Should You Use A Dynamo Hub? Pros, Cons, And When It Makes Sense

once i ride too fast downhill, that the dynamo hub burnt and went away
Solar panel is dirt cheap, multi purpose, still charging not riding, charge my phone at least once in the most cloudiest day.
And i dont ride that long at night, I am sleeping.

I carry a foldable solar panel and one of those magshine lights that double as a power bank. Can charge in route and they are cheap nowadays

I have a dynamo hub on my commuter bike paired with a front light powered by a 21700 battery for nighttime rides. It's truly liberating to have a permanent light on the bike in case I forget to charge the battery, bring the light, or even if I didn’t plan to stay out late that day.
I never use it to charge other devices, though.
For bikepacking, you need to have a second light in case of failure anyway... Dynamo hub AND battery pack for me !

I have a Son dynamo hub on my winter racing bike 80 lux and daylight led’s ! 🤙

Are there dynamo rear wheels?

Are there any higher wattage hubs? I don't mind losing another 10-20 watts off my legs for better charging

Esp for a commuter, the setup doesnt have to be expensive (which is where I use it the most). Granted I build the wheel myself, but I used a mavic rim (~35 €), a shimano hub (~30 €) and some bog standard straight gauge spokes (0,7 €/piece) but the overall cost is WAAAAY below 2k even including light and cabling. Sure, it's not something I would use offroad for extended periods of time, but for commuting its perfect.

A very good thing for commuting to work

In 2019 ahead of the TCR what would have been the following year I did look at SON dynamo hub but in the end stuck with a couple of power banks. Given the technological advancements in subsequent years, for me at least, I would find it hard to justify a dynamo hub purchase unless it wasn't something equally epic and potentially remote like the Tour Divide.

I’m running an SP-PD8x laced to a Roval Control with a Sinewave Beacon and I love it! It keeps all of my devices charged and my bike seen. My friends enjoy it too as I’m typically able to top off their devices as well. Being able to pair it with a battery pack for low/slow speed lighting is a nice perk.

I build myself an allroad bike last year around a ritchey outback frameset. I used a SON dynamo hub on my front wheel and I really appreciate, I never have to worry about whether the batteries of my lights are loaded, because the batteries are my legs 🙃

I want a dynamo with regen braking to charge a battery then freewheel when riding

I charge my battery pack with a small folding solar panel that straps on top of my back carrier with mini bungee cords. I also have a back up battery inside of my handlebar extension for mounting the Go pro and front light. This way I can charge three devices after dark without worry. I am not tempted to get a dynamo.

Shoutout to using cheap, gearless ebike hubs for commuting. With the right controller, they can be used as a dynamo as well as providing regenerative braking. And for those tough days that you just want to be home, it's still an ebike.

Has anyone come across a dynamo hub that you can turn on and off? it could be cool to turn off the dynamo resistance when climbing and then turn it on for a long descent, assuming you are using it to charge a light or Garmin with a battery and don't need to continuously for power all the time...does something like this exist?

I’ve also had my SP bearings blown on my + ATB back in the days. Not the best hub and the maintenance experience 🫠

Funny to see a Garman graph & picture in your presentation. In fact in Germany dynamo driven lights were required by the road traffic regulation until recent days. However this was changed now to allow also rechargeable! batteries.

Not being super fit, I kind of consider dynamo hubs to be a thing that rewards fitness. If the hub produces, say, 5 watts, that's 5 % of your ftp if you have an ftp of 100 watts, while it's just 1 % of your ftp if it's 500 watts. And that should also be independent of weight, so losing a few kilos won't make your dynamo hub less taxing on you...

DTS breaks the bank with these factory DH wheels. Awesome.

Don’t even bother watching the video. The answer is yes, you should get one. Dynamos are awesome.

I have a cheap unbranded setup from Taiwan and it has been great. Just wish it had a standlight. If you’re considering getting into the world of dynamo lights, don’t be fooled into thinking you NEED a $500 hub and a $500 light. Even the cheap stuff works quite well.

Sp dynamo, klite lights, twice riding the GDMBR. Works fantastic, but your average speed needs to be around 10mph. Heavy cellphone user for navigation and music and the dynamo would keep things charged (through Voltaic cache battery) throughout the day. Ran lights front and rear all day as well. About every 4 days stayed at a motel to top things up. I couldnt imagine bikepacking without it.

Catche batteries, and led tech, and fast usbc charging, really makes sense for most of my trips….. dynamo would have been nice back on my divide trips

I love my dynamo hub. I use it on my commuter. I always have lights. No dead batteries, and I don't have to remember to charge ever!

You'll sell your kidney to afford a SON setup and you won't regret it. I use mine only for lights as dynamos are too low wattage for any modern electronics. It's bombproof and a lifesaver especially during long and dark winter months.

Finally a straight pull dynamo hub!! Hopefully they'll start producing a Mtb boost front also. Thanks Neil and DT Swiss.

I enjoying having a dynamo on a bike that gets used regularly at all times of the day. my commuter and that sort of thing, as it allows me to just get on and not worry about charging lights.

10W solar panel that shades your back would suffice me.

The SON hub with Edeluxe II light works great on 3 mph chunky climbs. The triple style lights like Sinewave and Supernova need more speed.

Are you by any chance a Frank Zappa fan?

The big elephant in the room is the fact that you can't simply plug any device directly onto a dynamo hub. To safely and reliably power/charge a phone for example you need s (efficient!?) converter and buffer battery that can put out a stable 5Volt (for USB). Otherwise you run the risk of damaging your phone or draining its battery quicker due to the constant on/off. Losing 6watts of power is not negligible. If on a long days ride you average around 140watts (for a mortal like me..). 6watts is almost the same as losing a cog on a rear cassette.

Ich habe auf meiner aktuellen Reise auch einen Son 28 in Verbindung mit einem Forumslader und einer Supernova M99 DY und bin zufrieden.

Grüße aus Atlacomulco 🇲🇽 von meiner Panamericana Bikepacking Radreise von Deadhorse Alaska nach Ushuaia Argentinien. 🚴

Yes, always.
For me, discovering dynamos was like discovering Jesus.

i am running on shimano dynohub.😊😊😊

Are the dynamo hubs not compatible with the standard dt swiss spacers and axel conversion kits?

Changes the entire functionality of the bike from recreational bike to a utilitarian vehicle that you use w/o having to think about it. Love them!

With a little bit of know how it's not impossible to service a Sutter Precision Dynamo hub. I did it a few years ago after I put close to 3000 miles on it, and one bike crash that totaled a frame.

I’ve been using a SON hub on my touring/commuter bike for about six years. Has been reliable and I don’t notice any drag - it’s a steel frame and I’m usually carrying a bag. And I’m only on pavement or light gravel, with brief moments of rougher stuff.

It’s only downside is that the connector has been fussy, but a local bike mechanic took a hard look at it and straightened it out a year or two ago and it’s been fine since. As someone who uses my phone for navigation, music, etc., I’ve been very happy with it overall.

Dodgy looking wheel bearing there at 3.45.

Imagine connecting two dynamo hubs, to an Ebike

I love dynamo lights but I've chosen not to use them for two reasons you haven't listed here. I live and commute in the inner city, and I had too many issues with squirrels chewing through my wiring, and people damaging my hard mounted lights by trying to steal them while I'm in the grocery store. Switched back to batteries and haven't looked back but I do feel guilty about it. 😅

I frequently cycle on unlit lanes and canal towpaths. Son dynamos are excellent when paired with an Edelux 2 light.

Thanks for the review, and the advice. I must your channel is very good, informative

Really nice video, I miss only mentioning the fact that to charge things you need a converter from 6V AC to 5V DC, but it's clearly in the guide you mentioned.
Those premade DT Swiss wheels look nice, it's a lot cheaper than buying the parts and finding someone who builds it for you.
I'm thinking to buy a new bike and have a dynamo hub on it and found the same guide you recommends and it's really useful.

Rode through Cuba with a great bike light. Darkness was coming, stopped at a very sketchy casa particular, " no thanks", I said. Half an hour later my great bike light died on me after being fully charged the night before. Ran over many crabs and fell into pot holes left and right. Next time in Cuba, India, Greece, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand.etc..... My son hub has never batted an eye ( I do carry back up rechargeable front and back lights Just in Case). Love my hub.

My commuter a Priority 600 and the dynamo is excellent. I have the Hunt dynamo wheel set, wish it was available in carbon, but that's just me trying to min/max. Reminds me how much 10 years ago a dynamo setup was the touring cyclists niche, mostly. I did build an older Alfine front wheel/dynamo/hub brake setup for winter rides, but that's not the norm either. On the commuter front, it should be standard. I used to ride a lot, to the edge of winter, and the post-Daylight Savings rides home in city traffic really was better. That said, old dynamos could not keep up with cheap LED spotlight setup on my bike.
Given how the world really wants to add electrical doodads to basic bike setups, it might be a good idea to standardize on-board, dynamo and maybe solar inputs. That might tilt into the "glamping" side of bike rides. OK, but not really what I want. See and be seen is enough for me.

For these weeklong races would you be better served by a solar panel? The night riding and commuter convenience is a pretty convincing argument for dynamos.

Dynamo hub sound like a frank zappa tune

Thanks for the comprehensive overview of dynamo hubs…very helpful. As a dynamo newbie looking for the best option, would it make sense to charge a powerbank with the dynamo and run battery lights, bike computer and/or charge phone off that? WHich dynamo’s put out the most power? Can you split the power from a battery bank to lights and computer? ...Reading the comments below, it sounds like most are using SON dynamos. Have you done a comparison between the dynamos available?

I’d love to see a video about internally geared hubs vs derailleurs for long distance bikepacking. I’m planning on purchasing a new bikepacking bike, and would like to know what options I have available, and what should be avoided. The biggest problems I see are gear range and lack of parts if something should go wrong on the trip, but reliability seems pretty good, so I’m on the fence. Thanks.