http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Dynamo maintenance en Sat, 27 Jun 2026 11:48:30 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20846#post-358463 Sun, 13 Feb 2022 14:09:45 +0000 LaidBack 358463@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>All hubs have lumpy feel when rotated.<br /> SON ones cost more but have less although SP ones also very good.<br /> If you switch front light on when using a SON the drag is very noticeable when rotated by hand but I look at it as fitness aid. I keep lights on all the time.</p> <p>My hack recliner bike has a hub that's 20 years old and interiors been rebuilt once by SON. Bearing went worn as was on our school run tandem. Rim still ok as had a Hope disc brake fitted in 2001. That was high tech back then.</p> <p>Since Bxt sending parts back to Germany for repair is not viable. Another bxt bonus. SON have replaced a hub that stopped working when only a year old. No company is perfect but alt least they took an interest. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20846#post-358462 Sun, 13 Feb 2022 13:57:17 +0000 amir 358462@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Thanks for the useful views. I'll get the wheel rebuilt with the old hub </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20846#post-358441 Sat, 12 Feb 2022 09:24:05 +0000 wingpig 358441@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Having had my first duff hub in a while relatively recently the grating/scraping feel was nothing like the sort of controlled/damped stepped/lumpy feel of a fresh dynamo hub. My first dynamo outlasted two rims and was still working when it was eventually replaced because it was only 32h. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20846#post-358436 Fri, 11 Feb 2022 23:13:59 +0000 steveo 358436@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>As I remember they're effectively disposable, the wire that runs from the rotating part to the fork is tiny and very delicate and almost always breaks when you open the hub. </p> <p>If it were for a commuter and backed up with battery lights I'd say its probably worth just building in to a new wheel but given your propensity to be riding at all hours, miles from city lights I'd be inclined to get a new hub, maybe get a cheap rim and use it to practice wheel building and have it as a spare.</p> <p>With the cogging caused by the magnets even new really good hubs feel like they're toast compared to a normal wheel. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20846#post-358434 Fri, 11 Feb 2022 19:29:49 +0000 amir 358434@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I have possibly a daft q related to dynamos. </p> <p>The wheel rim needs replacing, but I need to know whether the dynamo hub is in a state that justifies a rebuild. So how do you assess the bearings (not serviceable)?</p> <p><strong>Background:</strong> My mechanic is new to dynamos, and had some concerns about how it was "centering itself between the high and low spots on the bearing races". But I showed him a newer Shimano dynamo and this seem even clunkier.<br /> The trouble is I never really bothered to see what the hub "felt" like when it was new, and all this could just be down to the magnets.<br /> The hub is an SP PV8 so the only way to service it is to send it to Thailand. </p>