All,

Sometimes, late at night, I dream of dynamos. How much did your wheel/light/usb/etc. setup run you, when all was said and done? Which parts demand quality and high price, and which work fine on the budget end?

Thanks,
Max

I got a Shimano dynamo-hub wheel It only lasted a few Years, and That just Local use .. But wheel was just $100.*

so I got my 3rd Schmidt SON Hub .. have 2 Edelux Headlights 1 B&M Eyc T headlight and all 3 taillights.

I did My Own Wiring.. soldering , use of Heat-Shrink tube, etc.


On North America, You can Go thru Peter White Cycles for B&M & Schmidt (My LBS has an Account with him, as a dealer )

>>>Or you can buy through one of the Retail export shops in Europe for their Current posted prices ..


* Brompton wheels both factory built up (SON New XS hub DB spokes & new Brompton rim $305)
Other than that I forget .. (you can see what it all costs Now Online.. )

Others can offer their Opinions.. and service life anecdotes ..

Shimano and similar SP and S-A dynamo Hubs use a similar Plug ( I found it to come loose as I rode )

It's been a while since my first wheel, but I feel like I was able to find a built bicycle wheel with a shimano generator hub for between $100 and $150 both times I needed one. Of course if you have specific rim requirements, you may have to pay for a custom wheel. I was able to find pre-built with acceptable wheels.

For lights, I found some moderately priced Spanninga (German or Dutch company?) lights that were adequate for keeping the bike legally lit on my commute. Each light was between 30 and 40 dollars. They were strictly "be seen" lights. When I hit the greenway, away from the city lights, my headlights were largely useless, but I would keep a battery light to supplement them, and between the two of them, I could navigate dark areas reasonably well.

Then I upgraded the lights to a Luxos U. The U is extra pricey because of the built in USB charging, but that's why I bought it. The light itself is excellent. I no longer use my back up, battery light in any situation.

The next "upgrade" was my hub. I don't know that it was really an upgrade in quality because I have no complaints with Shimano, but it had another feature I was interested in: 15mm through axle. My Shutter Precision hub was near $200 (but is much cheaper with a standard axle) and seems to work very well. When building the wheel, the hub felt much more "notchy" and stiff than I remember the Shimano being, but on the bike, I can feel no difference. It's rather smaller than my Shimano hub, and, I think, is supposed to be more efficient.

I know Schmidt is the gold-standard of dynamo hubs. I've never tried one, but I have no issue with the hubs I tried. Both my Shimano hubs and my Shutter Precision hub are still in service.

My cheaper lights, however, became problematic. Rear light stopped working. Front light isn't in service, either, but that's my fault. I don't regret buying them, but if you're asking whether to splurge on the lights or the hub, I would say that I notice difference between better lights more than I notice different hubs. I have no qualms about using Shimano or Shutter Precision hubs, but good lights are worth the money.

Service life is something I can't yet put a number on. My first, Shimano dynamo ran for 5 or 6 years, probably around 3,000 miles/year, until the rim wore out, and had to be replaced. I found a good deal on a built wheel, or I would have simply re-used the hub. As it is, that hub was then built into a wheel for my folding bike, but I don't often ride the folding bike, so I don't think the hub gets much of a workout these days. The Shimano hub that replaced the original is still running as well, although it only served about 8 months as my primary wheel. Still working though. The Shutter Precision has been very reliable for the last 6 days since I finished the wheel.

My 2 Other SON hubs have been fine I Bought the one for my WTR and re laced it in the Rim, the other came in the

BTO Build, I got from Bike Friday when the Ordering customer didn't like the Color. Centerlock disc Hub..

I am also interested to hear about that. I sometimes think that investing in a dynamo would be wise, but our usage would be to recharge a power bank rather than to energize a headlight. But then the cost of the dynamo to usb power is astronomical and I say to myself that a solar panel will have to do.

Or more to the point - what setup works best to recharge a battery pack from a dynamo?

$29.95 isn't really all that much.

BioLogic ReeCharge Dynamo Kit w/ Micro-USB Cable | Premium Bike Gear

You want a quality hub. My SP Dynamo PV-8 is three years old, very happy with it. I was surprised how close the flanges are when I got it and built up the wheel, but it has performed quite well. The close flanges has not been any problem. This link has a very good discussion of the better hubs and a good general education on these hubs.
https://www.ctc.org.uk/file/public/fe...ub-dynamos.pdf

I bought the hub for a new wheel build. Thus, the only real cost for the hub was the actual hub cost minus the cost of the non-dyno hub I did not buy instead. I think I paid about $135 USD for the hub, I probably would have spent $35 for a different hub if I did not use the dyno hub, so net cost was about $100. But, if I was upgrading from a wheel that I already owned, the cost would be more because I would be buying another set of spokes, would not have any savings from not buying the other hub, etc.

The SP Dynamo uses the same electrical connection as the Shimano. I wanted to be able to move my dynohub wheel to different bikes and I zip tied my wiring to the fork blade. So, I wanted to buy some extra plugs. The Shimano plugs are not easy to find, but when you do they have a great price.
Shimano Dynamo Hub Wire Connector Cap & Cover

I bought an AXA Luxx 70 Plus headlamp with USB charger. I think the light with shipping was about $85 or $90 USD or so when I bought it. I ordered it shipped from Germany, the shipping cost was a flat rate of 20 Euros.
AXA Luxx70 Plus Steady Front Light - Bike24

I wrote up my comments on the light/USB charger at this link, so I won't bother to repeat my thoughts here.
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/10...l#post18250964

I could have spent more for a light, I could have gotten a separate light and separate USB charger, but decided to just get the combination one instead. And I think this is about the cheapest you can get a good light and USB charger. When I did my research, it looked like SineWave Revolution might be the best charger (without light), but it cost more than my light and charger combined. If money was no object, I would have gotten the Sinewave Revolution. Some of the cheaper USB chargers are less than reliable, I think one of them cuts out completely at higher speeds, so going for the cheapest charger is not the best idea. I think all the lights out there are pretty good now that virtually all the lights are using high power LEDs.

I can't say that I have ever dreamed of a hub.

If you are going to ride off road trails at night with the light, you want one with a wider beam than the AXA that I got, it has a very narrow beam that I like for on pavement but on pavement I am going in a reasonably straight line so I do not need a wider beam with broad coverage.

I almost bought the SineWave Revolution but decided to get a headlamp and charger combination. The Revolution is a very good charger, but it is a bit pricey at $120 USD. I have no clue what it would cost in Canada.

Online reviews I saw on the BioLogic did not look good to me but I can't remember why, that was months ago.

I havent finished the setup, itll probably be most of this riding season before I buy everything...too many irons in the fire...or projects in line!

$173 for wheel - Shimano DH3N80 dynamo with 36h for rim brake, SunRingle CR18 silver 700c rim, Wheelsmith butted 2.0/1.7 silver spokes, Wheelsmith brass nipples
This was prebuilt by Universal Cycles. They have a great custom website where you can mix and match wheel components to your heart's content.

Converter for AC to DC power and to charge a battery pack- Cycle2Charge , M172N Bicycle Power Charge Controller USB , Sinewave Cycles Revolution
Costs range from $50-130


I havent decided on a converter. Probably 1 of the 3 linked above. The stem cap style is sleek for sure, but the Sinewave is waterproof and costs less.
I will use this for charging a powerbank and not for lights, so I wont need a more extensive setup compared to many who switch between lights and charging a powerbank.

I have two bicycles with Shimano 3N72 36 hole front hubs. I built the wheels myself and probably have less than $150 in each wheel. The hubs themselves were a little less than $100, then its rims, spokes, etc. One rim is Velocity Dyad and the other is a Sun CR18. I cut the costs a little by using straight gauge spokes. For front lights one is a B&M Cyo and the other is an AXA Luxx 70 plus with built in USB charger. Each cost in the neighborhood of $70 to $80. Wired tail lights on both bikes are B&M Toplight line maybe $40 to $50 each. The first bike setup is going on 5 to 6 years which I commute on daily. The dynamo hub gets most work out in the dark winter months. I have probably rewired everything on the commuter bike once, cleaned/sanded the terminal connections on the hubs. Other than this basic maintenance, everything runs perfectly with no noticeable drag, etc.

A couple of years ago the Aussie dollar rose to great heights.
I was able to purchase a Son28/E-werk with cache battery for both my bicycle and single wheel trailer.
The bicycle also sports a single Edelux and Philips Lumiring (tail-light)
I've been extremely happy with both the setups which have proved to be fit and forget.
It was the 5 year warranties on the Son hubs which made the purchase decision for me as at the time the Shimano had a one year warranty and was half the price.
SP wasn't around back then and the Sram and Sturmey Archer units were unproven.
The currency at the time made overseas purchases such a good deal I was also able to afford Sapim Cx-Ray spokes for all my wheels as well as a Rohloff rear hub.
The Aussie dollar had since tanked and I doubt I could now afford to repeat the experiment now.
Certainly no buyers remorse as I love the utility of my lights and charging system.

Any dynohub would be great and a worthy investment, even a vintage Sturmey Archer GH-6 which was my first dynohub for many years.
Supposedly only 1.8w but mine fired up my Edelux until I could afford to get my wheels built. The vintage GH-6 likely wouldn't charge your phone and weighs from memory 1.1kg for the hub alone but still way better than no dynohub at all.

I bought a dynamo front wheel last summer from Longleaf Bicycles with a SP-PV8 hub, Velocity Dyad rim, DT Swiss Competition spokes (32), brass nipples and Velox rim tape for $259 plus $20 shipping. I also bought a B&M Luxos U headlight for $223 and B&M Toplight Plus taillight for $34. Altogether, the price tag came to $536. I could have gotten buy much cheap (less $119) with a more conventional headlight but chose the Luxos for its charging capability and brightness.

In retrospect, it was an expensive experiment. The dynamo system did not provide any better lighting than the Light & Motion Urban 800 that I had been using and cost me about $110. Moreover, I estimate that the dynamo hub slowed down my average speeds about 0.50-1.0 mph over the course of the winter. I removed the dynamo light system from my primary commuter bike a few weeks ago because the days are getting so much longer. I'm trying to decide now whether to switch it to my touring bike or resell it. I came to like the dynamo system for its convenience but did not find it to be cost effective, and I hate anything that slows down my commute times, which already take 2:00-2:20 hours each day round trip.

Dynamos for Bikes have long been making Out Put standardized to be 6v 3W..

usb output is another standard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB

so likely ... 5v @ maybe 1.5 or 3 Amp..

I suspect not. I can't tell if my light is on or off with my SP PV8. And at this link: https://www.ctc.org.uk/file/public/fe...ub-dynamos.pdf They measured the drag on the PV8, at 20 km/hour with the light on, drag is equivalent to climbing 6 feet per mile, with the light off only climbing 1 foot per mile, see graph. So, with the light on it is equivalent to climbing a grade of about 0.12 percent, which is so flat that I would not be able to notice.

I don't think so. At 5 volts and 3 amps, that is 15 watts. I am not aware of any hub that can pump out that wattage. My SP PV8 hub and AXA Luxx 70 Plus USB charger will put out about 0.5 amps (500 milliamps) at 5 volts, but occasionally it will go up to about 600 milliamps for a second according to my current flow meter. That is a bit under 3 watts out of the USB port. Other USB chargers might do better, but you still are unlikely to get over 4 watts out of the USB port if you are going down a hill for good speed.

I just used the Wiki chart Obviously with only 3W input to work with you wont get a 15w output.

as still no Free Lunch.

I splurged recently with my touring bike. Son28 dynamo hub (~$200) and ThePlug III (~$150) gives me a USB port on my stem. It can be done less expensively, though I was also trying this as an experiment for a long tour.

I don't recall what my first one cost me (Shimano Alfine + B&M Lumotec IQ Cyo N Plus + B&M Toplight Line).

However, precisely one year ago I built a 650b wheelset with a new dynamo. Got all the electrical components from bike24.net. Here's the cost breakdown:
Shutter Precision PD-8 Disc Hub Dynamo = 78.07 Euro
Busch + Müller LUMOTEC IQ2 LUXOS U Front Light 179U = 92.43 Euro
Busch + Müller Toplight Line brake plus = 21.76 Euro
S & H = 19.95 Euro
Total = 212.21 Euro

Given the favorable currency exchange rate, the total equaled $230 US, which I consider a steal, especially given that the Luxos U light includes the USB charger for the rest of my electronics.
Today, in US, one can not buy the light itself for less than what the whole shebang cost me.

One year later everything still works as intended, and I expect many more happy miles with this setup.
I realize that the SP dynamo would cost me more in the long run, as the hub bearings are not exactly user-serviceable, but I might take the risk and service them by myself when the time comes...

Thanks for the link. I was familiar with "The plug" and lookalikes, also saw a converter that was almost as expensive. Will look into it

Does anyone make a USB charging device that uses the wheel, if you don't want to use a light, and don't want a special hub?

All amazing info, thanks everyone. I am going to wait and invest in a fine dynamo, instead of going the cheaper route. Any help on finding "deals" on a Son28 or similar would be much appreciated.

Between my wife and me we have one of each of the main three dynamo hubs—Sun, Shimano, SP. The Shimano has been on my wife's LHT for 6 years, which is worth about 20,000 commuter and touring miles. Occasionally the plug to the hub comes loose and she has to reseat it. The B&M lights have not once been trouble. The Sun is on my road bike. It has about 5,000 miles. The SP is the newest and it's on our tandem. It has about 1,000 miles. All of them have been reliable. If there is drag, I don't notice, and truthfully I don't care. Putting a dynamo system on my first bike was the best upgrade I've ever made.

I also have the Sinewave Cycles Revolution USB adapter. It's impressive how tiny it is. I prefer this to the integrated stem options because it's easy to swap among bikes.

Regardless of the option you choose Max, you won't regret going with a dynamo.

How much did your Dynamo setup cost? -- Not sure.

But my first dynamo setup was my engagement ring. Rowan built the wheel for me in 2006.

How romantic.