Alpkit Love !ud Juice Dynamo

[dlovett]

I might have the option of getting this hub in a wheel set are they any good? I have hea4d tha5 the6 are rebranded SP ones, but I am not sure if that’s true or not? If not are the6 as good as SP or even anywhere near a SON?

Many thanks

[Bearbonesnorm]

If they're not re-branded SP, they certainly look very, very similar. Personally, I didn't have much luck with SP but other people have had nothing but happy, trouble free cycling.

I don't think there's much comparison between SP and SON, in either longevity or price Have you looked at the offerings from Shimano, I'm very impressed so far.

PS - are you typing blindfolded?

[jameso]

rebranded SP ones, but I am not sure if that’s true or not?

Not. Although how much not is a grey area, you could say they're a Chinese version of the Taiwan-made SP. That may explain the similarities : )

[Bearbonesnorm]

So, a Chinese copy of something which doesn't have an altogether happy reliability record ... uhm

[johnnystorm]

With Alpkit seemingly charging the rrp of the wheelset and the dynamo to get them built I think I'd pass.

[lune ranger]

I've had a SON built first into a 26er touring wheel and more recently on a brevet bike. Done thousands of km's and is still like new. Can't fault it at all.
I also have a Juice built into a 29+ Wheel to run an Igaro USB charger and light for bikepacking. I chose the Juice purely because it was so cheap. My short term impression is mostly positive with some caveats.
Installing it threw up a compatibility curve ball with my particular set up. With a Fat Lab 55 29+ rim and Avid BB7 brake there was some interference between spokes and the adjuster knob on the calliper. This is due to the shallow spoke angle resulting from the large spoke hole offset on the rim (18mm) and the centre-flange dimension of the hub. I solved this by taking off a couple of mm's from the central metal part of the adjuster with a Dremel, not ideal but fully functional.
A TRP Spyke caliper is not compatible at all the Juice/Fatlab combo. I tried one with rotor sizes from 160 to 203mm with no joy. The caliper is simply too wide and is jammed way into the spokes/
I have also found the hub needs to be secured with excessive clamping force from the skewer to stop it rotating in the dropout of my steel Krampus forks. On one occasion the hub rotated in the drop out and pulled the wires from the hub.
The hub has however produced good amounts of power given the constraints of low speed MTBing and a huge overall wheel diameter with the 29+ setup.
I can't comment on longevity as the wheel has really only done about 500km over the course of 6 bone dry days.
If it's like the other Love Mud kit I have though despite the modest price it should be good long term.

[BigdummySteve]

I've had similar spoke/calliper fun with my SP dyno and xt hydros, oh and it died after 5k. Granted they replaced it with a new one but I had to pay the wheel build. Long term the son is better value but not being flush I'd go for a shimamo hub.

[dlovett]

I have a son and so sp's all flawless, however the son is much nice. Perhaps I might just wait and get a Son, wheel built.