I have a 15mm thru-axle hub on my MTB, never had any issues for the two years I've had it. With a Triple LED light from Supernova, lots of light and it doesn't break (or at least it hasn't).

I have four Shimano dyno hubs on various bikes, super reliable and makes lots of power at low speed.

I have a Shutter Precision PV-8 on my main commuter bike, with a B&M Luxos headlight. It's a nice combination and works well. However, to be totally honest, I am just as happy using my Light& Motion Urban 850 rechargeable light. The brightness is about the same and the L&M light was much, much less expensive. It also can be easily swapped among my bikes and is extremely light weight. Save your money unless that is not an issue and you have compelling reasons to own a dynamo light system.

I ride home from the Pub after dark, and within a few yards , without doing anything, my lights work, that is my benefit.

I've heard a lot of positive feedback about the Light & Motion lights. For night rides on the mountain bike I'll definitely need to look at those since my old light system is dead.

Biketiresdirect.com has most of the L&M lights on sale right now (at least for regular customers). Or a simple web search could find bargains. It's amazing to me that you can buy an 800+ lumen light for less than $100 these days. Five to ten years ago, you would have spent hundreds of dollars for a light that was less bright, much heavier and bulkier.

I have two shimano 3n-72. One on my commuter coupled with a B&M headlight and tail light and one on my touring bike with both headlight and tail light. The touring headlight also has a USB port for powering other devices. I have never had any issues with the shimano hubs at all and love the convenience of light and energy whenever I need it. I will say, however, that I do lust after an SON hub, but I don't know if I can justify (at least to my wife's satisfaction) the huge price differential.

This:

https://clevercycles.com/shimano-alfi...dt-spokes-disc

I bought a $99 version that included an inexpensive shimano dynamo hub laced to am 36 hole wheel... it has been perfect. I imagine the one in the link is much better quality. I have had zero issues and I commute 200+ days per year... lights on always.

I got one of those prebuilt wheels off Ebay with a Sanyo hub, spent about $50 or 60 getting lights from Germany (Lumetec IQ Cyo T 60 lux and taillight). I use it on my shopping bike, its great and I'm glad I did it. Yeah the Sanyo isn't great but it's always ON and for a total around $150 a great deal for what I use it for. I would use it for commuting too.

when you decide to charge devices from your dynamo, the price about doubles....tour divide racers were quoting 500 plus for their setups.

I have an older Sanyo dynamo hub I got over ten years ago; it was already old then. No problems. I also have, or have had, several old Sturmey Archer hubs, including a Mark II 12 volt unit from the 30's. I like the Sturmey Archer ones because you can take them apart, replace the bearings, clean them, whatever you want (except for that Mk II one; something's rusted inside and I can't get the dynamo unit to drop out the way it should, so I can't get to one of the bearings.... frustrating!). They also appear to me to be very efficient. I have put LED's in old headlights to maintain that classic look, and the result is good. Not quite as good as hi-tech LED headlights, but way better than any filament bulb.

I have also had several Shimano hubs over the last ten years. The first was a 3n-30, I think, that i had on my folding bike for years of year-round commuting. After maybe 10k miles it became very noisy and I naively tried to overhaul it, and that was the end of that (I severed a wire somewhere and couldn't reconnect it). I had two 3n-20's that I got pretty cheap ($35 each, I think). One I put on my son's bike and it failed within a half year. The other, I had it for a couple years before putting it on a 650b wheel I had on a tour a couple years ago. I don't remember what it was on before the 650b wheel. Anyway, on tour the hub started making really alarming noises, loud popping sounds. It continued to generate power and didn't seem to have more friction than before, but I just couldn't stand the noise so I retired it. I now have other Shimano hubs, including an Alfine one and I don't know what else, on two or three bikes. No troubles with those.

I have a Sanyo on my folding bike now, and a SON-28 on my touring bike... no problems there.

All in all my only complaint about Shimano hubs is that they cannot be overhauled, or at least not by me. I would be reluctant to mess with any of them, other than the old chromed steel Sturmey Archer hubs.

That's a good testimony, Rudi, and you have a bigger sample size than most of us do. Shimano hubs have a good reputation, but you've had problems with three Shimano hubs and no problems with two Sanyo hubs. I realize that sample isn't big enough to show convincingly that Sanyo hubs enjoy better reliability overall, but it's still interesting. So what's bad about the Sanyo? I gather it creates the most friction, but I have two, and I can't feel the loss as I ride. Sanyo hubs also can't be overhauled, and we can't even replace the cartridge bearings (as I understand it) but if it's not going to fail, what do I care.

-chargers are about $200. $500 for everything is about right