Shimano Dynamo Hub differences

[Jah_Gorb]

Hello! I am looking at building a wheel for a 2nd dynamo set-up and am having some trouble understanding the differences between different shimano dynamo hub product lines. I have a 3N-72 that on one bike that I am content with but am looking at building another wheel for my commuter. I am specifically unclear on the differences between the 3N-xx and 3D-xx product lines. Does anyone know or have any other general dynamo hub advice or resources? I've seen a lot of SP and some kasai hubs recently and am wondering if those are significantly better for not a ton more or if they just happen to look much better.

Thank you!

[bicycletricycle]

Peter white has generally good dynamo info but not sure if he covers shimano stuff.

[samwell187]

From what I've read, at this point they're all pretty similar in terms of noticeable performance on a bike under normal operating conditions for a long amount of normal riding. The differences will kick in at >10k miles in grime and slush, when the lower end models will start to fail. Otherwise, you should pick the cheapest option at any given time (given sales and stuff) from a somewhat reputable maker (of which all the ones you suggest certainly are).

Even a new, low-end hub (or honestly even a "vintage" one) will probably be fine for backup duty, something that I'm imaging gets ridden well less than 1k miles a year?

But yeah good luck and keep us posted!

[Smitty2k1]

Cycling About has some comparisons to various dynamo hubs, like this article, which discusses two different Shimano hubs.
https://www.cyclingabout.com/dynamo-...ision-shimano/

[Jah_Gorb]

This is a great article! Thank you for sharing!