Bottle (sidewall) dynamo question:
 

I've been running Schwalbe Marathons on my main commuting bicycle for a while. They seem to last pretty much forever, but I decided to try something new and put on a pair of Soma Shikoros yesterday. Not an enormous difference, but they are nice tires, and also a tad wider than the Schwalbes. But there's no generator strip, so, although it's supposed to be a stout casing, I'm concerned that my bottle dynamo will wear through the sidewalls in time. What do you all think? If anyone has experience with these specific tires with a bottle dynamo, that would be especially helpful.
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I suspect it will be fine.

What are you expecting not to be fine about about it? If it wears out the sidewall, then turn the tire around. Tread pattern direction isn't that important on a bike.

If it causes you to replace the tires faster than you wish to, then you'll know you need something different.

I haven't run a bottle generator in 55 years. But I did keep the wire more tidy and not loose. That will seem like more of a safety issue if it gets wrapped up in the wheel and is too strong and doesn't snap.

My main concern is that the dynamo will wear the sidewall so that the tire won't last very long.

That'll be a easy thing to see. Just reverse the tire on the wheel when it wears too much for you. Or put the bottle generator on the other side of the bike at that time. And you have 2 wheels on the bike. So four different places where you can put the generator.

How much of the time do you plan to use your lights? If only a little bit, that makes it less of an issue.

I do not think anyone here can give you an accurate answer, bottle generators are so rare now. I think mine went into retirement a decade ago.

I ride to work about ten miles round trip five days a week; in December it's dark both ways. Not a huge amount, but not insignificant.

I have the Dymotech, from B & M.

I started out with bottle generators when I was in the military in 1976. They annoyed me due to the added effort needed to propel my bicycle. They also slipped in foul weather. I never worried about wearing out the sidewalls. In 1980 before I transferred to Germany I bought a generator that mounted to the BB were the kickstand would go. Because it pressed against the tread of the tire it didn't slip as much as the bottle generators and there was less needed effort compared to the bottle generators. The BB generators wore out quicker than the bottle generators. When they were no longer available for purchase I didn't go back to the bottle generator. I have had a Schmidt Son 28 dyno hub for near 12 years. I don't notice the difference between off and on and foul weather is not a problem. I recommend dyno hubs to people over batteries or bottle generators.

My bottle generator usage was always on well lit streets and never more than about two miles, so I just put up with the extra noise, poor lighting, etc., and sometimes in light traffic just turned it off. But mine was incandescent, so it did not make much light. I suspect you are using LED.

If you plan on using this for years, a dynohub might be worth getting. I have a couple SP dynohubs, very happy with them.

I agree that dynamo hubs are MUCH preferable over bottle dynamos. The one exception might be where you install it with the idea that you will rarely use it. The advantages of bottle dynamos are light weight and easy installation.

It is definitely more work or money to install a hub dynamo but there's a good chance that once you get it, you'll wonder why you waited so long. That has been my experience. It weighs a bit more, and some object to that, but if weight is objectionable because it makes riding harder, that's misguided, because the bottle dynamo adds much more effort. I leave my lights on all the time because I don't perceive the drag that my hub dynamo introduces. It's there, and it's measurable, but I don't perceive it, and that's what matters to me. And having my lights on in the day might enhance my safety. I suspect it helps people see me sooner and respond to my presence and trajectory, and I believe I have seen this happen.

Whatever dynamo you use, be sure to use modern lights. They use less electrical energy, and they emit much more light than old lights. I have run modern lights with old bottle dynamos, and other than the expected drag and noise, the setup worked perfectly well.

In my case, my first two dynohubs were for touring bikes I was building up from parts. Thus, the cost was only the dynohub cost minus the cost of the non-dyno hub that I otherwise would have bought. But if you have a complete bike with a good front wheel, then the cost of a dynohub is much greater.

I was not anticipating using a dynohub for lighting much, I wanted a way to charge up batteries when I was on a bike tour and rarely had access to an outlet to plug into. But once I had the dynohub wheels, I figured I might as well put a couple lights on too.

With lights on two of my bicycles (that already had front wheels), both of my wife's, and about five of our children's bicycles, bottle dynamos are a pretty practical option. The B&M dynamos are pretty nice: I really don't notice the drag, although I can hear a whirring sound if there aren't any cars around.

I'm surprised you say that because installing 7 such systems involves a lot of time and expense. I prefer dynamo lighting but I don't put it on all of my bikes. I have movable battery lights for bikes that don't have dynamos.

I like it, we ride a lot at night and I hate charging all 4 lights on our bikes. My wife is currently using Cateye lights that use AA batteries, but the headlamp imo is not as brilliant as the chargeable ones.