The last dyno I used was a Sanyo under-BB unit in the early 80's.

Am currently a fan of LED headlights due to low cost, light weight, long battery life and lighting adequate for my suburban/urban needs.
I like the fact that I can have Cateye mounts on all my bikes and move the lights around on them as needed/desired. For commuting, the use of two headlights makes the odds of a blackout unlikely.
Fully understand the appeal of hub dyno setups, though.

I rode for several years with a lithium battery and homemade LED lights for both commutes and brevets. I've recently put a SON dynohub with IQ Cyo R front light and a wired tail light, and I'll never go back to batteries. The light from the Cyo is less watts, but the more precise beam (not just a spot, but a well defined shape) gives plenty of light and the drag is imperceptible. And not having to worry about the need for extra batteries on the long brevets is great.

And long, epic rides aren't the only place generators are good, either. I was getting annoyed with riding to work in the morning and getting halfway there only to see my battery light switch to low-battery mode.

I started keeping a battery charger at work to make sure I always had a full battery pack to get home, and I tried to remember to prep a fresh set before going to bed every night. True, it didn't take that long to do these things, but it's just another thing to do.

Once I got the dynohub, I didn't have to make battery care part of my routine. Grab the bike and go. It helps make the bike into an everyday tool, not just something for special trips.

One other thing to keep in mind is that watts are a measure of power draw, not of light output. Two lights can have the same wattage but very different brightnesses, due to differences in efficiency. This is particularly true with LEDs, since the technology is advancing very quickly.

I ran a Schmidt Edelux to my Alfine dyno hub. I understand the Edelux has enough of
a heat sink to keep leds' from over heating. I carry my bike down stairs to the cellar
at work. A wired tail light would may get frayed from all that hand carrying.
I can use a battery led tail light off my rack.

really wiring tail lights is bad?

has anyone tried cheap dynamo lights? I found some i can get ... new for 7$... LED with standing light.....:S

Wiring tail lights are bad? Didn't read that in my post.

you said they would get frayed

I have a Schmidt hub which powers Busch & Müller front & rear lights, but I wouldn't leave this bike locked up outside the cinema and go away for a few hours. I have a different bike for that sort of use which has battery lights that can be taken off.

+1 on the dyno hub. I have a SON I have been using for 3+ years now. Never an issue and I never think about lights/batteries etc. The light is there at the flick of a switch. It is one less thing to think about and one less excuse you can use to keep from riding.

damn now im scared again...
my bike is permanently in sketchy places.

I'd use a dyno if I didn't have to worry about theft or some dirtbag taekwondoing the bulb, and I like to have the option to run errands and lock up on the street. My quick release battery light takes 2 seconds to mount/remove, and I keep an extra charged battery around, so I don't forget to charge and get stuck.

I installed an SRAM i-Light D7 hub, a Spanninga XS tail light and a B&M IQ Cyo RN front light to my Sirrus. The setup is amaziing and works quite well. Even though I spent a lot on the setup, I have no problems leaving it outside for hours at a time. Everything is bolted to the bike and difficult to screw with.

If you get a dyno hub get an LED light designed to go with it. For the money using incandescents with a dyno doesn't put out enough light compared to the most basic battery and LED system. I haven't got an LED set up for the dyno yet but will soon, I feel like I've wasted $120 for the fancy German incandescent headlamp that was available at the time . For $90 basic Dinotte 200 is a worthwhile setup. You can get better NiMh than the ones they sell with the complete kit.

Has anyone tried any cheapo lights?

I have my Supernova E3 triple dyno light set up so that I can quickly disconnect it and take it with me if I have to park for long. It also alows me to easily switch the light between bikes. Supernova makes these really nice gold connectors you can use to facilitate the quick release and the handle bar mount also has a quick release for the lamp.

Check the "259". (Electronics and Lighting).

Also,

https://www.pilom.com/BicycleElectron...lectronics.htm

LED are brighter for the same power input. The only downside is cost(?) and building a rectifier.

I am building up a new commuter/utility bike, and I've decided to put on a Shimano Alfine generator hub to power front and rear lights.

Lights have not arrived, but I now have the hub and wheel in hand. I was suprised -- generator hub/wheel doesn't weigh all that much. The hub is not a big, giant thing, either.

Can't wait to get it all on the bike (not yet welded up, so it might be awhile) and see how it burns.

I decided to go this route after several winter return rides in which my batteries ran out on me.

That probably just depends on where you run the wire.

I ran mine from the headlight, down the downtube, under the BB shell, along the left chainstay, and up the rear rack. I secured it with a ziptie at each frame tube junction. I don't think I've ever grabbed the wire since installing it.

The neat thing was, when I bought the lights, it was at a shop in Germany that my sister often used. They asked if I had a taillight wire already, and when I said I didn't, they pulled some off of a spool, eyeballed it for length, and attached some spade connectors at one end for plugging it into the headlight. When I installed it, the length was almost exactly right, with just a few inches extra. Yup, they sell a LOT of that stuff over there.

I've been using a dynohub and front light on my commuter/utility bike for the past two years, locking it up wherever whenever, and haven't had any problems. I do cable my front wheel, though, as well as my saddle.

I would guess that most of us that have invested in dynohubs do so because they want a really good lighting system. Consequently, I think most of us invested in good lights as well.

One of the advantages of battery systems you are missing is portability. I have light mounts on 4 of my now six bikes. I can put mounts on all of them and swap the lights around as much as I like. If I were to go with a dyno system, I'd need at least 2 different wheelsets (one 26" and 1 700C) and probably more (one mountain bike has disc brakes but 2 do not). I'd also need light mounts...since the lights are bolted in place...for all 6 bikes. That adds a hefty sum to the total cost and much duplication.

And, if I don't need the lights, it's pretty easy to strip the light system completely off a bike with a battery system. Not as easy with a dyno...plus you'll need another wheelset

Remember also that one of the reasons that battery lights supplanted dyno lights is the need for constant light in off-road situations. If you are riding up a hill and can't put the wheel fast enough, it gets dark pretty fast.

In the era of the $90 Magic Shine light, dynos don't make a lot of economic sense either. You can buy almost 4 of them for the cost of a single headlamp dyno system. The care and feeding of a battery isn't that onerous

If you live in the U.S. how many "regular people" are going to know what a generator light actually is. I think the chances of theft of that type of setup are less likely because most have no clue what it is or how much it might cost.

I have two bikes with Shimano dyno hubs that I have had for a few years now. They are both my part time commuting bikes and will be my brevet event bikes as well this year. I run a Cyo front light and have a generator version of the PB Blaze on the other. I wanted the Cyo in the beginning and thought maybe the Blaze would be close enough at a much cheaper price. It wasn't even close the Cyo is way brighter than even dual Blazes. I will probably end up buying another Cyo for the other bike as well. I use only generator front lights and use a PB superflash battery powered light for the rear.

Some that use it for strictly around the town commuting/riding might be fine with a cheaper LED light (like the generator Blaze). My 20 mile round trip commute over half of it is rural paved roads or dirt so I need to actually see where I am going. The Cyo lights up the dirt road well enough to easily see pot holes and enough for higher speed decents (around 25-30mph).

On the other hand, someone might not bother with choosing from any of their bikes for night riding. I can see getting by with two bikes for my night riding (or even just one). I don't need to go clunking through the woods in the dark on my mountain bike, and although I've done some short night rides with my road bike, they're just not necessary.

Gimme a dynohub and running out of battery isn't even a worry.

I see your point here, but I find that on my dyno-equipped bikes (one touring/commuter/utility/all-terrain, one distance) I never feel the need to remove the lights. A buddy of mine set up his distance bike with two front wheels, one dyno-hub-based and the other a standard hub. He never uses the standard one as he found there isn't much difference between the two performance-wise.

Always having light-capacity can also be a plus as I've found myself caught in instances where I am out later than expected, and was glad to have my lights with me.

Of course, as with saddles, we all have our preferences and solutions for what works best for us.