Of wheels & dynamos...

[marknotgeorge]

Took both wheels off my Barossa Monaco to the LBS because they were a bit buckled. They rang me today, and they've straightened the back wheel okay, but the front one is beyond repair. They've quoted me about £35 for a new one.

I've been thinking about a dynamo for a bit, because I need some decent lights in the winter. I've seen that Taylor Wheels in Germany can do a 700c front wheel with a Shimano dynamo hub for £32-£42 depending on the rim - typically, the black rim's the most expensive...

Some questions:

• Are Taylor any good?
• Are 700c hybrid wheels much of a muchness? They all seem to be 19mm wide, and I haven't got the wheels available to check.
• Will running a dynamo with no load do it any harm if I can't find any lights I can afford right now?

Cheers!

 

[fossala]

1, Don't know.
2, You will have to run at least 28mm tyres
3, No.

I don't think the setup's going to be that good for 42 quid. They dynamo won't be great (guess would be shimano bottom of the range, I guess the rim and spokes won't be much good either. You can hardly build a wheel for 40quid, never mind a dynamo one.

I'm running an SP SV-8 hub with DT comp spokes on a a319 built by myself so no labour charges. I would say that is best bang for buck and still came in at around 130gbp.

 

[marknotgeorge]

This is the one I was looking at: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=130982923982

It does have the cheapest Shimano hub, but a Rigida Snyper rim. Bear in mind that it's not a top of the range bike, and I don't do mega miles yet.

 

[fossala]

This is the one I was looking at: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=130982923982

It does have the cheapest Shimano hub, but a Rigida Snyper rim. Bear in mind that it's not a top of the range bike, and I don't do mega miles yet.

You can't service shimano dynamo hubs. The seals on the cheaper hubs aren't very good and once they die you have to buy a replacement part you can't get hold off and when you can it's the same price as a new hub. If you can't build your own wheels it would be false ecconomy as you will then have to re-pay to build another hub into the rims/spokes. There is a good thread on CTC forum about cheaper shimano dynamo hubs, I'll try and find it.

 

[marknotgeorge]

Oh well. Given I suspect it was me that shafted the wheel trying to true it, I think I'll think again.

 

[Whobiggs]

Oh well. Given I suspect it was me that shafted the wheel trying to true it, I think I'll think again.

It is true that you get what you pay for. Rigida rims are ok and Shimano don't do anything that doesn't work, obviously some work better than others and with this there will obviously be more drag. But this wheel has a double wall and stainless spokes so for the price I don't think you can go far wrong. Of course if you prefer you can spend £250 on the hub alone to get minimal drag.

 

[the snail]

rosebikes have a good selection of dynamo wheels
http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/products...?page=1&count=16&order=aprice#anchor_products

 

[andrew_s]

This is the one I was looking at: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=130982923982
It does have the cheapest Shimano hub, but a Rigida Snyper rim. Bear in mind that it's not a top of the range bike, and I don't do mega miles yet.

The rim is a fairly good one, but the hub is, as you say, bottom of the range.
Its main drawback is that the lights off resistance is comparatively high, so you'll be doing 2 or 3 watts of extra work to keep it turning all of the time, and that puts off people who do long rides. Having said that, 2 or 3 watts isn't much - less than the difference between a race tyre (GP4000) and a training tyre (Gatorskin), and much less than the difference between that and a puncture proof (ish) tyre like the Marathon Plus. It's fine for short distance town use, which is what it's really meant for.

Shimano dynohubs are sort of serviceable. You can do the left side normally, and push the axle through enough to allow you to inject extra grease in on the right (plug) side with a grease gun. It is also possible to take the right side apart, un-threading the contact wires from the locknuts, cones and seals to allow normal service, but it's also quite easy to break the wires whilst doing so.