat. But with my IQ-XS and Secula lights on, I got 0.6 watts out of the Sinewave. Not sure what my average speed was, probably near 13 to 14 mph when you factor in some of the riding was on streets which involve stop lights and stop signs.
If I recall, you have the IQ-X, that being a higher wattage light than my XS, I suspect that you would get less power out of the USB port than I did.