Dynamo hubs and LED lights for bicycles
Вставка
- Опубліковано 3 сер 2024
- Types and models of dynamo hubs - with their pros and cons.
Types of bicycle lights and LED lights explained.
CONTENTS:
00:00 Battery lights pros and cons
01:10 Dynamo light wire routing
04:07 Old dynamo systems
05:24 LED bicycle lights
08:50 Dynamo hubs explained
Useful LINKS:
If you have any questions, please use the BikeGremlin forum (I try to respond to every comment, but UA-cam sucks at notifications, especially when it comes to any follow-up questions):
www.bikegremlin.net/
Shimano dynamo hub:
www.bike24.com/p2285450.html
Front LED light (Amazon affiliate link):
amzn.to/3oznLAe
Rear LED light (Amazon affiliate link):
amzn.to/3kBx5lR
Overvoltage protection:
www.bike24.com/p29125.html
Bicycle lights explained (article):
bike.bikegremlin.com/344/bicy...
BikeGremlin HUB:
www.bikegremlin.com
BikeGremlinTube HUB:
/ bikegremlin
GremlinTube - a complete list of videos, sorted by categories:
bike.bikegremlin.com/youtube/
id: 1080 - Наука та технологія
If you have any questions, please use the BikeGremlin forum (I try to respond to every comment, but UA-cam sucks at notifications, especially when it comes to any follow-up questions):
www.bikegremlin.net/
Relja
Thank you very much. One of the best bike mechanic channels on UA-cam. I’m quite an advanced home mechanic myself but I mostly worked on MTB and race bikes but recently got a city bike. I changed the poor AXA light that came with the bike to one with 200 lumens, but it started flickering at higher speeds. I connected the wires in the plastic thing without removing the inner piece and that’s why it makes a bad connection :)
Absolutely brilliant video , explanation, and supportive camera work. Tick tick tick
Thank you
Good video, thanks
That's awesome to use the fender as a wire.
Yup - a pretty neat patent. :)
Subscriber 667 says, “so simple, yet I never thought about it !”
"Dynamo hubs. Every home should have one. Order one today!" :)
i.ibb.co/xYwS6Fh/dynamo-hub.jpg
:)
Thanks for yet another great video :).
I've serviced a few of those shimano front wheel dynamo hubs even though they are "unserviceable" according to shimano. They are difficult to adjust though since they always have a high notchy internal resistance and you cannot feel when the cup and cone is too tightly adjusted. You can only feel when it has play and then try to tighten it just a hair more and hope its close enough. I would personally never run them because of this and also just because they have that notchy internal resistance that feels quite wasteful to me.
Servicing is a hassle. I'd rather re-build a wheel with a new hub every ten years or so, than service those hubs on a yearly basis. Colour me lazy. :)
As for the resistance - they are at the very centre of the wheel, so it can't put much resistance (like trying to use a screwdriver while holding it for the blade section, not for the handle).
Edit: not sure if I've explained this clearly enough. :)
In real life, when you ride, you don't feel any noticeable resistance - especially with the higher quality models and when the lights are off.
Of course, riding in Novi Sad, during the winter when it's dark for half of the day and 90% of my pre and post work hours, and with many stops (groceries etc.) on a relatively heavy commuter bicycle, the extra drag is not much of a hassle compared to the downsides of using battery lights. For different riding and use scenarios, the downsides could become more noticeable, and the extra convenience of using dynamo hub and lights, less important.
Please make video how to install, wire the dynamo hub with front and rear light. Also explain how to install without any contact points on the fender/mudguard. But the regular way ,by the frame. thanks in advance
Will do.
A dynamo generates alternating current, therefore you should term the grounded pole as the neutral.
Which grease is best for the bearings in that shimano dynamo, given that it has rubber and plastic parts.
Lithium complex grease should be fine. In more detail:
bike.bikegremlin.com/20/best-bicycle-bearing-grease/
Nice video. Thanks. One question: the hub model you talked about is a centerlock hub for disc brakes which you will install on a rim brake wheel. You loose spoke simmetry on the front wheel; is it because it is more difficult to find rim brake dynamo hubs than disc brake?
Exactly. All good points and good thinking.
New dynamo hubs aren't available in my country at the time of writing this (as was also the case at the time of shopping).
- The same goes for decent-quality LED lights.
So I had to order from abroad. Thanks to Shimano's policy, I couldn't order from abroad to Serbia. I had to rely on a friend to do the shopping for me, abroad - which resulted in having to find a convenient place to buy/order. The only decent quality 3 Watt hub that I could find was the centerlock disc mount model. And it was at a 50% discount. :)
It is inferior in terms of strength and the ease of wheel building to a rim-brake hub. But, in my experience, I am able to build a long-lasting wheel even with such hub design (in spite of it).
The upside of such hub is that it can be used with disc brake forks - which MIGHT be useful for the winter bicycle commuting if I move to the mountains (it is an option I'm considering). I cycle year-long in the flat lands I live in, but I'm yet to test rim brakes in the winter on cold mountain winter mornings. My fork already has a disc brake mount, in addition to the V-brake mounts.
Hello :) thanks for the video! How is this dynohub model holding up since the last year? And would you recommend this for touring?
That's a good question.
So far, I'm very happy - it's all working fine. Survived one hot summer and one very rainy winter (though with very little snow).
I ride all year long, and some of that is on very bumpy roads, so it was a good test for all the contacts, mounts (for lights) and the dynamo hub.
I love it so much that I got another set for my gravel bike. :)
Note: on both hubs I got, the bearing preload looked a bit too high, so I loosened a locknut and adjusted the preload to make it less tight. They do rotate in "clicks" due to the dynamo, but out of the factory it was still a bit too tight. I see that with many cup and cone hubs, regardless of the model and manufacturer.
Relja
@@BikeGremlinUS thank you :) i don't think we have seen your gravel bike in any video!
Like you, I also face the problem of getting the Dynamo hubs because of shimano's restrictions to send abroad - hence the choice is limited to SP (or the Son for that matter). There are some shimano dynamos available on Chinese websites but i don't know about the authenticity. But I'll pick one up when I get a chance.
Regardless, I'm excited to get one and set it up! Thanks for all your content.
:)
In one video in my native (Serbocroatian, the BikeGremlin RS channel), I showed the frame preparation for the build of my gravel bike: :)
ua-cam.com/video/mBTz8OhHPZk/v-deo.html
Edit:
Here is the built (I changed a few more stuff over time, but that's the "skeleton" of my gravel bike):
ua-cam.com/video/olmxGm29Vjc/v-deo.html
Just to add on to what Rilja said, my Shimano dynamo hub lasts since 17 years. I almost never rode in rain.
Great video, as always.
Can you tell me if I can use the old system, so called Tyre Dynamo and connect the new LED lights on it instead of a Hub Dynamo? I personally think that the Hub Dynamo is better system but i am just trying to upgrade the lights on a old city bicycle with spending as less money as possible...
As far as I know, it should work.
Adding some overvoltage protection is a good idea if one plans on going fast down hills with any kind of dynamo (either the old-style bottle-type, or a dynamo hub).
Shimano sells these separately, and they also come with their dynamo hubs.
For flats, if your LEDs are of high quality, it's not really necessary. Good LEDs usually have their own overvoltage protection. Just make sure to connect the rear light from the front light, not directly to the dynamo.
@@BikeGremlinUS
Thanks a lot.
And why is it so important to connect the back light on front light and not directly to the dynamo?
The front light has an on-off switch - the rear one very often doesn't.
The same goes for the standlight function - some rear lights get the "juice" from the front light when the bike is stationary (some have their own capacitor for that).
@@BikeGremlinUS
Can you tell me one more thing? When you have a wheel with dynamo hub and when you spin it while holding the wheel in your hands, is it normal that the hub while making resistance, makes that tik tak silent sound, something similar to normal hub when beeing over tighteneed?
@@Toretto16 Not that I've noticed with Shimano dynamo hubs. Though it's fair to note that they do, like their other (non-dynamo) hubs, often come over-tightened from the factory.
As a 110kg hardtail enduro mtb rider I do not agree with the quick release stuff, it really is too flimsy😁
With disc brakes - yes. I wrote about that:
bike.bikegremlin.com/12108/the-best-road-bicycle-buying/#2.6
@@BikeGremlinUS Thats absolutely true.