I picked up a used bike and it came with a dynamo hub and didn't think anything of it, but after googling it turns out its a really high end Schmit Son 28 dynamo hub and came with a SuperNova headlight.

I was planning on parting the bike out, but am now thinking of just re-building a new wheel out of the hub as it could be useful to have on my commuter.

I know they make devices you can wire up to charge your phone or other usb devices, but was wondering if there is any other cool stuff I could do with the hub or if its worth keeping and putting money into getting a new wheelset built up around it. How effective would it be vs just carrying around a battery bank on long trips and stuff?

I take it you can't use the wheel as-is? Lights and charging are about it as far as what a dyno allows you to do. I find it very nice on the commuter not having to worry about my lights being there.

I can, but the rim is a bit dinged up and was built up for a brakeless fixie, so i I put it on my bike and use my brakes it will rub off the finish of the rim and don't want to do that just yet.

It seems like a neat idea, i'm just not sure how practical it is since lights and things now have pretty good battery life. The only touring I do is ragbrai, and the light I Have for the hub is a bit too dim for my liking for night riding ( which I do a lot of )

I'm not seeing the problem here. You don't want to rub the finish off the rim, so you're thinking of building up a wheel with that hub, new spokes and rim, and setting the dinged but finely finished rim aside? Just ride the thing!

Once you rebuild the wheel , there are many makers of the conversion USB output devises , in headlights , or freestanding.

the integrated into the top end of threadless steerers where the cap & bolt goes, are tidy

A couple sources make those..

Dynamo powered lights are not necessarily super expensive. Even if you pay for shipping from the EU somewhere, you're looking at a price around $80-90 for a higher-end light. That's not bad at all, for something you never have to worry about charging.

Of course, if that's not an issue for you, it's a moot point.

I love my dynamo powered lights. I have them on three of my bikes. I don't have to think about batteries or do anything to keep the lights working. Since dynamo-powered lights are normally bolted on, that makes them even more reliable than clamped on lights. There is a theft risk, but I've noticed that the thieves here in NYC don't steal bolted-on lights. I don't understand it, because it seems like an opportunity for them, but I have observed it.

I've been watching the systems that charge your gadgets from dynamo power. They don't seem practical to me unless you are going to ride long distances while away from power outlets. They are generally expensive, and the 5W or whatever it takes to charge a phone is really inexpensive when you take it from a wall outlet, so it is not a money saving system.

I run my lights day and night since the "cost" to do so is so low. It is robbing me of a few watts of kinetic energy, but I can't feel it, so it basically free. The benefit is that it might prevent a collision.

The hub, from what I know about dyno hubs, is supposed to be one of the best and the Supernova lights are supposed to be very good, too. Do you feel that the setup with that hub and the Supernova doesn't provide enough light?

I've gotten in the habit of leaving mine turned on all the time. It helps make the bike less invisible during the day.

I'm not worried about a 3watt rider power loss, its not going on my race bike.

I don't have any issues with my battery set up ( basically 2 $5 china lights hooked up to a battery bank thats has over 300 miles of ride time without needing re-charging.

I just have this really nice hub laying around and can't quite figure out if I should put money into it or just sell it off.

You can always build it into a wheel and decide later; modern generator hubs have practically no additional losses when they are not powering anything.

the only advantage supernovas have over other lights is that they are more rugged. The company still hasn't quite figured out how to make a good optic. I have 2, one of them is in my toolbox waiting for a reason to be used. An older Supernova is bound to be pretty pathetic in comparison to current lights from Busch and Mueller.

Yea they seem to use a central light source in a reflector not unlike a flashlight. just several of them to get the brightness.

Schmidt has B&M supply their Patented design reflector , the LED is in the Top facing Down..
on the B&M lights the top piece is Aluminum , in contact with the Copper Heat sink to cool the LED..





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my current set up is a $5 aliexpress usb light and an ankler phone battery bank. Cheaper and brighter than my cygolight setup and I've not charged the battery since I started using that set up ( battery is good for 5-6 full iphone recharges, so i'm sure a tiny led will last forever )

I'll probably just keep using that and sell off the hub.

They have gotten rid of all the multi-led lights. I expect that the OP doesn't have one, but it's possible. The newer Supernovas (last 5 years anyway) have a weird optic that is very thick on the edges and there is a hole in the middle. IIRC, it's a known technique for making a cutoff beam, but it doesn't work too well. The B&M optics are faceted to make different beams. This is why the beam is striped. I think they are getting pretty good at it, but some people are bothered by the striping

have an Eyc T , fitted lower .. a Brompton Fork crown mount.. Not sure what faceted is referring to... Got blueprints?

& 2 eDelux 1s..

If you haven't decided yet, I say don't build a wheel yet.

Thank you for this information.