Worst thing I had on my commuter bike was the old Sanyo “Dynapower” bottom-bracket-mount generator.
Stationed in the UK, and commuting around the end of the runway at RAF Upper Heyford, I’d get so much speed up, that I’d blow the bulbs for the thing about 1/3 of the way around it. The rest of the ride would be in complete darkness, and risk getting stopped and ticketed by LE. Those bulbs were not cheap, and not available on base (nearest bike shop was in Bicester (5 miles away)). After the second one blew, I quit generators for good, and went to battery power. Lights have gotten so much better since 1990.
That shows what I hat most about selling: the system that makes you keep returning to spend more.
Shimano came up with a great idea – Di2.
So, you get all excited and go off and buy the new battery-powered gadget, get it home and find you can’t install it because you need the unique component to plug it in to.
Then you find that as your machine never had those special lugs on it, you need another special adaptor to fix it to the frame. And so on…
I got an Alfine 11 hub gear unit to replace the Rohloff – wider gear range with higher ratios.
I found the gear selection with the cable wasn’t precise enough so have to buy a Di2 hub because the motor unit will not fit on the manual one, I got the controls but the battery will not zip-tie to the frame without a ‘problem solvers’ adaptor because the original battery socket only fits onto a welded bottle mount. I can’t wait to find out what will stop me riding my Mango next! 🙂
I had more than one of these at my mid-80s Motobecane.
The were broken after one or two winters each. Also, they had problems while raining or snowing.
So I am glad, to have SONs on my commuter bikes – and all other “every-day”-bikes in the family have Shimano dynamo-hubs…
What about the Shutter Precision switchable dynamo? When switched off, it offers almost no magnetic drag, and it’s lighter than the SON. Look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji1wCW35Y0o
I blew a few bulbs over the years, but learned to carry spares. I have bikes that are still rocking the GH-6 dyno’s from Sturmey-Archer. Oldest one is over 60 years old and still going strong, now it is pushing LED lights instead of the incandescent. I have had my fair share of battery lights over the years. Anyone else use the Wonder Lights? I still have mine, just don’t have batteries for them. 😉 90% of my bikes have generators. I still use a couple of wheel driven ones, tho most are hub generators now.
Best thing I ever had on my commuter bike was the old Sanyo “Dynapower” bottom-bracket-mount generator.
Worst thing I had on my commuter bike was the old Sanyo “Dynapower” bottom-bracket-mount generator.
Stationed in the UK, and commuting around the end of the runway at RAF Upper Heyford, I’d get so much speed up, that I’d blow the bulbs for the thing about 1/3 of the way around it. The rest of the ride would be in complete darkness, and risk getting stopped and ticketed by LE. Those bulbs were not cheap, and not available on base (nearest bike shop was in Bicester (5 miles away)). After the second one blew, I quit generators for good, and went to battery power. Lights have gotten so much better since 1990.
That shows what I hat most about selling: the system that makes you keep returning to spend more.
Shimano came up with a great idea – Di2.
So, you get all excited and go off and buy the new battery-powered gadget, get it home and find you can’t install it because you need the unique component to plug it in to.
Then you find that as your machine never had those special lugs on it, you need another special adaptor to fix it to the frame. And so on…
I got an Alfine 11 hub gear unit to replace the Rohloff – wider gear range with higher ratios.
I found the gear selection with the cable wasn’t precise enough so have to buy a Di2 hub because the motor unit will not fit on the manual one, I got the controls but the battery will not zip-tie to the frame without a ‘problem solvers’ adaptor because the original battery socket only fits onto a welded bottle mount. I can’t wait to find out what will stop me riding my Mango next! 🙂
Hate most
I had more than one of these at my mid-80s Motobecane.
The were broken after one or two winters each. Also, they had problems while raining or snowing.
So I am glad, to have SONs on my commuter bikes – and all other “every-day”-bikes in the family have Shimano dynamo-hubs…
I tried to reply to Bicycle Bill, but failed. My posting was not connected to his…
What about the Shutter Precision switchable dynamo? When switched off, it offers almost no magnetic drag, and it’s lighter than the SON. Look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji1wCW35Y0o
so far I am getting by on usb rechargable lights. still I remember my old generator light on my paper route bike
I have a Velogical rim dynamo. A bit noisy, but it runs my light great.
I blew a few bulbs over the years, but learned to carry spares. I have bikes that are still rocking the GH-6 dyno’s from Sturmey-Archer. Oldest one is over 60 years old and still going strong, now it is pushing LED lights instead of the incandescent. I have had my fair share of battery lights over the years. Anyone else use the Wonder Lights? I still have mine, just don’t have batteries for them. 😉 90% of my bikes have generators. I still use a couple of wheel driven ones, tho most are hub generators now.
Aaron