Long, hard, and fast riding probably does make a good bit of electricity :thumb:

I rarely do any of that type of riding on my tours :D

I have a couple bikes with dyno hubs and I like them. I've got a couple more Sturmey Archer dynos that I'm going to build into wheels, too. The old Dynohubs aren't as efficient as the newer ones and when you turn them by hand, you can feel the drag, but in use they're fine by me as I ride largely to burn calories anyway. The old ones aren't as powerful either, but LED lights give so much more light that they work fine. I used to turn the lights off during the day, but one time I forget and I could tell it was on just by the way that car drivers seemed to be more aware of my presence. So now, when the wheel rolls, the light glows.

What kind of racers are you talking about? Riding day and night?

Squeezie, the Tour Divide racers or any racing. There are multiple endurance type races in this country and all over the world.

When you say racing, road racing and criteriums comes 1st to my mind. Those endurance racers are certainly a special breed. And certainly with special needs that normal touring doesn't have. I wonder what kind of bicycles they ride. I'll wander over to that forum for a peek.

I think they are all on LHT

If you stay away from the fancy hubs and accept a weight penalty, a dyno hub can be bought for 30-40 dollars. If you can build a wheel on your own, the complete setup doesn't cost much at all. It' gets even cheaper if you can DIY a USB adapter too.
I spent a a little bit over a week in the Norwegian Finnskogene last summer. I can promise you that there is no available power outlet in those woods! My solar panel became a blessing for keeping my battery bank topped up and I sorely missed a dyno hub on the overcast days.

That makes what they do even more of a challenge.
But a lot of them do use touring bicycles, racks same stuff as here.

Battery lights on a tour? LOL My SA XL FDD has been powering my lights for 20,600 miles now and does the brakes as well. Everybody noticed my lights, day or night, while I rode by in Vietnam and China. I was riding after dark every single day, some before getting to the next city. One $8 bearing replacement. I spent about $130 + $86 Dyad rim and $54 for spokes. It saves not buying $8 pads every 4,000 miles and they don't work as well either.

In 2002 they came out with bottle cage batteries that weighed 3 lbs. LOL They didn't last all night !!!! LOL Total Farce.

Just curious, what did you need a "battery bank" for, out there in the woods?

Not exactly the same as the Tour de France but certainly impressive and worthy of a dynohub.
I'll stick with the average cycle tourist doesn't really need a dyno. Spend the money where you can get more bang for the buck.
But some of the folks here are big time commuters that might change things.

Lights come to mind. I would prefer regular batteries myself, I think. If I am going to carry a power bank I would just as soon have it charged up.

Smart

[QUOTE=Squeezebox;19274948]
I'll stick with the average cycle tourist doesn't really need a dyno. Spend the money where you can get more bang for the buck.


I am sure I could get along fine without a dynamo hub when touring but it's nice to make your own electricity and not have to constantly be on the lookout for an outlet to keep your phone powered. Plus, you might as well make additional use of all the pedaling you are doing.

OK, "power bank".
I used my "power bank" to charge my DAB receiver, my smartphone and e-cig.

Can you set up a dyno to charge your Di2 battery? or run the Di2 on the dyno without battery? It would be a shame to have to drag along that big hunko Di2 charger for your electronic deraileurs. I've heard that the XTR Di2 deraileurs will work with the Di2 road levers, with hydraulic brakes. Certainly a super set up. Nice to know.

Australian Guy asked that same question within the last year or so.

Ended up just getting another Bike with all mechanical shifting. It's summer down there, so He's probably Riding It, Now.

Bicycle hub and side wheel devices have permanent magnets and are called generators or magnetos. An alternator has electro-magnets who's field strength is modulated by a field coil.

Modern cars have alternators since the late 50s, before that generators were used. The British call a permanent magnet device a dynamo or magneto. Americans reserve the term magneto for permanent magnet engine spark ignition device and we call a permanent magnet device a generator. Americans use the term dynamo for power plants devices that are just huge alternators.

Out put being AC, is alternating Current.

Generators and alternators both have AC output (as opposed to DC). On automotive alternators, the voltage controller has rectifier diodes built into the module, that's why you think, incorrectly, that an alternator is a DC generating device.

Not me , you must mean the Generic "You"..