Dynamo hubs and accessories!

[slowupslowdown-under]

Who is the chap who was running the dynamo set up on the BB200?

Interested in talking about it with him!

[Taylor]

Bigrobracing is yer man.

[slowupslowdown-under]

will seek out - been thinking about that set up, well tidy!

[gairym]

Here's the link to those lights on the Exposure website:

Exposure 'Revo'

I've been reading all about them and drooling today but there's no way I can justify that kind of money right now.

Enjoy.....

[Mart]

The hubs on the Exposure site look like the Shutter precision 8's
Are they just rebranding?

[Bearbonesnorm]

I was told at weekend by Rob that the lights work fine with Shimano hubs, they're a touch heavier but cheaper and easily available from Rose.

[gairym]

who is Rose?

[chris n]

All of the dynamo hubs have the same output - nominally 3W, it's a 0.5A constant current source that increases in voltage as the speed goes up. You can also get dynamo hubs from Schmidt, but they're very expensive.

Rose = roseversand.de

Also available from Bike24.com

[bigrobracing]

It was me!

I was using the Exposure Revo light, 800lumens and a kick ass standlight, see here: http://www.exposurelights.com/product/0 ... mk1-(new)/

I also had a little charger wired in in parallel and a switch to divert the hub power to the charger during the daytime, to keep my Edge 800 battery topped up and then at night I switched the power to the light and was able to use the GPS and backlight without worrying about the battery life.

The hub also powers my rear light, a cable Exposure Redeye, which the Revo front light is also designed to power, ideal for the road sections. Riding on quiet roads in the darkness, a properly bright rear light is essential for safety in my opinion.

There's a whole load of detail and a few photos of my setup (also used to race EWE, and that got me the furthest distance in that) on my blog, here: http://robdeanhove.blogspot.co.uk/2012/ ... right.html

I also use the SP hubs, which are excellent, lightweight and very efficient, if you don;t mind giving up a little bit more power and friction, the Shimano hubs work just as well. All 3.0W 6V hubs put out the same power ultimately, as long as you go fast enough, as do the 2.4W ones, but they're lighter as they have fewer poles/windings and you need to go pretty fast to get decent powers our of them, so avoid them for your MTB! It's just a choice of how light & expensive you want to go. oh and the SP ones can come in red, if that matters to you ;-)

Dynamo, it's the future! I use mine commuting, mid week thrashes in the woods, I've taken it touring on the road as well as winter road miles and bikepacking. Never have to turn your light down to save battery life ever again!

[gairym]

Rob/all,

I can get a dynamo hub fairly cheap and yet for the lights I'm looking at £200 for the Revos which is a bit out of my price range.

Is there something about the Revo that makes it significantly better than it's competition?

What are there alternatives?

Why choose one over the other?

Sorry if Im asking dumb questions but I'm clueless when it comes to all of this but am interested in finding a solution that works (for as little as I can get away with paying).

Cheers, Gairy.

[bigrobracing]

There are several things about the Revo that make it better than the competition, but the main feature, that makes it better than all of them, is the standlight, which makes it the only dynamo light I'd ever consider for off road use, or even touring.

The main alternate option is the Supernova E3 Triple, which is 3/4 as powerfull, but the standlight lasts not for several minutes, but powers just one of the LEDs for 7 seconds, yes, just 7, before the light becomes a "be seen" light, not a "see by" light. The Supernova has a RRP of £245, making the Revo actually look great value. I have owned one of these previously and sold it, as it didn't make an acceptable replacement for a battery light without compromising performance too much in my opinion. I am extremely happy with my Revo.

To the best of my knowledge everything else out there is a road/commuter light and won't withstand comparison to something like an Exposure MaXx-D or a Hope R4, or blow away a DX cheapy XML battery light, like the Revo will.

[pedalhead]

Rob, I'm seriously considering getting a Revo + hub soon. Do you think it's got enough juice to charge a smartphone (assuming I also put an line switch in there of course)..? Cheers!