ze_zaskar

Hello,

I am currently building a new bike and considering to add a dyno hub and led headlight.
a SON is out of budget, so that would scrap the idea for now. The Shimano XT hubs, more precisely the DH-T780 come with a nice price.

Are they worth the fuss or should I just save for a SON later on the road?
Please consider that the bike is going to be ridden offroad frequently and on some remote locations.

Thanks for the help

LuckySailor

Warranty on the SON is 5 times better, and supposedly bombproof. But I see your point on price. I went with the SON earlier this year when I built my touring bike. Nice to have a USB charge port too. Works great to charge my iPhone 5S, and my CANZ speaker.

fietsbob

Schmidt does use sealed cartridge bearings Shimanos are not ,,

there is an Alfine dynohub to use a centerloc disc brake on.

6v 3w

Product

ze_zaskar

I'm ok with cup and cone bearings, the rear hub is a Shimano XT. No disc brakes, so no need for Center-Lock interfaces.

The SON is 3 times the price of the XT, to put things into perspective....

fietsbob

you can save money without spending to the XT level too .. probably get a out of the box complete wheel for less..

just get the 3w models, they list 1.5w too ...an LED headlight only output.
https://cycle.shimano-eu.com/publish/...0.-type-..html


I have a Shimano-Brompton wheel .. it was $100. it works fine .. using a B&M Head & Taillight

GamblerGORD53

Sounds like you could use what I have. A SA XL FDD cartridge bearing drum brake dyno with an Edelux headlight.
It has 8000 trouble free miles. Only maintenance it needs is a slight roughing up the shell brake surface that gets polished.
My lights are always on now with minimal 2 or 3 % drag that I can tell. I have been over 40 mph a bunch of times.
My last two century rides had some nice tailwinds where I was going 25/27 mph with ease at 66 lbs.

If your bike has disc mounts then do that. I used WH13 thick head spokes.

For really no fuss travel save up for a ROHLOFF 14.

fietsbob

FWIW, I found a 2nd hand black R'off disc ready, for $800 in '09 Minus gripshift & cables & such ..

robert schlatte

I have two Shimano dynamo hubs. DH-3N72. Bought them for about $100 apiece. The first one I have had about 5 years and used it on my daily commute. It powers B&M lumotec cyo headlight and a B&M toplight tail light. Both dynamos work perfectly with no perceptible drag.

rodar y rodar

I`ve been using Shimano dynohubs for five or six years now on my commute. Love`em. Since I already have them, I use them to tour also, but would probably just stick with battery lights if I didn`t need headlights almost every day.

Tourist in MSN

I bought a SP Dynamo hub a year and a half ago. Looks very much like the SON but made in Taiwan. I could not find a retailer in US to sell it to me, I bought it on Ebay, shipped from Taiwan.

I think I have the PV-8 model.
SP 8 series dynamo hub

In only a year and a half, I obviously can't comment on long term durability, but short term it is fine so far.

If I recall, their brochure did not list a 36h option, but that is what I got.

headloss 

Cup and cone is a bad idea with Shimano dynohubs... for one, it uses an M11 (*edit* M14 on the xt hub) axle thread which means there are not a lot of replacement cones available (buy extras now, they won't be around when you need them in a few years, trust me... they tend to change the cone with every subsequent model and drop support of the former).

Unless Shimano has changed the design, changing the bearings/cones on the side with the wiring is possible but annoying and it's easy to damage the copper wire. Shimano itself does't consider it serviceable.

I'm a fan of cup&cone, but with generator hubs, cartridge bearings are really the way to go due to the proprietary cup/cone/axle of shimano's dynamo.

vik 

I've used 2 Shimano dynohubs as well as a 2 SON units for rando rides and commuting.

The SON units are nicer to look at and hold, but from a install and use perspective I've not noticed a difference between them. If I had budget issues I'd happily buy another Shimano dynohub.

I haven't used any of these hubs in a MTB application so I can't offer any advice there.

wahoonc

I run a couple of Shimano dyno hubs and have had zero issues. I also have a brand new Sturmey-Archer XL-FDD as well as some GH6/AG/FG that are pushing 50 years old. They all work well. I have had zero issues with the Shimano, they get used in all weather conditions. FWIW the ones I have are the roller brake versions.



Aaron

ze_zaskar

Thanks for all the help

I see some contradicting reports on the Shimano dynohubs.
I wonder if Shimano would put the XT badge on something not offroad worthy at all....

The thing about them being unserviceable raises my eyebrow, a lot


Regarding the headlight, I was considering the Busch&Muller Lumotec Lyt B N LED. Would it clear the cables on high-profile canti brakes?

J.C. Koto

The hub is probably fine but I'd be wary about the light you are considering since the beam is designed for road use and depending on what you mean by "offroad" you might not be pleased, like getting hit in the face with sticks and stuff...

I was worried about that too but then realized I could buy three Shimano dynamo hubs for the price of one SON so chances are I'd get at least the same duration of use with a lower up-front cost. YMMV, etc.

Depends on the straddle cable setup. I had to modify the mount on my Lumotec IQ Cyo (same bracket as the Lyt) thusly to work with my cantis:

Basically I put the part that abuts the fork crown in a bench-vice and banged the arms with a hammer until they were perpendicular in order to get under the straddle wire.

Peter White, etc. also sells brackets that work with canti brakes.

Incidentally, the IQ-TEC P lens on this IQ Cyo Premium lamp is fantastic for road illumination. Highly recommended

robert schlatte

Here is what I did to clear the yoke cable.

fietsbob

what kind of hardcore high speed single track big drop riding are you planning?


all the wiring is into small spade connectors on the back of that one .

beam is compromised ,(a bit narrow and lower 15 lux output, no standlight) , but it is quite low in cost.

Busch & Müller: LUMOTEC Lyt

antokelly

nothing wrong with shimano dynamo hubs will last every bit as long as son.get one today.

hybridbkrdr

xxcycle in France has the B&M Eyc starting at $42 U.S. (various versions on their site)

That site also has the Racktime Topit front rack where you can install the light at the front of the rack. (I haven't bought one yet so I'm not sure how to hook it up but I've googled pictures to see what it looks like set up.)

fietsbob

Racktime - Top-it Frontträger looks good

but you probably need a long enough mudguard to keep wheel sprayed crud from making leaks and contact corrosion in the light.

Rob_E

I've been running a Shimano dynamo hub on my commuter/touring bike for five years. My estimate would be that there's about 15,000 miles on my front wheel. My light has actually not been working for a couple of months, and I've been lazy about diagnosing it, but I did make one attempt, and I'm 90% the problem lies somewhere in the wiring between the hub and the light. My little current tester has to problem detecting electricity from the hub, but the light isn't coming on (but it would come on when it was on the stand, while I was doing the trouble-shooting). Point being, that unless I learn otherwise when I finally sort out this issue, I'm fairly certain that my Shimano hub has been problem-free, well worth what I paid for it, and has lasted at least the 5 years that the SON is warranteed for.

If I had money to burn, I'd get a SON, because I hear great things. Since I do not, I would not hesitate to get another Shimano hub.

ze_zaskar

My concerns about offroad riding are related to mud, dust and water, not "sweet jumps" and that sort of stuff.


I think I'll pass the dynohub and light this time. Not enjoying the idea of cables around the fork, doubts about the hub's reliability and now all the trouble between the light and canti cables...


Thanks for all the great help

rhm

I've been using Shimano dynamo hubs for a dozen years or so, and have generally had pretty good experience with them, though I have two failed hubs in my parts bins now. But on my recent tour through central New York State my front wheel started making alarming noises. At first I thought it was the spokes; but it turned out to be the Shimano Nexus dynamo hub bearings. It continued to put out power, but it was loud enough that my riding partner could tell how close I was following him by the popcorn popping sound of my Shimano dynamo hub. The worst of it was wondering if it was going to fail in a catastrophic fashion. I don't know what such a failure would look like, but I wouldn't want it to happen on a tour, especially if I'm heading down a hill at 40 mph.

Now that I'm home, I've started a thread about overhauling it, which you can find in the mechanics forum, but I haven't had the courage to attack the thing yet; that's going to wait until I have its replacement on hand.

Anyway, I'm not replacing it with another Shimano hub; this time I'm going for a Sanyo. I have two Sanyo hubs already, both of which seem to be holding up very well, and I like the price.

fietsbob

OEM Hubs seem notoriously miserly on grease. <generally> slipping the cones out and adding more not a bad idea.

Try to add an O ring over the axle and gain a bit more sealing.

ze_zaskar

I've been using the bike extensively for the last couple of months and regretting the option to dispense the dyno hub.
My commuting starts early and ends late, so there's little sunlight (even if the days are growing fast).

My LBS now stocks Shutter Precision PV8 hubs only €10 more expensive than I can get the Shimano XT DH-T780.
Between the two, in terms of reliability and drag, what are the opinions? Not much worried about output, only want to power an headlight and tailight