mickey85

and the chance to try them out. Yeah, they're the old-fashioned, cheapy, sidewall run lights, but NO MORE BATTERIES! fricking sweet.

One thing though, is that since I'm only dealing with 1.5w per light, you REALLY have to have your night vision to use them to any decent extent. Perhaps with my summer job money I can get a hub dynamo and relegate this setup to the Free Spirit, but for the time being, it works pretty darn well.

Torrilin

You *can* get sidewall generators that put out enough power for lights that meet German, Dutch and Danish lighting standards. That's what's on my bike, and it makes many other lights look wimpy. Still not good enough for riding offroad at night, but I don't do that... so it's ok. It is plenty of light for on road use, and the B&M lights have a good beam pattern.

I still want a hub generator, because a high power sidewall generator feels a lot like riding one cog higher when it's on. Also, it chews on tires. Not *fast*, but enough that I'm not comfortable running lights all the time.

PaulRivers

I have a Shimano Alfine front hub dynamo and a Lumotec Cyo. I'm not saying it was cheap - the dynamo came with a pretty expensive bike, and the front light cost $110 plus installation itself (to be fair, I was just to lazy to install it myself so I payed someone else to do it).

But I'm a picky guy when it comes to the light shining far enough ahead, and when I'm riding in the dark on a straight trail I have *NO* need for any other lights. It's that bright, and believe me - I insist on a ton of light. The well-shaped beam also puts the light exactly where you need it - it's great. The only drawback is that it's ok, but I rather wish it put out more light when I'm riding in the rain or near city streets where the ambient light is enough to reduce my night vision but not enough to totally light up the street.

JanMM

LED lights with NiMH batteries are such an easy-to-get-along-with combination that I can't imagine going any other direction, for my needs, anyway. Haven't used a generator since a Sanyo under-chain-stay model around 1985. Modern generator hub systems do look pretty good, though.

genec

Tend to agree... but I still have my Sanyo as a backup... I may just wire it to some LED lights though.

Schwinnrider

There are "see" lights, and "be seen" lights. The old bottle dynamos weren't really either. If you're using your generator for the headlight only, that's OK but if you're running head- and taillights I'd suggest buying a Planet Bike Superflast blinkie for security. Brighter is better.

Hub dynamos are awesome---if you buy the right light. Shimano's dynohubs are 90% as good as Schmidt at half the price. But their lights suck. The hub lighting gurus all like Busch and Mueller. Pricy though

I considered it but for less money I got a DiNotte 600L. That's like the eye of God blazing in front of me, and it runs for a LONG time(6 hours) on high. And high is bright enough to make motorists flash their brights at me. LOL.

Seriously, though, generator lighting is cool. Just be safe and smart.

mickey85

Well, I've still got my two, AAA powered blinkies on the back, but those things run for two hours a day, and have been going for about 3 months now with no battery changes, and no dimming, so I'm not concerned about those. The generator powers a headlight and tail-light, but I'm really tempted to yank the tail light...

baron von trail 

Off-road, MUP rider here. I need two 20w headlamps just to feel reasonably safe riding through the pitch black darkness. My rechargeable Ni.Cd batteries weigh a ton. I can't wait for fuel cell technology to make another leap or two.

noglider 

Is there such a thing as a hub generator with a clutch that allows you to disengage the generator? Wouldn't that be ideal?

elbows

When you turn the light off, there's no load on the generator so there's no added drag.

evblazer

If you are talking about sidewall then yes you pull the generator off and there is no load. On a dynohub there is still more resistance in it then a normal hub even with the light off.. At least according to Peter White https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/Shimano3N70.asp
Shimano NX-30 / Shimano DH-3N70/71/72/80 & Alfine / Schmidt SON
Efficiency at 15 km/h, (about 10 mph)
49% / 53% / 64%
Energy required of the rider to rotate the hub when the lights are turned off at 30 km/h.
6.5 watts / 2.2 watts / 1.5 watts
Weight
720 grams / 680 grams / 575 grams

Juha

^^Umm... make that very little added drag, and even that depends on which dynohub you have. The Schmidt SON really excels when it comes to drag, or lack of it.

Current sidewall generators are subject to same legislation as dynohubs in Germany, so if you buy a Busch & Mueller bottle dynamo it has to meet the same basic output requirements as the SON. It cranks out the same 3W at about 0,5A to power a 6V light.

--J

[edit] I see evblazer beat me to it [/edit]

CliftonGK1

Twin Supernova E3 Triples would be brighter than the 40w of lighting you have now.
The downside is the four figure initial investment for the lights/hub/wheel
And if you're going technical, you lose lamp intensity if you slow below 8mph.

I've seen some generator systems advertised as "great for off-road" but I've never seen the practicality in it.

baron von trail 

thx, I will need to look into this.

andrelam

My Shimano 71 series generator hub has Ultegra bearings, and runs amazingly smoothly without the lights turned on. When you hold it in your hands you feel the "notches." I compared how long my wheel would spin with the tire on, with the OEM Bontrager Camino wheel and the Shimano hub wheel that PEter White built. Interestingly the generator hub wheel spun smoother and for longer than the OEM wheel. Now if I were to compare an Ultegra front hub wheel to one with the generator hub that also has Ultegra bearings I am sure the plain Ultegra hub will win out, but Shimano built a very nice hub. I can only imagine how nice the SON hub must be.

As far as energy loss with it running. I have tried it back and forth and while riding I just can't tell when the lights are on or off. I've heard some say that the extra couple of watts of energy used would equal something like a 10 second slow down on a 50 mile ride... not something I'll ever notice.

I love having to never worry about batteries for the front light. The rear PB Super Flash runs for well over a month with rechargable batteries, but I can remember to charge them about once a month. I'd probably forget the charge the main lap at some point and then run out of light on the way to work or home... that would not be good.

Thankfully LED lighting technology has come a long way and the newer B&M lights are amazing for right around $100.

Happy riding,
André