Dynamo setup cost

[Borderer]

HI - a friend of mine is planning a big bike tour and asked me what the cost of a dynamo charging setup would be. I know I researched this myself a couple of years ago but things change very fast and I thought it might be easier just to ask what it costs and what the best options are these days.
Cheers

[Mike]

well iv'e just bought it all and i reckon, to charge my phone and have a light on all the time it cost me about 600
I went with a son hub, k-lite charger and light. Made my own switch. this cost was for a new rim and wheel build also. So in all a lot of money for something iv done without for yrs but i don't care as it all works brilliantly.

[ScotRoutes]

Shimano dynamo hub for less than £50.

Kemo M172 USB charger with switch for £26.

Dynamo front light for £30.

[Bearbonesnorm]

As highlighted by Mike and Colin, the costs can vary somewhat.

I've got 2 Shimano hubs both 6 bolt and bought from Rose in Germany for around £40 each.

If masses of light aren't required then something simple from someone like B&M will suffice for the actual light unit. As Colin says, expect £30 upwards. SJS are a good source in the UK.

A Kemo unit will allow charging of devices. Nor the smallest of the units available but seem reliable - again, about £30.

Add the cost of a wheel rebuild and a budget of £120 - £150 should suffice depending on actual products chosen. It won't be absolute state of the art but it fuction well and give no trouble.

[Taylor]

Depending on hub/build you'd be looking at £200-£300 for the front wheel alone.
Double that with a matching rim/spokes/etc.

I've recently laid out 540 sheets for a pair of Hunt wheels with Son hub on my gravel bike, I have an SP hub on my mountain bike.
I have the light and USB charger already but I'd not expect much change from £200 for my set up.

It's really not a cheap option but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it if it's affordable to your friend.

Commuting is great now I don't worry about how much charge I have in my battery.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Depending on hub/build you'd be looking at £200-£300 for the front wheel alone.
Double that with a matching rim/spokes/etc.

If the existing rim's in good order and you go for a Shimano hub, cost should below £100.

[johnnystorm]

Spa have some cheap options depending on what sort of bike he has, for example:

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s209p33 ... ght-Bundle

[Lazarus]

as noted it varies from cheap to not so I reckon £100-£500 depending
Cheaper end is a shimano hub with replacement spokes and a rebuild using existing rim to lots for a new Boost son to a new rim.

In the unlikely event he want a 26" QR wheel I can lend one with a tubeless set up. I keep meaning to rebuild it for my commuting duties but have yet to muster the inspiration to do this

Might get a cheap S/H 26 one to adapt from ebay? Think mine cost me £25

Units and lights are the same from cheap to expensive so might be easier to say what their budget is to get recommendations?

[jameso]

Worth spending a bit to get the right set up imo. The next bike I build, the budget goes on the dynamo/lighting system before the gears. Priorities...

The B+M USB-Werk is a good charging option - £50-60 from German retailers. Has a useful small storage battery built in. Had 4+ years of fault-free use from mine.
SP hubs are good but inconsistent in durability (had 2, both handled 18 months or high-mileage use but I'd expect more and would pay for a SON next time, or much less for a serviceable Shimano XT)
Lights are worth getting right - road or off-road use? Edelux 2 is great for road use but I'd want a more round/torch/flood beam for technical MTB.
Adding a rear dyno light was the final step to power independence. Love it.

[whitestone]

I've both a Schmidt and an SP dynamo hubbed wheel. The Schmidt (SON) is about eight years old, I built up the wheel myself - I think the hub, rim and spokes were about £250 - and has just got back from a service after some undefined (well I didn't get told what it was) fault killed both a front and rear light. Up to then it had done at least 20,000km on my commuter/tourer. I got the SP last summer and had built up in to a wheel for my Solaris, hub and build cost around £150, it's a 15mm through axle model. So far I've done about 4,000km on it so early days.

I've not had any experience of the Shimano dynamo hubs.

Converter/charger: I've an Igaro D1 (bought on here from Richpips) and my wife who also has an SP hub uses a VeloCharger which we got from Spa Cycles.

For commuting/touring I think a dynamo hub and lights are a no-brainer.

[Borderer]

Many thanks for your replies - very sorry I forgot to reply at the time.

I have one of the Shimano hubs but I took it off after a while as I couldn't seem to get it to generate anything. I thought perhaps it needed a consistent steady speed for a decent period rather than the sort of stop-starting that can happen when travelling off-road. I didn't rebuild the wheel - just bunged the wheel that came with it on to try it for a while. I am surprised to hear so many of you suggest the Shimano hub as I thought I must be being silly thinking it would work for what I was trying to do with it. The one I have is a DH 3N31-NT. I think I paid £40 for it from Poland. I used a Tigra Bike Charge Power Converter with it, but maybe that was the problem as I now see that it only outputs 600mA.

My friend isn't wealthy so a lot of the options won't be open to her. I think keeping a navigation device and backup batteries charged would be more important than running lights at night as I doubt they will ride much in the dark.

Yes she would be running 26" and QR. This is a budget operation

[Bearbonesnorm]

I have one of the Shimano hubs but I took it off after a while as I couldn't seem to get it to generate anything. I thought perhaps it needed a consistent steady speed for a decent period rather than the sort of stop-starting that can happen when travelling off-road. I didn't rebuild the wheel - just bunged the wheel that came with it on to try it for a while. I am surprised to hear so many of you suggest the Shimano hub as I thought I must be being silly thinking it would work for what I was trying to do with it. The one I have is a DH 3N31-NT. I think I paid £40 for it from Poland. I used a Tigra Bike Charge Power Converter with it, but maybe that was the problem as I now see that it only outputs 600mA.

Did you actually try running a light directly off it Bridget? It's 6v 3W so should work fine. All dynamo produce less at low speed but there's no 'build up' time ... once the wheels spinning at a reasonable speed, it'll be producing useable power. It should certainly be doing it's stuff by the time you're travelling at 15km/h.

[Borderer]

No I don't have a light that runs directly off a battery like that. It seemed to be generating something when I put my multimeter on it but it didn't charge my phone at all. I thought that the setup wasn't suitable, but now I am thinking that perhaps I did something wrong.

[Bearbonesnorm]

If the charging converter only outputs 600ma, chances are that it's not enough to charge anything. Generally, charging a battery pack and then using that to charge devices is considered to be more efficient. Certain phones also don't like the voltage / current fluctuations of a dynamo and will refuse to accept the charge.

Ooh also remember that contrary to the name, dynamos output AC not DC, so if using a meter to check, make sure it can read AC.

[ScotRoutes]

I've mentioned this before on BB but I have both an SP dynamo hub and a Shimano - both powering a Revo lamp. With the Shimano, even a few spins of the wheel to check that, for example, the disc pads aren't rubbing will cause one of the Revo LEDs to illuminate. The SP takes a bit more to get going.

The Kemo 172N I mentioned earlier in the thread outputs 500ma to 800ma depending on the dynamo, so not TOO different to the Tigra (which looks really neat BTW). Tigra also do their own "cache" battery which might be worth adding.

[Borderer]

If the charging converter only outputs 600ma, chances are that it's not enough to charge anything. Generally, charging a battery pack and then using that to charge devices is considered to be more efficient. Certain phones also don't like the voltage / current fluctuations of a dynamo and will refuse to accept the charge.

Ooh also remember that contrary to the name, dynamos output AC not DC, so if using a meter to check, make sure it can read AC.

It's a while ago and to be honest I can't remember how I tested it. I can't see that this hub is suitable for disc brakes so it won't be any use for me so my pal can have it if we can make it work. She is looking for a cheap bike so I expect it will come with rim brakes.

Tigra also do their own "cache" battery which might be worth adding.

Is that going to be different from a USB battery pack that you might use to charge your phone?

[ScotRoutes]

Well, it's supposedly "weatherproof" and does simultaneous charge/discharge which most of the USB battery packs don't.

[Lazarus]

Yes she would be running 26" and QR. This is a budget operation

then borrowing mine is the cheapest option,I dont have a light but have a wheel [disc or rim brake]and usb charging device
tyre is probably a Goma set up tubeless with next to no use - One camino iirc

PM re dates your mate wants to borrow it
I will get up to samyeLing at some point if close enough to collect

[Borderer]

Yes she would be running 26" and QR. This is a budget operation

then borrowing mine is the cheapest option,I dont have a light but have a wheel [disc or rim brake]and usb charging device
tyre is probably a Goma set up tubeless with next to no use - One camino iirc

PM re dates your mate wants to borrow it
I will get up to samyeLing at some point if close enough to collect

Thanks that's really kind. Trouble is she is potentially going away for a couple of years so I don't think the loan option will work sadly! Thanks though.

Well, it's supposedly "weatherproof" and does simultaneous charge/discharge which most of the USB battery packs don't.

Ah ok. From a quick bit of online research it seems that Zendure battery packs do pass-through so one of those might be a better option. They are about the same price as the Tigra cache battery but a lot more versatile. I don't believe that the Tigra is waterproof btw - there seems like plenty of scope for water ingress in mine - I wrapped the USB connection up in duct tape I think.

[johnnystorm]

Just as an aside all the pass through batteries I've had have died, I don't think it does them any favours. I just have two smaller batteries now and plug in my devices when they get to about 20%.

[Borderer]

Just as an aside all the pass through batteries I've had have died, I don't think it does them any favours. I just have two smaller batteries now and plug in my devices when they get to about 20%.

Thanks for that. Do you remember the brands of any of them? I have had this sort of issue with charging things from solar when we had a campervan. Even with a voltage limiter I managed to bugger up quite a few devices.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'll vote for Zendure. Can't really comment on the pass-through facility as I never use it but the quality is good and the auto on/off function is handy too.

[johnnystorm]

Just as an aside all the pass through batteries I've had have died, I don't think it does them any favours. I just have two smaller batteries now and plug in my devices when they get to about 20%.

Thanks for that. Do you remember the brands of any of them? I have had this sort of issue with charging things from solar when we had a campervan. Even with a voltage limiter I managed to bugger up quite a few devices.

Not off hand, there are so many that all look they come off the same production line with different labels. Fwiw my Easyacc, Aukey and Anker items have all been good. The Easyacc one was so good that Finnish airport security kept it....

[jameso]

If the charging converter only outputs 600ma, chances are that it's not enough to charge anything. Generally, charging a battery pack and then using that to charge devices is considered to be more efficient. Certain phones also don't like the voltage / current fluctuations of a dynamo and will refuse to accept the charge.

600 is ok if its consistent, 500mah is/was USB output standard afaik. My USB-Werk has that output and charges everything ok, it does have an inline battery in it though to smooth the output. Iphones can be more fussy but my Samsung's no prob.

[whitestone]

You'll get slightly (11%) more output for a given speed on a 26" wheel compared to 29" until you get to the max output. Or put another way, you'll get to a speed where charging occurs quicker on a 26" bike.

I've posted this blog link about my experiences "racing" and touring before - http://bobwightman.blogspot.com/2018/08 ... onics.html.

Generally since *you* are the power source it pays to be as careful with it as possible: phone on "airplane mode" as much as possible; all power saving options selected on your GPS; etc. I prefer to charge a battery from the dynamo during the day then use the battery to charge whichever device needs it at night. This does involve some extra loss - you'll lose about 10% whenever you transfer charge from one part of the system to another - but it is more flexible and avoids dynamo dropout problems with phone & GPS devices.

I use a couple of Anker powerbank batteries, 10,000mAh. Having two gives a bit of redundancy should one fail. The main failure point is likely to be the USB connections, USB wasn't designed for outdoor use, it's also worth looking at angle up/down connectors to reduce strain on the socket connections to the main circuit board.