Talk me out of a dynamo set up... or not (?)...

[miguel]

Dynamo over no dynamo forever

[jtakeda]

Originally Posted by Louis

For you guys who use dynamos regularly, how much of a problem (if at any) is the "you have to keep moving to have light and be seen" issue?

0 problem. Most have a standlight function built in for stopping at lights. If youre stopped for more than a stoplight than its safe to say you should probably move off the road.

[Erikg]

Originally Posted by Louis

For you guys who use dynamos regularly, how much of a problem (if at any) is the "you have to keep moving to have light and be seen" issue?

I built up a Soma Wolverine belt drive commuter with a Shimano Alfine Dynamo front Hub paired with a Schmidts Edelux II. The light stays on after the bike has stopped with plenty of time to wait for traffic lights and what not. I believe the capacitor is designed to hold a charge for 4 min of full brightness after stopping. When starting up, full brightness is immediate.

If you have a way to route the wire through the fork that would ideal. an exposed wire could be the achilles heal. I can't say I notice the loss of efficiency with this setup, though it is an alfine 11 speed internal rear hub, fat tire, and already at a huge loss of efficiency compared to a typical road bike. If you are building a bike with racks, the dynamo is a great way to go.

When building the wolverine I stumbled upon Velo Lumio during the build. the site has some cool lighting supplies including very thin wire: https://www.velolumino.com/s/shop

[Louis]

Thanks for the clarifications - I didn't know that they had an internal battery or capacitor for short stops.

[SlowPokePete]

I've got a SON28 with Supernova lights on two bikes and love having "always on" lights.

The Supernova setup is definitely bright enough, front and tail, to be seen during daylight hours.

One thing to keep in mind if you are riding in the dark is any kind of mechanical (flat tire, for example) will require some kind of battery powered light if you want to be able to see what you're doing...

SPP

[HamFisted]

Fully recommended. About to spring for another one in addition to the two I already have. Not having to worry about batteries is enough of a reason for me to have dynamo setups on my bikes.

Originally Posted by Louis

For you guys who use dynamos regularly, how much of a problem (if at any) is the "you have to keep moving to have light and be seen" issue?

My Supernova has a built-in stand light that keeps things going while I'm at a stop light, seems to last 5 minutes or so. On some of the dumber races I've done that involved some hike-a-bike, the light kept going at walking speed, albeit with some flickering.

[sg8357]

Originally Posted by HamFisted

[snip]On some of the dumber races I've done that involved some hike-a-bike, the light kept going at walking speed, albeit with some flickering.

Had some logs across the bike trail on a night ride,
shouldered the bike, and spun the wheel every once in
a while to charge the stand light, worked fine,
it was really dark dark.

[Wunder]

I have bikes with both. For a bike that is mainly ridden in the day with possible short excursions at night (specifically around sunrise/sunset) I prefer battery lights. Battery lights have a blinking function (Stvzo dynamo lights do NOT blink ever) for daylight visibility, are a lighter setup, and tend to run brighter.

However, for actually riding at night for long periods of time on unlit roads a dynamo is vastly superior. The beam shapes are better (all the light hits the road) and the batteries never run out.

I currently have a dynamo on my and my wife's commuter bike (lights just work, no charging, these bikes also run Cateye computers that last a year or more without a battery change) and if I were to do a brevet of 300km plus I would swap the wheel onto the front of my road bike and mount a dynamo light on the fork (I'd still probably use a battery light in the back).

[sparky33]

Originally Posted by bicycletricycle

Get a son hub and nice lights , it is great

agreed.

fwiw I don’t ride much at night, but I do enjoy having a dynamo head/taillight for dawn and dusk. They are always on, and I can’t feel any difference pedaling.

that said, battery lights are better than ever for be-seen daytime usage. Exposure Boostr is my be-seen taillight of choice.

[weisan]

I will admit, second to my infatuation or obsession with titanium bikes is buying up dynamo hubs whenever they show up here at the classifieds and building them up into wheels. I love the idea of self-generated light energy and always available when i need it. I have one on the all- purpose built hardtail, one on our tandem, one on the gravel bike, and two more waiting in line to be built up.

Love it!

[blakcloud]

I used a dynamo on my commuter bike but it was supplemented with a helmet mounted light. The dynamo lights straight ahead and my helmet lights where I want to go. It was a great setup.

As for the drag, I never noticed it until someone pointed it out to me. It's not a constant drag but a stuttered one. Then it started to bug me, kind of like the red car syndrome.

Not for everyone but if you are using any kind of light often, then dynamo is the way to go.

[capt_velo]

Can you feel the difference in resistance with a modern dynamo? When I was a kid, I had one that ran against your rear wheel and I hated how much slower it made me.

[p nut]

Originally Posted by capt_velo

Can you feel the difference in resistance with a modern dynamo? When I was a kid, I had one that ran against your rear wheel and I hated how much slower it made me.

On my heavier commuter bike and bikepacker, I can’t tell, honestly. SON has one of the lowest, if not the lowest resistance.

If I ride my SON equipped bike back to back with my wife’s SP and daughter’s Shimano, I can tell a bit of difference in drag. But maybe it’s in my head…

When I had it on my light road bike, I could definitely tell. Minimal but noticeable.

[Smitty2k1]

Bike 1 has a SP hub and B&M IQ-X headlight and B&M taillight.

Bike 2 has a Shimano hub and B&M IQ-X headlight and B&M taillight.

Bike 3 has a set of rims, an IQ-X headlight and B&M taillight and I'm just waiting to buy a SON hub.

Bike 4 is a longtail ebike conversion in the works and has an IQ-X E headlight and some generic taillight.

The other 3 bikes I never ride have USB head and taillights.

[Mr.Appa]

I'll echo what a lot of others have mentioned - Dynamos are great for commuter/camping bikes and the weight/drag is hardly noticeable especially on high-end hubs and lights. You will notice the price though: $200+ for just the hub and $100+ for the lights (plus wheel build, soldering, etc.) and most bikes aren't designed/built with dynamo setups in mind, so it kinda detracts from the visuals if that's a concern of yours (lots of loose wires and such).

I do have a dynamo setup on 2/3 of my bikes. The third is a go-fast Ritchey road meant for sunny day rides and fair weather "go-fast" days. If its stormy, or I'm riding late/early I'll grab the disc rando bike with internal dynamo wiring and fenders. The light barely stays on when I'm going up some of the steep dirt pitches on my local weeknight rides here in the Berkeley/Oakland hills - on the road its fine though - anything about 5-ish mph and you'll be good with a son28 hub (or equivalent).

To actually give an example in response to your question, I did setup a bike with a dynamo and then eventually switched it out - that was driven primarily by wanting to have an unencumbered bike where it wasn't all utility focused. And the constant thought of saving about 400g . I eventually went back to battery lights and was quite happy with it. I did have to bring a backup battery light on some longer evening winter rides though, but the extra hassle for 2-3 months out of the year was worth the lighter setup in the big summer riding days.