Originally Posted by SBinNYC

What's your objection to a sidewall generator? N.B. the rollers on the new ones are rubber and are replaceable. That means they won't injure the rubber on the tire sidewall. In the old days, there was the Velox rubber cap to prevent the metal roller from touching the sidewall.


I used cold press tubulars, when I rode PBP. The only sidewall protection on those were the liquid latex I'd apply. That's why I used the bottom bracket generator, which rode squarely on the tread.


I have not tried a rim generator. However, the biggest problem for an external generator is slippage during rain. I'd assume there would be more slippage on the rim than on the tire sidewall.


I used a SA dynohub on my pre-historic Rudge, way back when. I'm sure the current models are much more efficient. I did not like the additional friction penalty, when the lights were off. The extra drag on the required full fenders were bad enough, when I did PBP. I would have gladly traded a dirty vertical stripe up my back for the 1 mph lost to fender drag.


There is another objection to a hub generator that might not be obvious. There was a flash flood coming back on a century ride. I had to cross a fast moving stream that was up to my hubs. Some debris in the water broke the seal on the hub bearings. I had to send the wheel back to Phil Wood for the hub to be repaired. I used a spare front wheel, until my wheel came back. Had something happened to a dynohub on PBP, getting a replacement wheel would have been iffy. They have excellent repair and common parts at the controls. However, a wheel with a dynohub is too much to expect. A friend busted his freewheel on PBP. Contrary to Sutherland, it is possible to screw a French threaded freewheel onto an English threaded Campy hub...once.