Looking for a budget-priced dynamo hub wheel.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Duppie on September 30, 2013 at 8:24am

Ended up following James B.'s advice and build a Sanyo H27 laced to an existing rim. Total cost was about $94. Does not include labor (I build the wheel myself) and lights.

Could have saved another $10 by calculating the spoke length myself, but since it was a no-name rim, the required specs were not available on line.

Thanks for all the advice!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on September 30, 2013 at 9:37am

Tell us how you like the Sanyo.  My SRAM iLight is on its last legs.  I can really feel a ton of drag when riding it now although I don't feel any side-to-side movement at the rim that is indicative of bad bearings.  Perhaps the windings are just all rusty and binding on the shell and magnets? 

I opted to use a front wheel off of my CX bike for the Apple Cider Century yesterday and riding without the dyno gave me 3-4MPH faster cruising speed on average.  HUGE difference.  I'm thinking that SRAM needs to go or be rebuild somehow.  

In the past couple of days I have heard about another hub that might be a contender made by SP  It supposedly has drag numbers that are compatible with the SON hubs. Too bad it is well more than twice the price of the Sanyo.    I still think the Sanyo will be my next hub unless SP can get their price down under $100.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Duppie on October 1, 2013 at 9:11am

Don’t think I can do a true comparison between my Sanyo and my Son. The hubs are on different bikes, meant for different riders and different usages. Given the low usage that I expect the Sanyo to see, I think this hub will last for many years.

The Sanyo feels like it has more resistance than my Son when I spin the front wheels in a bikestand. But that is entirely subjective. Besides, I don’t believe that most riders can really tell the difference between a well functioning Sanyo and a well functioning SON, the differences are too small

The main reason not to go with a Sanyo is when you plan to ride many miles with the lights turned off. Other hubs reduce the drag when the lights are turned off, but the Sanyo apparently has nearly as much drag with the lights turned off, as it has with the lights turned on.

As far as your SRAM hub, if you really can tell the speed difference (using a speedometer), then yes, your hub need to be replaced or at least overhauled. In a recent BQ magazine, the tests showed that the reduction in speed between the a non-dynamo hub and the worst tested hub were about .2 mph at 20 mph. So 3-4 mph really would indicate a problem.

 

That SP-V8 indeed looks interesting. It got good restistance results in tests. But the quality is a big unknown as of now. Velo Orange used to carry a different hub by the same manufacturer and they had to stop carrying it, because the quality simply was too bad. And for that price you can get modern Shimano hub as well.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on October 1, 2013 at 12:51pm

The switchable VO hub was made by SP I have been told.  There was one individual who was assembling the hubs incorrectly on the line and it was causing the failures that the VO hubs had a reputation for.  It wasn't a design issue but a manufacturing defect due to improper training of one worker on the assembly line.   SP claims this problem has been addressed, but VO has never started re-importing them.  I don't think anyone is importing those hubs to the USA right now although I suppose they can be found through the grey market and ebay sellers if one dug around online enough.  

They look pretty interesting though.   Since I run my hub powering something at all times (either the light or my smartphone) I don't think it is that important that I get a hub that is ultra-low drag when not under a load or can be switched off. 

I am interested in the other SP hubs because of the claim that they are roughly as efficient as the SON while being much less costly. 

But the Sanyo looks really good to me due to the fact that none of these hubs are very easy to rebuild and for the most part unless one goes to near Herculean ends they are all disposable or, as in the case of the Schmidt/SON hubs, depends on a really good factory warranty through Peter White.  So with the Sanyo it's cheap enough to just dispose of it when the time comes. 

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page