Dynamo hub for 29+

[BrianP]

Trying to decide which dynamo hub to buy for Rooster. Want to be able to charge phone and run lights separately. Fitting Velocity Dually rims.

Son too dear.

SP-PD8 around £94 quid but seems that bearing service is a take apart wheel and send hub to Taiwan which is not on.

I am trying an Alfine 8 speed in the back, so an Alfine dyno would suit. People seem to say 1.5 volt will not suit proper lights output and phone charging and I should buy a 3w version. Only £50 and seems to use good bearings.
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/shimano-alfi ... prod30900/

The XT version is only slightly more and presumably XT version better suited to offroad?
http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/hub- ... Ag168P8HAQ

Do any of these choices, or others, produce more output at low speeds, ie hilly offroad riding

All help gratefully received, rims are now in the UK and Sam I'd going to build them up for me so need to get on and order something.

Brian

[gairym]

Sorry, nothing helpful to offer but.....

That XT hub (coupled with a spare rim I have laying around and the new wheel building jig I've made) is mighty tempting!

I'd also be interested to hear what others have to say about it as an option.

[BenS]

The SP dynamo is only £80 at Spa cycles
I have one on my commute bike (10 miles each way, 50% on forestry commission roads), it's performing well after a year.

I also have an XT (non disc) dynamo on our tandem which has been abused touring (mainly on road), but it also is performing well, but probably only with 3000 miles on it. I don't know whether the bearings are replaceable on Shimano dynamo hubs?

To get the best output from the hub a low speed you need circuitry connected to it to maximise its output power. Best thing I have found for this is (sadly in German) the ForumsLader which has 4 stages of power matching circuits that it switches in depending on the speed you're travelling. It then charges 3 LiFe cells which in turn power a USB port and there is the option to take a nominal 11.1v to run lights from (which I have done and it works well). They plot a a graph of output power with the pink line being the 4 level Forumslader board (price is €105 for the 4 level board or more if you want them to build it). They claim a 5-30% increase in charging current over things like the ewerk.

[Mart]

My SP hub is running just fine after 1 1/2 years no issues

[composite]

SP hub is rated up to 10 000miles (I remembered this wrongly see below). I'll do about 5500miles this year but that is spread across three bikes (only one of which I run the dyno on). I reckon I'll be sending it back for service once every 3-4 years at most which I think is comparable to self servicing once a year.

I will rebuild the wheel myself though and I have another 29er wheel to use in the mean time.

[zigrat]

Has your rooster arrived ?

[BrianP]

Rooster framesets not here yet but Velocity Dually rims are in the UK and Sam is going to build my wheels for me, so need to make a decision on hub.

Thanks for pointing out Spa so the SP-PD8 at a good price.

Brian

[slarge]

Are the bearings in an SP hub completely hidden or just impossible to get out?

If hidden is water ( main cause of failure) likely? If visible but not remove able can they be cleaned and regreased in situ?

I haven't done much research into hubs, but the SP seems to get good writeups and is light and efficient.... And £80 or so for a hub isn't much more than a standard hub.

[composite]

Are the bearings in an SP hub completely hidden or just impossible to get out?

If hidden is water ( main cause of failure) likely? If visible but not remove able can they be cleaned and regreased in situ?

I haven't done much research into hubs, but the SP seems to get good writeups and is light and efficient.... And £80 or so for a hub isn't much more than a standard hub.

As I understand it (memory is a bit sketchy) the way in which the hub is constructed is to have the magnets rotating which gives better... erm efficiency (maybe?) and is cheaper to build this way (hence price compared to the expensive dynos) but this means something like special tooling to get to/replace/take out the bearings.

[BrianP]

This thread is quite useful, comparing the Shimano hubs with the SP-PD8.

Seems the Shimano gives better output at low speeds, that'll be me, but people like the SP for better looks.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... mpressions

[jameso]

There's a service centre in Germany for sp hubs. Prob be a couple of years at least before you'd need bearings, if it needs them in under 2 they do it foc i think.

[composite]

How often do SP hub dynamos require service?
SP hub dynamos employ sealed bearings that do not require service until the bearings are require replacement. We already have customers that have logged over 10,000 kms without any problems and we expect that under normal use the service life of these bearings should be well over 20,000 kms. Should they ever need servicing, they can be sent back to SP and replaced with new ones for roughly USD 30 including the cost of return postage.

Are SP hub dynamos user serviceable?
Alas, SP hub dynamos are not user serviceable and indeed we are aware of no hub dynamos that are based on manufacturer’s recommendations. Any attempt to service a SP hub dynamo will void its two-year warranty. We have received quite a number of requests from consumers on how they might service their hubs even accepting that attempting to do so would void their two-year warranty. They accept this risk thinking that this would save the need to disassemble and rebuild the wheel. Unfortunately, the design of SP hub dynamos like that of many other brands requires disassembly of the wheel for bearing replacement. Furthermore, the delicate generator mechanism housed within the hub body must be re-calibrated to tolerances of less than a millimetre each time bearings are replaced. Failure to carry out this operation properly (which is likely without expert knowledge, experience and tools), will generally result in catastrophic failure of the generator mechanism after a period of use. SP engineers have considered making their hubs user serviceable (with much prodding from IDC at the behest of our technically savvy testers). But the expertise and equipment required to carry out recalibration of the generator mechanism each time the bearings are replaced presents a technical hurdle that SP engineers, and indeed all other hub dynamo manufacturers we are aware of, have so far declined to attempt.

[composite]

By the way James do you have any info on that service centre?

[jameso]

Somewhere yes, will look it up. I met the chap at a show. Can't remember exactly what they do there but seem to remember those assurances re bearings. The sbs in front hubs can last ages, my Paul hub on a jones has done 5000 miles min, prob a fair bit more, no service yet.

[Pickers]

I have one of the XT dynohubs, only done 1,000 miles or so on it yet so it's a bit early to assess long term reliability. I've an LX 3N72 model as well that's done maybe 3.5 or 4K miles - that's still running fine but on my road tourer so no mud to deal with.
If it makes any difference the XT I think only comes as a centrelock version - extra £5 or £10 for a 6 bolt adapter if that's what you need.
I found this https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/340 ... o_Hubs.pdf a little while ago which suggests it's quite possible to service these (I'm guessing my hubs have similar internals) when the time comes.

[slarge]

So, the setup I am planning is a SP hub, Revo light, battery pack (3400mAh I already have) and a kemo USB charger. Plus a joystick for head torch duties.

Is there a better setup I should be looking at ( and is the revo being replaced? Not many shops seem to have it in stock, and the whole exposure range seems to have had a LED upgrade this year)...

[composite]

So, the setup I am planning is a SP hub, Revo light, battery pack (3400mAh I already have) and a kemo USB charger. Plus a joystick for head torch duties.

Is there a better setup I should be looking at ( and is the revo being replaced? Not many shops seem to have it in stock, and the whole exposure range seems to have had a LED upgrade this year)...

This is pretty much the same as my setup Steve only I have a sinewave revolution instead of the kemo and a Diablo instead of the Joystick.
Stock on the Revo has always been limited in most stores although when I have inquired at places that did Exposure they all said they could get one within a few days. Reading between the lines they just don't keep the stock as it's not a big seller. Worth contacting Exposure though and asking about an upgrade, they are meant to be very approachable.

[Pickers]

The folks that run a Revo, how do you connect it in with the Sinewave (or similar) unit?
I'm tempted by one to replace my Hope light that's a few years old now, mainly to get away from the separate battery.
The lack of something as basic as an on/off switch on the Revo seems a major flaw to me - I'm guessing you have an inline switch somewhere to disable it for charging something through the Sinewave/Kemo.
Lastly, the Sinewave leaflet tells me it can do 5V/1A output. I'm also guessing that this will be when you have a little more speed and the voltage from the dynamo has risen. Is this enough to keep a Joystick topped up during the day?

[johnnystorm]

I just twist my charger and the revo wires together and connect to the dynamo. On/off duties are dealt with by removing the plug from the back of the revo. Having said that i just run my light all the time. The hub/reecharge/b&m battery/revo on is still able to keep pace with my phone being on/running gps.

[BrianP]

I am going to follow BenS tip off and order the SP dynamo from Spa.

Does anyone use a re-chargeable head torch as their single bike light and around camp light? As I was thinking it through I realise that I will probably not ride in the dark that much, but will need a re-chargeable head torch every evening. So what about using the one light for riding and around camp, saving the weight of a bike headlight.

Brian

[Mart]

I did think about it but given the weight of the revo or a joystick its not that heavy for the extra light
I think its Petzl and Black Diamond do rechargable headlamps

[BrianP]

Black Diamond review here http://www.tgomagazine.co.uk/gearreview ... rch-review

[BrianP]

Another review here http://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2013/0 ... -headtorch

[ScotRoutes]

Remember that the Revo gives out light for quite a while after it is no longer receiving power so that's a wee bonus.

[johnnystorm]

Remember that the Revo gives out light for quite a while after it is no longer receiving power so that's a wee bonus.

Mine still has a glimmer if left for a couple of days!