SA Dynohub Help
 

I have a 58 Humber that I have completely taken apart, dipped, polished, greased, and reassembeled, with the exception of the front wheel. The dynohub has an incredible amount of drag. Is it a really bad idea to not include the magnet portion when reassembling the wheel. Will it work? Or am I just asking for loads of trouble...

The lights won't work :) You are very likely to permanently weaken the magnet strength and the Dynohub will then never produce worthwhile voltage if/when you reassemble it.

Dynohubs aren't hard to service, just have to be careful with the disassembly.

Aaron:)

And remember to adjust the bearing cones whilst the wheel is in the frame, and double-check the adjustment after tightening the axle nuts down.

The lack of fixing nuts on these hubs (most Sturmey hubs, for that matter) can drive some folks nuts if they're not familiar with it - I recall one of the LBS wrenches fiddling in utter confusion when a '62 Superbe came in one day with a severely jammed front Dynohub - ended up adjusting and re-mounting it for him (Problem? Cones were too tight) before he did any further damage.

-Kurt

THe dynohub is supposed to have drag. That's the magnets. It both pulls and pushes, though, so once you get going it's almost equal. Greatest light source for a bike. I put them on four of my bikes. If I had more, I'd install'em.

Drag from magnets, yes. Friction from bearing races, no.

The latter was the case (in an extreme form) on the example I fixed. Pretty much jammed.

-Kurt

Thanks for all the responses. I do appreciate it.

But in regards to the previous questions...
1. The hub was missing a bolt to secure the wires. I think it would be very difficult to find a whitworth bolt that small. Or at least I dont want to go through the trouble.
2. The bike did not come with a light.
3. It is for my wife to ride. She IS NOT going to ride in the dark. It is not going to happen. i know her too well.

Find another period wheel and ebay the dynohub. No reason to kill it just because it isn't going to be used. I am willing to bet you could find someone on here willing to trade you another wheel for it.

Aaron:)

+1. Find another period wheel and ebay the dynohub. No reason to kill it just because it isn't going to be used. I am willing to bet you could find someone on here willing to trade you another wheel for it.

Agreed. Shame to destroy one of these beauties. There are lots of other wheels out there that will fit the bill if you don't want the dynohub function.