RFC

These dynamo threads always get me interested.

I am thinking about trying a bottle dynamo system.

What would you recommend as a set up?

What about the Spanninga Wave Dynamo?

Thanks

unterhausen

I don't have one, and probably never will. BUt the Spanninga seem like a good choice. My experience with bottle dynos is pretty good, when I did use one I always used a tire on the dyno wheel because it reduces noise and bike tire wear.

no1mad 

I've got a question about the bottle dyno as well. Tire wear was mentioned in the previous post and I'm wondering just how quickly one of these things wear down a tire?

2_i 

I heard good things about Axa HR. I keep one as a back-up, but have not managed to test it out yet. Unless you were using a wire-brush on top of a roller, you should not need to worry about the tire wear, with the tire wearing out first from working against the road.

CaptCarrot

Tyre wear should not be an issue, but it does pay to have tyre sidewalls that are designed for use with a bottle dynamo - otherwise excess pressure may be required to reduce slippage and increases drag.

It has been a long time since I have used a bottle dynamo, and TBH since I have used a hub dynamo I will NEVER go back to bottle.

I goy a Shimano Alfine dyno-hub for ~£50 GBP, new spokes for ~£30 GBP and fitted for ~£20 GBP, so a grand total of about £100 GBP. You can pick up a nexus dyno hub for ~£25 GBP, normal spokes (I went for very specific spokes) will probably set you back ~£15 GBP - which drops it down to about £60 GBP - of course, you can always look for a prebuilt wheel to give you the option of no dynamo as well if you prefer.

Don't get me wrong, bottle dyno's are OK, I would even go so far as to say good - but hub dyno's are much better.

Just my $0.02

no1mad 

So tire wear apparently isn't a big of a concern with the sidewall dyno's as I thought. However, I do perceive another potential problem. Should the wheel come out of true, then the contact point will be either closer or further away.

christ0ph

If you ride at night a lot, a dynamo hub is definitely the way to go.

But bottle dynamos definitely fill their niche, and they do it well.

unterhausen

get a better wheelbuilder?
Any bottle dyno worth having has a spring that will accommodate some tire/wheel wobble. I probably wouldn't put a bottle dyno on something like a Conti gatorskin because there is effectively no rubber on the sidewall. Although I usually ran mine on the tread anyway.

christ0ph

Where do you like to mount yours?

unterhausen

I always used fork mounted dynamos. Up far enough on the fork that they ran on the tread, but not too far up.