Originally Posted by
Cpn_Crank
Do you find the bearings to be easily serviced? And do they come well adjusted and greased from the factory or will I need to open it up/adjust the preload before use? I feel like I have a pretty good, detailed eye for setting bearing preload.
Don't touch that dial! You don't need to open up a dyno hub, and you don't want to, either! A dyno may feel a bit "notchy" when you first ride one -- mine had what felt like a resonance at 15-17 mph, and the other around 17-18 mph -- but that's not a maladjusted hub, that's the effects of the magnetic poles in the hubs. It's been suggested these are actually resonances in the lightweight forks (although, how you call the beefy touring fork on my bike lightweight, I don't understand).
There's a bunch of fiddly connections that are easy to break if you open up a dyno hub. The best (and sometimes, only) way to fix that is to send it back to the manufacturer for rebuild or replacement.
But both my wheels came ready to run, and I haven't touched anything (except tightening loose spokes) since I got them. The Shimano has some 40,000 trouble-free miles on it, the SON over 20,000 miles (I had to look those up).
this brings a question: where the HECK can I find a well performing, relatively affordable dynamo lighting/ charging system (vendors) in the United States?
Keep your eyes open. Peter White Cycles is the U.S. importer for Schmidt, and is probably the definitive source for all things dyno in this country. I lucked out, twice. Velo-Orange had dyno wheels already built up with the Shimano, and I bought one on clearance. I found a small builder with a stock of the older Schmidt hubs when they came out with newer models, and bought a wheel for about the price of the SON hub alone. Early spring is the best time to look for deals. You can also order pretty inexpensive wheels from Europe, but I hear shipping is an issue right now.