CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff

Are Modern Bottle Dynamos Still Rubbish?

(10 posts)
  • Started 11 years ago by Uberuce
  • Latest reply from sallyhinch

No tags yet.


  1. Uberuce
    Member

    My recent thought experiment has been to swap wee blue floofy's canti/V fork for a disc mounted one and then obtain a dynohub of 6-bolt 160mm rotor ilk. This would mean I had a wheel I could swap between the daily workhorse and the audaxy shiny distance bike, and only need to fettle the light from one t'other the night before any lengthy rides.

    I can get the same interchangability from a bottle dynamo setup, and counting dem Benjamins, the disc option really fails. If you're not familiar with a middle-aged middle class man's knowledge of street lingo and don't know what 'dem Benjamins' means in this context, then I despair for you but will nonetheless say it means 'the money'.

    I've run around town quite happily on the iron horse with its amusingly draggy 1976 vintage bottle, but what I will tolerate on pub pootles and what I will tolerate for audax are different animals.

    However, if the 40% efficiency claimed by B&M's flagship bottle is to be believed, then I might be in business.

    Has anyone used such a device?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  2. SRD
    Moderator

    I've ridden with 1990s vintage bottle dynamos, which I cannot imagine were any improvement on 1970s vintage. But perhaps by modern, you mean 'of this century'.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  3. wingpig
    Member

    I think you need a Crowriver.

    Is that why Veruca Salt did a song called "Benjamin" back in the early nineties, lamenting where their money had gone?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  4. crowriver
    Member

    Bottle dynamos do give flexibility. They are also noisier than hub dynamos when engaged, and can be draggy - but shouldn't be too much so if adjusted properly (which is a bit of an art).

    The modern B&M or Nordlicht dynamos are pretty efficient. Also, of course, when disengaged there is no drag at all.

    The only real issue I've had with the dynamos I've used so far has been the mounts. The various bolt-on clamps that fix to forks or rear stays are wont to come loose or crack with vibration. A fork such as the ones Thorn make, with a braze on especially for bottle dynamos, is the ideal solution. Otherwise the best engineered mount you can get: I think B&M make a good one.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  5. Uberuce
    Member

    Thankee Mr River, wise in the ways of the Force you are.

    If anyone happens to know whether I can use a hub dynamo light with a bottle dynamo, that'd be handy. As far as I can tell, the only difference is that the bottle ones save money by not bothering with a switch, so I could anticipate a future upgrade to dynohub by getting that kind of light.

    Veruca Salt. I only got Seether from them, which I liked. I understand Franklin Benjamin is on the $100 note, hence the slang.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  6. wingpig
    Member

    "...whether I can use a hub dynamo light with a bottle dynamo..."

    Yes.

    "I understand Franklin Benjamin is on the $100 note, hence the slang."

    Thought so.

    Would you happen to know why some of my associates in the late nineties referred to cigarettes as "bifters"?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  7. crowriver
    Member

    Not ciggies, jays were 'biffs' or 'bifters'. I think it's Scouse rhyming slang: spliff/biff, hence bifter. Apparently it can also refer to a fat lady, so presumably bifter = fat spliff?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  8. sallyhinch
    Member

    I have a modern bottle dynamo - Nordlicht from Dutch Bike Bits. Initially I found it hard work, but that turned out to be because it wasn't properly adjusted - it needs to be running quite lightly against the wheel.

    http://cityexile.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/cancel-that-order-for-legs-of-steel/

    There's a sweet spot between rubbing too hard, and skipping out a little during wet rides, which can make for an interesting night ride. I second Crowriver on the mounting. As for drag, I recently rode for about 11 miles with the thing on in daylight without noticing but that was with the ice tyres, and all manner of junk in my panniers; my bike's not exactly optimised for speed.

    I quite like the noise, it's nice to have something whirring away in the dark lighting your way along quiet country lanes.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  9. crowriver
    Member

    From a comment by David Hembrow on sallyhinch's blog: I’ve had both hub and bottle dynamos, and the difference between them is one of those swings and roundabouts issues. Hubs are usually a little more efficient at night time when the lights are on, but they’re also heavier, more annoying to retrofit, and less efficient in the daytime when the lights are off. I do more riding in the day-time than the night-time, so I normally use bottle dynamos.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  10. sallyhinch
    Member

    Oh, and the lights should be interchangeable. The only difference is hub dynamo lights have a switch and bottle dynamo ones don't need them, but I use a light with a switch which is designed for a hub dynamo and it's fine

    Posted 11 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.


Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin