DT Swiss has released their first dynamo hub, which is in reality a Taiwan made Shutter Precision brand hub with a DT Swiss logo slapped on. However, there is a difference with the DT Swiss branded hub: the flanges have been changed to straight pull spoke. The price is $237.

A couple of articles covering the announcement:
https://www.bikeradar.com/news/dt-sw...l-7-dynamo-hub
https://bikepacking.com/news/dt-swiss-dynamo-wheels/

For reference here is the Shutter Precision self branded hub, current street price $147.
https://www.universalcycles.com/shop....php?id=100207

An interesting option for those who desire to build a dynamo wheel with straight pull spokes.

I saw those today and I said to myself "I bet they are special SP Hubs" and then I said "wait only 24h...boooooo" but in the end I have no real need or want for straight pull. However it is a nice thing to see more pre-built dynamo stuff that lands a little cheaper I know some customers who will appreciate it. SP does make a decent hub. I really haven't found much fault with mine.

When I saw the picture, I immediately recognized it as an SP. They need someone to figure out how to program their cnc lathes to make more interesting shapes. I haven't had any trouble with my sp hubs. The ones I have used the most are on my gravel bike and my mtb, so they have gotten beat up.

On this forum there have been two reports of SP hub failures, I think both were bearings if I recall correctly. One of those threads included discussion of DIY bearing replacement.

I have three SP hubs, have been trouble free. The last one, I think I built the wheel four years ago. At that time I was thinking of future proofing the wheel. Would be used on a quick release fork, but considered getting a thru axle hub with QR adapter. But when I looked at the price I decided to just get the QR hub that was much cheaper.

I see bandied about on the interwebs the talks of bearing failures but I am curious what actual sample size of SP users that is? I would wonder if they have done any subtle improvements and if those potential failures have been pre or post improvements if those existed. I have had no issues so far with mine but I haven't really abused it significantly and it has been less used in recent years. I will say I think my SON hubs have maybe a little less drag but honestly the two SON equipped bikes are different from each other and different from the SP equipped bike and unfortunately the SON hubs are both disc and the SP is rim (and all have different lights) so I couldn't really do a proper same bike side by side test

I know more people personally that have had a SoN failure than have had an SP failure. You hear about the failures, not the non-failures.

I paid the extra for a TA hub, and then they immediately came out with a different TA standard. So be careful with your choices, you might change the course of history like I did. Now that you can get SP from QBP, I get a discount on them from my lbs. My last bike was going to get a SoN, but that was far too much. Definitely TA for that bike.

It is quite true, someone who has a bad experience will tell a lot of people and spread it quickly.

All of my dynamos thus far have been problem free. In fact all my wheels have been pretty problem free aside from bearing service needed on my rear White Industries T11 hub which took a little time to get set back up but is now good to go. It came loose on a ride but I was able to diagnose the problem and luckily no damage or anything and it is fixed now. I didn't really complain because I know I am heavier rider and have put that hub through a lot over many years of riding and hadn't done much to it so I couldn't be mad.

I am sure there have been many iterations of their design. This was one of the failures I have read of on this forum. I hope I never need to go through the procedure he describes.
Shutter Precision hub bearing replacement

In looking at the photos at that link, a thought came to mind - I wonder if the through axle hubs have stronger bearings, their bearings are probably much larger.

I was warned about the Panasonic/Sanyo dynamo hub because it has the highest drag and because it's impossible to replace the bearings. So far, so good. Sometimes, I don't need the best of things. It's interesting to see which thing is "better" than the other, but that doesn't mean I need it. If my hub fails, it's not that big a deal since I build my own wheels.

You mu$t have found a good place to buy $poke$.

Otherwise, changing a hub can cost a lot more than just the hub cost.

I've found a lot of excuses to build wheels for myself. Maybe I'm a bit spend-thrifty that way, as I enjoy it so much. I still don't regret all the wheels I've built for myself. I currently own seven bikes, including our tandem.

I buy spokes from Lee Kirkpatrick (childhood_dreams). He used to have just about the lowest prices, and maybe he still does. He cuts and threads by hand.

My theory is that wheel building is like the male equivalent of knitting. It's a pleasant experience that isn't really that hard but provides an opportunity to develop a few skills and results in a useful item. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long to build all of the wheels you could ever need, and it's not like they wear out quickly.
Maybe I need to learn how to weave spokes into a nice pot holder??

Steve in Peoria

This is an accurate description except that I seem to build a wheel or two every year. I've been thinking seriously about knitting. My nervous energy requires my fingers to stay busy all the time. I've found that rolling a pen in my fingers doesn't distract people, but I'd like to do more. I once brought a wheel in progress to a meeting, and it didn't go over well. Knitting seems to be acceptable in many situations. I don't really need scarves, sweaters, or socks, but I could give them away, and they're nice things. Knitting is also one of the most portable crafts, and it seems like I could pause and resume a project at almost any point.

Shimano dynohubs fail right and left, but nobody mentions it. Who would design a cup and cone hub that can't be overhauled? Shimano. I have one that's probably ruined. I can't make myself throw it away because people have figured out how to overhaul them, but I've never overhauled a hub that felt like that which was still worth riding.

I have a sister who knits a lot, and there are a lot of grandkids to make gloves and hats and little Minion figures for (the Minions are really cute). She was making little knitted mice with catnip for my cat for many years. I did make a little cat toy using an old spoke and some string, but the knitted catnip mouse was more popular.

also... you can knit on an airplane to pass the time. Good luck getting your wheel truing stand set up on your fold-down tray!

Steve in Peoria

All I've got are Schmidt hub dynamos, and I haven't had a bearing failure yet.
I know that the first version had to go back to Peter or Germany for bearing replacement, and I think(?) the second could be disassembled... but I have no idea how that would actually work. The need to have wires running out of the axle makes any bearing maintenance much more complicated.
Is there a hub dynamo that makes it easy replace or re-lube the hub bearings?

I could excuse the use of cup and cone bearings if they were sealed well enough to last 10 or 20 years. .. or if there was a port to permit injection of new grease (as was done for some SunTour components a long time ago).

Steve in Peoria

I have two and have had no trouble yet. I picked both up used. As I recall, their drag when not being used for power is substantially more than the Son but only marginally more when engaged. Whatever, one of them did a satisfactory job powering my electronics on a tour from Missoula to Denali a couple years ago and still seems to be going strong.

The bearings are important (and SON will tell you what they use while SP will not), but there's another reason entirely as to why SON hubs last longer.

As the dynamo draws power it generates heat which causes pressure to build inside the hub. If the hub doesn't have some mechanism to pressure equalise then it'll try to pull/push through the bearings, which depending on what's around could draw in stuff that doesn't work well in bearings. SON hubs have a balloon mechanism to keep the pressure the same and prevent this from happening.

I bought my failed shimano used and it has a lot of miles on it. I rode halfway across France, gave up, and rode back with that hub. Possibly twice, I don't remember when it failed. Still seems wrong to make something like that disposable. But that's always the way they have done things.

There was, I don't think anyone bought it. It might have been made by SP, but someone else sold it, IIRC. It had a cartridge that was easily available, but expensive. There was also a hub with a clutch, but nobody bought that either.

I knew one randonneur who experienced the pressure equalization problem on a rainy night in central Pennsylvania. No lights is a real bummer under those circumstances. I imagine he had had the opportunity to get the recall done and just ignored it until his hub failed. There must be ways to keep water out other than what SoN did or we'd be hearing about SP's failing more often. I'm pretty sure SP sells a lot more hubs than SoN at this point. Anyone that puts their own brand on a dynohub is selling SP's. There are lots of people using them in really rough conditions. SP might not tell you what bearings they use, but it's pretty apparent. Right now, they are so cheap that it's not really worth replacing the bearings, given that you have to unbuild the wheel.

My biggest problem with SoN hubs is the spade lug terminals. I have fixed a couple of those for other people. Once was by the side of the road with mosquitoes trying to drink all of my blood. That was fun. I fixed another at a hotel. For some reason, I had my crimpers with me. Anyone that has a SoN hub and hasn't retrofitted the coax connector is a silly person. The SP/Shimano connector is not the greatest thing, but at least you can fix it by the side of the road. Possibly at the expense of some wear on your teeth.

I guess I have that hub. It was sold by Velo Orange briefly. It might fail one day, but so far, so good. I think that over the years, the vibration has increased, but I can't be sure. The funny thing is that I rarely disengage the hub since I like to use my lights day and night.

I suspect most of those hubs were bought on clearance. I would have gotten one if the price was right.

It's just bizarre how almost nobody rides a SA XL-FDD. Only about $140us and comes with FREE all weather brakes as good as any disc. This and the Rohloff14 are the BEST things I've ever bought.
My first one has 33,000 miles including both tours of 8,100 miles at 120 lbs. One bearing went at 17,000 miles, pretty simple fix but need to re-solder the wire. Lights always on. WH 2.3/ 2.0 spokes still strong as an ox, even after I took it apart after 8 years, cut the spokes 10 mm and re-laced at 2x. Only scratches still are the ones from weaving the spokes. LOL.
2 years ago the pull arm was at the designed limit and cutting into the cable. So I made a straighter/ longer arm and it's now good for another 4,000 miles on my #2 bike now. I built a new wheel exactly the same for the tour bike. NO stinky annoying blinky for me.
Only Aaron in Seattle promotes this hub. SA never gets mentioned in any comparisons with these other dumb and or triple expensive hubs. Pfffft
What drag?? I have gone 46 mph with it. Here it is on a 129 mile HILLY ride. >>>

I have a vintage SA 3 speed rear dynohub. Someday I'll make it work.

Not all SA drmbrakes have out of the box good brake performance. Sometimes the brake pads have to be grinded lightly to allow full contact between brake pad and drum surface.
Also short brake cable routing with as little bends as possible ist highly recommended.

If this is done brake performance is very good.

SA drums are used in recumbent trikes and velomobile and are often due to above mentioned points not satisfactory ( brake cables are usally longer and with one or two narrow turns)

>>> Yah I also give the pads and liner a light rub when I take it apart, to take off the glaze.
The rest of your post is baloney. DON'T put the cables under bar tape then. My rear cables are over 6 feet long. NO problem with either the drum or TRP Spyre disc caliper. I do have compressionless housings now. My old and new drums worked exactly the same from the start. Doesn't even matter short or long pull levers. 2 or 3 times I got OIL on the rear drum and pads, it still WORKED fine. Rubbed with solvent and sand with 180 or 220.
The disc didn't need much breaking in either. That mount is my homemade design.
Fully loaded was 120 lbs. I had a useless POS caliper before the disc on the Rohloff14. So the front drum did 95% of the stopping for 15,000 miles.
NO recumbent weighs that. They have drums on the FRONT, so the cables can't be that long.
My other bike. I tested the brakes with a hard 39-0 mph at the bottom of a hill. NOTHING is better, including ALL conditions. >>