Hey all,

I am going to build a new front wheel with a dyano hub for my LHT. Still trying to decide on the hub and light. My buddy has the Shimano Alfine and a E3 pro. It works great but I know there are a ton of choices out there.

My 2 questions are:
What is your lighting set up for touring?
What would you do differnetly if anything?

My current touring set up is a Union bottom bracket mount with a B&M Cyo head light and a converted to LED taillight. The bike is from the late 1980's. My other "touring" bike currently does not have a generator set up on it, I use battery lights for the time being. Eventually I will probably put an Shimano or Sanyo hub generator with the lower end B&M LED headlight. Then rig up some sort of power charger to charge up a battery pack to power up phone/gps/mp3/tablet/etc.

I don't use my lights much on tour and probably could get away with battery lights most of the time.

Aaron

I use a Shinamo Nexus with a B&M IQ Cyo with near field illumination and I wouldn't change a thing.

Shimano genhub, IQ Cyo Plusheadlight, B&M Seculite Plus for the tail. And then a B&M E-werk to charge my gadgets when actually on tour.

A fantastic setup - I'd highly recommend it.

Me, too. Since I commute in the dark on the same bike I usually use for touring, I enjoy having the light available, but probably wouldn`t go that far if it weren`t also my comute beast. But since you asked...
Shimano 3N-71 and 3N-72 hubs, no complaints. Currently usng the Cyo IQ without nearfield, very nice. I hear the IQ Fly (less expensive than Cyo) is also an excellent value, but never used one myself.

I use the IQ Fly on my commuter bike and it works great. The Cyo puts out a bit more light and has a better pattern for dark road riding.

Aaron

Have multiple schmidt hubs and various lights (supernova e3, edelux x 2)

if i had to pick one setup: the sondelux hub and supernova symmetrical (round) beam for truly dark riding outside of cities, Edelux for city riding where there is some ambient background light.

To save money, id look at the cheaper hubs, or preferably find a used son28 hub when someone upgrades to sondelux.

The most important part of the investment is the lights, spend on those first.

I've been using a LightOn headlamp and tail lamp on two bikes for a few years and recently added an Edelux. The Edelux has better distance illumination that I'm starting to appreciate. If I was going for one headlight the Edelux with near field illumination would be it. Haven't A/B compared the Edelux to Supernova.
Having a tail light that can be turned on anytime is worthwhile.

I've been using the basic Shimano hub with B+M Lumotec IQ Cyo R Senso Plus and a Spanninga tail light. I agree with positron, even the entry level hubs are decent but a good light is the best investment.

2 different SON Schmidts, 28 on the 26" wheel bike, 6 bolt disc
and the newer one for the 20" wheel., centerlock disc.

now with EDelux LED headlights

more commuter than summer tourer, long daylight in high summer
a battery Planet Bike one seems sufficient, just to make an overnight reservation ,
further away, than you planned..

PB has a removable wired to the hub LED that is like the battery ones
in that same handlebar clip fits, both..
but won't serve as a bright camp flashlight,

That's what we put on our tandem, but it's just not enough light for deserted forest roads at night. Maybe we're just getting too old to see, but we want more light.
We're thinking of changing over to the Supernova e3 sometime this year. I'll consider your endorsement as confirmation of my bias. I think their new brighter tail lights become available next month, at least that's what Linda told me at Peter White Bicycles.

Don't think you'll get it with 3-4 watts and one headlamp. Get a 1000 lumen battery light and use the dyno for saving battery life while riding uphills.

I'm cheap and lazy----That Edelux light cost more than my bike!....Shimano Alfine hub with a Cree 3 watt MR16 and a Planet Bike 5 led blinky in back.....more than enough light for me on the road.

Anybody that would pay $300 for a $6 led and some plastic......

Avenier makes a pretty nice shaped beam 3 watt light for about $35 if you can find one in the U.S..I've only seen them on EU sites.Has a standlight and all.

I have a Shimano hub and a crown-mounted headlight. I can't remember the manufacturer. Some Dutch company, I believe. It's a very good "be seen" light with stand light and photosensitive on/off switch. It was good deal, but it's not bright enough for actually lighting your way. For commuting in the city, it's fine. For other times, I supplement it with battery lights. As has been said, on tour, depending on how late in the day you ride, a light may not be a priority. But when you do need it, you'll be glad it's there.

My issue is both with the brightness and with the location. I have a platform front rack that is awkward to use because of the light, and putting anything on the front rack after dark blocks the light (and often requires that I turn it off to avoid sending the reflected light back at me. Turning it off unfortunately also disables the tail light.) If I were to do anything differently (and I hope to) it would be to get a generator light that was brighter and had more versatile mounting options. I hope to upgrade to one of the IQ lights.

I have no issue with the hub. I don't feel the resistance at all when the hub is not producing power and have to really pay attention to feel anything when the hub kicks on.

plus one of these



plus one of these



is my setup on my Surly Long Haul Trucker. That is it is a SON 28 dynamo (love the five year warranty, the assurance that that provides and its efficiency) which in turns powers a Busch & Mueller Lumotec IQ Cyo Sensor front light and a Busch & Muller Toplight Line Plus on the rear. With the lights I am impressed by their overall design and quality, particularly the forward light throw. I also like how turning on the front light turns on the rear on. Such bliss

What would I do differently?



The dynamo would stay the same, but I would love to put on the front a Busch & Mueller Lumotec IQ2 Luxos U 179U (70/90 Lux) when they come on the market and I wouldn't mind giving a Busch & Muller Toplight Line Brake Plus a go as well.

Andrew

Aushiker, careful how you mount your front tire with the older Son. I rode with hub rotated so the output tabs and the insulated plugs were next to the dropout. When the wheel was tightened down the LHT dropouts pressed into the plugs then pressed into the aluminum body which I assume has the bearings behind it. After a few weeks I noticed a squeaking noise from the front wheel. The dropouts on the previous bike I had the dyno wheel on weren't as wide so it didn't occur to me that it could be a problem. Same on the
crossCheck. Anyway what happened is the bearings appear to have been damaged as the worn groove on the outside appears to have pushed into the bearings and the sound and grittiness didn't go away when the tabs were rotated away from the dropout.

^^Good point Lee, and not specific to SONs. I noticed with my Shimano that if you have the connector tab in the wrong position it can be inside the "squish zone". Fortunately, I felt something wrong as I was closing the skewer and corrected it right away. Just something to pay attention to.

Thanks for the warning Lee. BTW my SON is the latest one, a SON 28 but I do not your experience and have double checked mine this morning

Andrew