Hi everyone, I just took delivery of my first every dynamo hub. I went big and got the SON 28. Now I’m wondering what kind of light/usb charging configuration I should go for. The dynamo will be used in an long distance/bikepacking setup meaning that there’s a chance that I start my day before the sun is up and ride a bit into (or through) the night.
I’d envision the following setup: With the electricity that is generated I can do one of three things:
- Run my lights
- Charge a powerbank
- Idle to have slightly lower resistance
With the powerbank I can ideally either charge some USB device (phone, Garmin, etc…) or run the lights.
Does such a setup make sense and if so, what are the things that I’d need for that?
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It is inefficient to charge a powerbank from your dyno hub, and then use the powerbank to run your lights. Just get a dyno light and run it directly from the hub.
There are a few well-known options for this. I’ve got a kLite; these have a separate light head and USB converter dingus. Very stout cable harness, including a switch to toggle between sending hub power to the light (with excess going to the USB converter) or USB converter.
Another one I’m interested in is the Igaro light. I believe this is not StVZO-certified per se, but it has a shaped beam for road use. USB converter is built into the light head. Phone app controls the settings.
If I understand correctly, Purple Dog worked with SON on the development of the SON 29; he’s got some interesting light products.
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Hi Philip, I run a dynamo set up on my Mason Bokeh and use Exposure lights directly from the dynamo for lights. They recently upgraded their dynamo light so give them a look. They are expensive for lights, but they are repairable and have a great reputation. I’ve had no issues with the dynamo lights and they do stay on a while after stopping so you have a light available if needed if you stop in the dark or stay bright enough on an extended climb where you are moving slower.
I use an Igaro D2 convertor to convert the dynamo output to a 5v supply for USB powerbank charging. They now do a D3 so again, things have moved on since I bought my set up.
The powerbank is a Belkin model, which allows pass through charging so I can charge my phone while charging the powerbank.
I don’t charge my phone directly, you could end up draining your phone battery faster trying to do this, unless you can go fast enough for long enough. I can’t.
Ideally the cables can be run inside the fork and frame to save the chance of damage. I did sustain some damage when riding on a track and a bush caught the cable on my fork and damaged the wire. Luckily I wasn’t far from home and a repair was done easily. But that is a personal preference of mine.
Good luck getting your set up sorted. 
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No bikepacking here, but as a daily, I have son hub with edelux light, which gives plenty of light. Girlfriend has Shimano dynamo hub with the same lamp, also good. There is a plug for the rear light to connect, we both have the same of which i forgot the name
Edit: brand of the rearlight is supernova!
I’ve been running this kind of set up for a long time.
Recommendation: SON28 Hub is great and then paired with a kLite with the binary switch (Either charging or lighting).
While the split switch is okay I’ve always found that I either wanted my lights to be at full bore during the evening/ night or fully charging my cache battery during the day. There is a real reason that a majority of ultra races choose kLite and I’ve definitely found it lives up to the hype.
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I love my sinewave beacon II light for these uses. It’s got a usb port in the back for charging electronics that works very seamlessly. Used it on the tour divide and had no complaints.
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Wow, thanks a lot everyone. Looks like I have a lot of good options there. It’ll take me some time to dig through all of the intricacies for sure especially since this is quite the investment. Now I have a solid starting point though, seems like I can’t really go wrong if I go with one of the above options.
I should mention that if you do want to run a battery light off a powerbank, make sure that it can run off a powerbank first, because many lights cannot charge and run at the same time.
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I’m also using a SON28 + K-lite front and rear light + USB charger setup hidden in my frame bag, and can’t really imagine anything else being better for my needs, except maybe the slight improvements to the second generation K-lite. I highly recommend this setup, but I’ve also not used other dynamo lights and I’m sure the other options that have been around for years are also great, otherwise they would have disappeared in this challenging industry.
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Can recommend the new exposure revo Which does both charging and lights. Happy with it
Howdy Philip. SON on the Pelican, flawless operation for thirteen years, wired to a Busch & Mueller IQ Cyo that is rated at 80 lux (big difference between lux and lumens). It casts a good beam 100m ahead without blinding oncoming cyclists, pedestrians and traffic as it complies with the German regulations on these matters. Rear is a fender mounted B&M Secula - again, bright as buggery. Both have a stand light so if you’re stopped in traffic they will stay lit for five minutes or so thanks to a small capacitor in the guts of the thing. The Pelican is internally cable routed - great for a decade but a pain in the arse to get fiddly worn cables through skinny steel tubing. Cables can wear between the fork and head tube, but the newer SON stuff is a thick coaxial cable which will survive the rapture. The Stooge also has a SON, five years strong, mounted to a KLite. There are two KLite models - broad beam and less broad beam - but the light output is pretty unbelievable. Better for mountain biking as it casts a lot of light up and sideways as well. As adamrice says above, KLite make a nice USB converter to charge a batetry or something, but charging a power bank is sllloooow. It’s only 3W. Still, once you have a dynamo, and a SON in particular, it is hard to go back. With the temperature rising in Tour stages, they’ll all be riding them in a decade to allow for 7pm starts.
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