Dynamo hubs

I have a SON hub and B&M lights (IQ-X and toplight mini) in the post. I’ve been told the hub has no connections and is simply just a hub. What do I need to put it all together? On Shimano type hubs there is the plastic snap-fit connector, but believe that’s not the case with SON?

What is important to know if if you have a SON SL connection hub or not. My concern is when you say you have no connections, it means it is the special SL hub, which your fork most likely isn't made for.

The SL hub is only for forks which are specially made for it and have the electrical connection plates in the dropouts

Whereas a standard SON hub has two tabs you'll need a pair of 4.8mm spades on the end of the dynamo cable to connect to

Yep. Exactly this. To use the first hub, your fork ends act as the conductor. Info here:

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/schmidt-sl.php

@JB @motoko Forgot about SL, but as they are the wheels from this ad I’m 99% sure it’s the standard son and not an SL.

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/335911/#comment14827691

I think the “no connectors” bit means no spade connectors included? Not sure what these spade connectors are though or how to make them work...

Email me, I’ll post you some stuff

@R.hobbs beat me to it.

You'll need 2x pieces of heatshrink and 2x female spades that you'll crimp to the end of the wire. Then you'll plug these onto the male spades 'pegs' on the hub.

Lots of good info here: Crimping Connector to Wire
https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/wiringinstructions.php

Thanks! You’ve got PM

I’m 99% sure it’s the standard son and not an SL.

I'm 100% sure. You can see the spade connectors on the hub.

Hiya fellow hub dynohub freaks.

Want to equip my lad’s trek mtb tourer beast with a cheapish dyno setup, picking up a good front light here (IQ XS), rear mini toplight thing (bargain!), gonna rebuild his Sun Rhyno Lite with as cheap a Shimano as I can bear to give him ... SJS have the non-disc LX model in 32 (tick), silver (tick), but it’s rated 6v 2.4w (rather than the more normal 3W). Any reason why this won’t work? LEDs don’t really need all them Watts anyway, right?

Stupid question: does a dynamo hub ‘wear’ when not connected? I have a spare front wheel but does it matter to switch?

I thought 2.4W was for front light only setups and 3W for front and rear however I don't think it'll make much of a difference running 2.4W on both as the draw from the rear lights will be minimal.

On the off chance it's 32h Spa Cycles are still doing the SP PV-8 for £50 though...

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s133p3036/SP-DYNAMO-PV-8-Silver-32-Hole

It'll wear more than if you didn't use it, but there's no difference in the internals whether it's connected or not. Since generally the hubs can be a pain to service, I'd probably swap it out if I wasn't using it. If you keep using it, make sure to cover and protect the output terminals.

I thought 2.4W was for front light only setups and 3W for front and rear however I don't think it'll make much of a difference running 2.4W on both as the draw from the rear lights will be minimal.

On the off chance it's 32h Spa Cycles are still doing the SP PV-8 for £50 though...

Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah from chat around this online I can see that people think the modern rear lights have so little power requirement that the noticeable diff in light performance between 3W and 2.4W is negligable, unlike with incandescent lights.

Hoping to hear from someone who’s actually tried one, with F&R LEDs, to offer their anecdotal experience.

The 3W vs. 2.4W numbers are what you get from the dynamo from a certain minimum
speed. The all go above that value at higher speeds. People are running 2 headlights from 1
dynamo.
https://www.cyclingabout.com/dynamo-hub-power-drag-testing-schmidt-son-shutter-precision-shimano/

Ah ok so we’re saying maybe more flicker as you accelerate, or standlight charge happening later. Cool. Thanks. Think I’ll go for the 2.4W. It’s such a bargain, I think I’ll be less stressed about it being locked up outside a school for hours on end.

Any info on people running two lights? Peter White says that you’ll get under half as much light but spread over a larger area.

I have been trying to get more details about that and the most I found is that it should give
you full brightness on both lamps but at a higher speed.
Here is a German article that says as much:
https://fahrradzukunft.de/4/doppelt-hellt-besser/
this is about multiple tail lights:
https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?t=92628

here is a video about connecting 2 headlights and 2 tail lights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNsvLVaHMCQ

here is a German forum talking about connecting the lights in series for 12v vs parallel for 6v
https://www.velomobilforum.de/forum/index.php?threads/nabendynamo-sa-3w-zwei-scheinwerfer-ein-ruecklicht.40317/

I’ve run two rear led lights, in sequence, with no issues except that only the latter light in the sequence had a standlight, which didn’t bother me.

I recall @M_A_X ran two front lights on a cargo and reported it was all good.

Yeah there seems to be quite a few folks running double tail lights no zero issue.

Report back on how bright the 2.4w is plz

Sure, will do. Just waiting to hear about rim purchase before I pull the trigger on the hub.

Yep, i ran two B&M front lights from an alfine dynamo hub.

No difference to brightness, ran them in parallel though.

I'd take a stab at the outcome being your son reaches 'full' output at a slightly higher speed

Yep, that seems to be the general impression.

Looking for the cheapest dynamo hub...

2.4/3w either is fine, for 20” wheel. 32h please.

Any colour.

Qr, non disc.

Edit; going to struggle to find better than - https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/dynamos/shimano-deore-lx-dht6702n-6v-24w-dynamo-front-hub-silver-32-hole/