SON dyno & LHT fork
 

heads up to anyone with a SON dyno and Surly LHT fork.
I may have caused the early demise of a bearing on my SON dyno by tightening down the skewer with the output contacts between the ends of the fork and the hub. I've oriented this way on other bikes without problems but it appears that the LHT fork dropout extends a shorter distance from the end of the fork blade so there is less room between forkblade, rubber covered connectors and output contacts so that when the wheel is tightened down it presses the contacts into the rotating outer case of the hub.
I lined it up that way thinking that it would be less exposed to damage when putting the bike into the back of a pickup or bumping up against curbs/poles.
I had oriented it this way on other bikes where there was about a millimeter of room between fork blades and the rubber covered contacts. On the LHT the fork end extends down further and it appears that the fork blade pressed it in just enough to cause a grinding of the hub (I can hear it while riding) resulting in a rough turning bearing when taken off and turned by hand. Anywho I'll find out if this is under warranty but I doubt it.

Do you mean that you have the contacts on the hub pointed upward? I keep mine pointed downward and have never had a problem.

I had the contacts pointed upward so they'd be sheltered by the fork blade. Having spent so much for the hub I didn't want anything to happen to it as might happen riding up next to a curb and leaning over or lifted into a truck and the bike slides down onto the wires/contacts. A few weeks ago I started hearing a rubbing sound so I took the wheel off and the roughness of the hub was much more noticable than another SON hub I have on a 700c wheel, the one with the problem is on a 26" wheel for a 26" LHT. I noticed it again yesterday while riding so I looked at it more closely and noticed sparking as the rubber around the plug was worn off and the side of the hub was obviously scraped like a brake rim. My other Son hub doesn't have the same markings or manner of roughness. I'm wondering if the pressure from the lugs on the contacts compressed the outside of the bearing housing and some way damaged the bearings.

Hmm, got a Suspension fork , very short travel , just point up the contacts
so I can reach them

just got a Bike Friday , disc 20" hub, , will check the dropout alignment
with the shop's tool set..

seems to me , having the tips out of parallel, would flex the axle
more than the electrical contacts.