Dynamo hubs

What's the deal with servicing SP hubs?

I presume the bearings are replaceable like any sealed bearing hub?

Im guessing you have to send the hub away to have the internals serviced?

Jesse won the trans AM in 2015 on a SP so they can't be all bad but I guess the difference is he could afford to bin it when he was finished if he wanted to.

I'm very much a Dynamo noob but it's something I'm currently looking at for a bit of touring this summer.

Nope you have to send it away for new bearings too

The internals will be fine way longer than the bearings, so you don't have to worry about that. When the bearings have to be serviced/replaced however you'll need to to send it to Taiwan or Germany to have the internals recalibrated for reasons I've not tried to understand. Same goes for the SON hub, by the way.

People have reported doing ridiculous amount of kilometers (30k+) before the hub had to be serviced so I wouldn't worry about it if you're doing a bit of touring once a year. Reportedly the SON will go further than the SP before they'll have to be serviced though, but it all depends on riding circumstances ofcourse.

Sounds like minor BS, many many people have toured all over the world on SP hubs

No generator hubs have officially 'user-serviceable' bearings.

Perhaps read a few of the previous pages @ThePeginator

The internals will be fine way longer than the bearings

So long as the seals do their job and no moisture accumulates – not a given! As soon as any moisture gets in they're done.

all depends on riding circumstances of course.

This. And how fat you are (paging @hippy). And temperature. And sand. And if you snap the connector off when you crash .....

:-)

@hippy won't buy SON

He looks like he's carrying one unborn.

--- BANHAMMER INCOMING ---

Wasn't there someone on here that had problems with a low-spoke-count wheel built on an SP hub and a deep carbon rim? I mean I'm sure the builders are being conservative, and a 32/36h build will be fine for most uses, but flange spacing does make a difference to lateral strength, especially with a dished front wheel, and if you were going to be doing any rough stuff while loaded it's something to bear in mind. OTOH if you've a climber's build and are sticking to the road, no worries.

Wasn't there someone on here that had problems with a low-spoke-count wheel built on an SP hub and a deep carbon rim?

That was Skully.

If I remember correctly the problem was (rim) brake rub, rather than them being unsuitable. They were built by broken_777 who is well regarded.

Yeh I have been reading the thread but answers seem to be mixed and anecdotal rather than anything concrete. I guess people have had mixed experiences but the issue of servicing and how much £££ and how long it takes is definately something I'd want to research more before buying.

Ok. Well it's really only bearings that get changed in a service.

I can't really comment on the procedure for SP hubs so perhaps someone else will chime in.

With SON you send a hub or wheel (complete with tyre) to SJS and they send it on the Germany for about £80 all in. Turn around isn't fast.

Going to put my Son Delux x kinlin up for sale soon. 32h - rim brake.

dibs pending pix/details

Yep. that was me. Narrow flanges spacing, low spoke count, actually a fairly shallow carbon rim, very tight clearances around tyre, fatty rider. All these factors built up to a perfect storm of slight rubbing on mudguard and brake pads when I climb out of the saddle.

I'm going to rebuild it with more spokes and the wide-bodied SON.

Meh. I've (accidentally) cycled some terrible tracks while fully loaded, wheel didn't seem to care. 36H tho

Maybe I will just flip a coin - head for SON and tail for SP...

@Skülly, was yours 28H?

I am thinking 32H, 36H might be a bit OTT until I eventually do that round the world tour, which will probably never happen...

24 ... gulp. Never again.

Potential dibs too.

@peginator

This guy has contacted Ison distributors about SP hubs

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?t=112106

That's worth knowing, and very very reasonable.

I was starting to lean towards the shimano XT hub as it's user serviceable. I fired an email over to SPA cycles about it (they list the 1.5w version on the website and I'm after the 3) and got this response, which has some useful info:

(In answer to my question 'do you stock the 3w XT hub')

"No we don't, but should be able to get one in to order. It's charging devices that must have 3w, modern LED lights only need 1.5w, which lets the hub run much freer.

Shimano dynohubs were proven to be good in the past, with few failures. What failures we had were due to the cones wearing out. Only one side was replaceable, despite the hubs being serviceable which SON and SP are not. Can't comment on the durability of current Shimano dynohubs since we've only sold a small anount in comparason to SP and SON. I would say we've had a 1% failure rate with SP, but some of these have been after the 2 year warranty, but we have nevertheless underwrote the warranty.

SP hubs should last for 20,000km+ and guaranteed for 2 years. SON for 50.000km plus and guaranteed 5yrs.

For what it's worth, I've got a Kinlin XR26T built into a XT 785 (1.5w) centrelock on my bike, because I think it rolls much easier than any other dynohub I noticed and commented on by the wheelbuilders), except possibly the SON Deluxe. I could've had either, but like the idea that the XT is servicable and I only use headlights.

We can bulid one up on the Kinlin and the cost would be £155 with XT or PD hubs.

Let me know what you think?

Kind regards,

John."

Thanks. I was hoping for something a bit wider as its for my 29er. The best option yet appears to be this:
https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/dt-swiss-disc-trekking-e-bike-rim-545d-700c-36-hole-520829

But its quite heavy.

Lighter and wider

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/RIPADL31/pacenti-dl31-rim

Sweet bruv. I'm on it.