Busch and muller side wall dynamo?

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Just looking to sort out my lights for winter, the last few years I've used a dyno hub on my Bromptons and they've been brilliant, and I mean brilliant.

Since getting my croix de fer I've been using rechargeable batteries for led lights. I'm rubbish at managing batteries and would like to go back to dyno lights and the ones I'd need for audaxing would cost the earth.

I don't want to go to the hassle of getting a front disc hub dyno wheel built to match the rear or to mention the expense.

So I've seen the B and M dymotech and it gets good reviews online. Has anyone on here have any experience of using one?

 

[fossala]

Just looking to sort out my lights for winter, the last few years I've used a dyno hub on my Bromptons and they've been brilliant, and I mean brilliant.

Since getting my croix de fer I've been using rechargeable batteries for led lights. I'm rubbish at managing batteries and would like to go back to dyno lights and the ones I'd need for audaxing would cost the earth.

I don't want to go to the hassle of getting a front disc hub dyno wheel built to match the rear or to mention the expense.

So I've seen the B and M dymotech and it gets good reviews online. Has anyone on here have any experience of using one?

You could get a sp dynamo in 28h for 85 quid. Then it's just the spokes on top. It's what I was going to do with it.

EDIT: I'm now using a 32h on the bike I'm using now, they work fantasticly. Just hope they hold up for a few years.

 

[ushills]

I used one for a winter season, it was okay but they have a tendency to skip in the rain and snow. Difficult to get the friction right and they are noisy compared to a hub dynamo.

I would get the wheel relapsed onto a dynamo hub or learn to diy.

 

[gilespargiter]

I use them on each of two bikes, coupled to LED lights. I find them a total secret weapon. They give you car headlight convenience in the most efficient way in every respect. They are very unpopular in the UK (due to prejudice and ignorance as far as I can see). They can be tricky to set up properly, which is vital, but once this is done give very trouble free service. I use two "P" clips with a plate in between similar to the "braze ons" you can have for the purpose (look on "Thorn cycles website) on one bike and on a bracket that fits on the cantilever bolt on the other. I mount them behind the rear stays, where, on my cycles they are protected by the carrier and panniers fit over them. I do not expect to adjust or have trouble with them. They do not slip in the wet but sticky snow or mud can confuddle them.
If you buy them from European online shops eg. Rose Bikes of Germany, they cost a fraction of UK sellers - they are listed under Parts not Accessories, which says it all I think - bikes are a transport solution, not rich people's toys. They do not run on the sidewall but on the edge of the tread belt, so can be used on all but the very lightest racing tyres. It makes no difference what size wheels you use - think in terms of inches of tyre/yard travelled.....
Unless you use your lights more than 90% of the time they are the most efficient lighting method. weighing only 150grams and completely off when off. Costing far less than any other equivalent. they will light your way at walking pace- and on the other hand you can whizz down hills at 50mph, this using high quality LED lights such as Phillips. Thus they beat all other methods.
As you can see I rather like them. In my own prejudice, I regard people using anything else as either ignorant or money wasting idiots!!

 

[Davidc]

I've used one, before moving to a Shimano hub dynamo.

I agree with post #4 above, they work well, with no problems in town, but in the wet the combination of cow poo and red mud on country roads round here causes slipping. I also agree with #3 that they're noisy and that was one reason I changed.

If you're like me and run dynamo and battery lights for mutual backup I'd expect you to get on almost as well with the bottle dynamo as you did with the hub one.

I had mine mounted on an SJS mount on the back wheel much as described by gilespargiter with no problems. As he says make sure the pick-up wheel bears on the tread not the side of the tyre or it will slip.

I sold mine a couple of years ago, otherwise I'd have asked you for an offer!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I use them on each of two bikes, coupled to LED lights. I find them a total secret weapon. They give you car headlight convenience in the most efficient way in every respect. They are very unpopular in the UK (due to prejudice and ignorance as far as I can see). They can be tricky to set up properly, which is vital, but once this is done give very trouble free service. I use two "P" clips with a plate in between similar to the "braze ons" you can have for the purpose (look on "Thorn cycles website) on one bike and on a bracket that fits on the cantilever bolt on the other. I mount them behind the rear stays, where, on my cycles they are protected by the carrier and panniers fit over them. I do not expect to adjust or have trouble with them. They do not slip in the wet but sticky snow or mud can confuddle them.
If you buy them from European online shops eg. Rose Bikes of Germany, they cost a fraction of UK sellers - they are listed under Parts not Accessories, which says it all I think - bikes are a transport solution, not rich people's toys. They do not run on the sidewall but on the edge of the tread belt, so can be used on all but the very lightest racing tyres. It makes no difference what size wheels you use - think in terms of inches of tyre/yard travelled.....
Unless you use your lights more than 90% of the time they are the most efficient lighting method. weighing only 150grams and completely off when off. Costing far less than any other equivalent. they will light your way at walking pace- and on the other hand you can whizz down hills at 50mph, this using high quality LED lights such as Phillips. Thus they beat all other methods.
As you can see I rather like them. In my own prejudice, I regard people using anything else as either ignorant or money wasting idiots!!

Thanks for that, very useful. I can see I'll probably go down this route for the croix I have now. I have seen some alternatives (see other thread) but they're probably too much of a gamble for someone as conservative as me.

I used to use a roller dynamo that fastened to the rear stays at the bottom of the seat tube...union brand iirc with some basic bridge rectifiers (electronic things) I charged some sealed lead batteries to power halogen twin cat eyes lights.

It worked a treat for years, I can't remember what happened to that setup, I sold it with the bike I think.

I'll probably get iq front and B&M Topflight rear from Rose.

 

[andrew_s]

I used to use a roller dynamo that fastened to the rear stays at the bottom of the seat tube...union brand iirc.

Union 8601, with a control cable up the back of the seat tube so you don't have to stop to turn it on.
Drag is possibly a little more than a well set up bottle dynamo, can get clogged with dried mud when not in use and need poking out before use, can be used on lightweight skinwall tyres with no worries about tyre damage, generally only lasts 2 or 3 years because of all the muck that is continually thrown over it by the tyre.
French sites seem good for old kit - I even saw a B+M S6 high efficiency bottle dynamo available (Cycles Vincent).

 

[tyred]

Have to confess to being a bit of a fan of bottle dynamos. They work well for me, even the older ones. If you take the time to set it it properly, it shouldn't slip unless the roller is worn, although it helps if the tyre has a track for it to run on.

The trick is to imagine a line drawn through the spindle of the dynamo bisecting the centre of the wheel axle. Otherwise it will slip, cause excessive drag and probably tyre wear.

 

[Tim Hall]

Have to confess to being a bit of a fan of bottle dynamos. They work well for me, even the older ones. If you take the time to set it it properly, it shouldn't slip unless the roller is worn, although it helps if the tyre has a track for it to run on.

The trick is to imagine a line drawn through the spindle of the dynamo bisecting the centre of the wheel axle. Otherwise it will slip, cause excessive drag and probably tyre wear.

Don't imagine it, make a real one: Fix a length of string to the axle with a suitable knot. Pull string tight in the direction of the dynamo. Line up the dynamo by eyeing along the bit of string. Simpler to do than explain. I had the dynamo bracket on my bike put on the rear of the fork, so that the dynamo tended to move towards, rather than away from, the tyre, increasing the tyre/roller friction and decreasing the chances of it slipping. The downside to this is if the dynamo works loose, it'll jam in the fork, with Hilarious Results.

 

[TheJDog]

The standard one fell off my Brompton (when I had one) and I replaced it with the cheaper model of the B&M bottle dynamos. If I recall, the more expensive one was very very expensive, and this one was around £25. It was a lot lighter both physically, and in action than the original, and I had no problems with either electricity output nor skipping because the tyre had a track for the dynamo.

If you're using one on a regular 700c bike it'll be generating enough electricity to boil a kettle.