Sanyo dynohubs are available in a variety of drillings and are an excellent choice for fitting a bicycle with dynamo lighting on the cheap.

The question most people ask is “how high is the drag?” I don’t have any quantitive date. I wouldn’t hesitate to use one on my city bike, and I’ve put one on my wife’s city bike. But I wouldn’t want one on any bike that was the least bit sporty. My highly scientific drag test consists of building a wheel with a hub and noticing how much the wheel rotates when I give it a spin during the truing process. The drag is comparable with the Shimano NX-30, so I’d estimate the drag to be four times that of the Shimano DH-3n72. The Shimano and Schmidt hubs are in another league as far as drag is concerned, but considering the huge price differences they should. Hubs are $40 and include a quick release.

Extra Plug for Sanyo Dynohub

My guess is that people will buy these hubs for bikes they would like to have dynamo lights on, but haven’t converted because of the cost. I can build the hubs up with any rim and spoke combination you’d like, but I’ve listed wheels with economic components below since I suspect they’ll be ordered most frequently. Paired with a Lumotec N2 Plus and Toplight Flat Plus a Sanyo wheel could be part of a battery-less lighting system that costs less than $170.

Complete Wheels with Sanyo Dynohub (all components silver and handbuilt by me) Choose your wheel diameter in the drop down menu

Sun CR-18 32H and Wheelsmith SS14 stainless steel spokes

Weinmann ZAC 19 32H and Wheelsmith SS14 stainless steel spokes

Velocity Twin Hollow 36H and Wheelsmith SS14 stainless steel spokes