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I'm the owner of a Kona Sutra 2017. I'm pretty happy with this bike, but I'm looking to get a dynamo hub for it, with some lights and maybe a charger for my phone.

So far I managed to figure out that the front hub is a Deore HB-M525A.

This would require me to find something that supports a disc brake with 6 holes and 32 spokes.

My candidates are:

  • DH-3D32 DISC HUB DYNAMO

And that's about the only one I can find that would fit, sure there are one from SON, but the price is a factor x7.

This a valid option for me, and what kind of lightning would fit this dynamo? It seems like it's a bit hard for me to find these parts.

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  • Have you also looked at bottle dynamos? I currently use a hub dynamo but I would consider them if my wheel breaks since it makes it much easier to change wheel later on. I would for example like to have one for winter and one setup for summer and just switch between them.
    – Ola
    Sep 17, 2021 at 18:55

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I've just ordered a new wheel rather than get my old one rebuilt with a dynamo. All I'd have kept of the old wheel would have been the rim and disc brake rotor (and tyre, but they're consumable). Mine's being built on the SP PD8 which is certainly available in 6-hole disc brake and 32 spokes (though mine will be 36).

I'm going for the Axa Luxx 70 Plus front light (with USB charger output). The rear light is one I got second hand. The whole upgrade is on a budget for me, and this looked like the cheapest sensible approach.

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  • Should that link be sp-dynamo.com/series8 ? Disappointing lack of bagpipes there though :-(
    – Harry Wood
    Sep 16, 2021 at 8:48
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    @HarryWoodgood spot, thanks. They've changed the website I've gone for a more specific link. As I had this track up next anyway, here are some bonus bagpipes
    – Chris H
    Sep 16, 2021 at 8:56
  • BTW after a crash that trashed the rim on my custom wheel I ended up rebuilding the SP-PD8 into a wheel with the original rim
    – Chris H
    Sep 16, 2021 at 8:59
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I hope you are aware of the fact that replacing the hub requires re-lacing/rebuilding the complete wheel. I was about to suggest using a spoke dynamo, e.g. Sunup Eco MaxiDyn 6V12W but after seeing a price tag (far above €200) I came to the conclusion that rebuilding the wheel with a hub of €50 is still cheaper.

Furthermore, Sunup is to be mounted on the rear wheel, where the OP has already a cassette and brake disc on both sides, hence no space for the dynamo.

Some years ago AUFA was delivering front wheel mounted spoke dynamos, unfortunately they are nowhere to be found now.

Coming back to the original question: bicycle voltage generators, afaik, are standardised on 6V and the one you've chosen is capable of 3W of power. This means that any standard bicycle lighting is suitable as long at the total consumed power does not exceed 3W (e.g. front light of max 2.5W and rear light of max 0.5W).

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  • I'm aware that I will have to put in some work, but I'm thinking I can reuse all the parts, is this correct?
    – Allan Kimmer Jensen
    Sep 11, 2018 at 10:29
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    @AllanKimmerJensen: You can't re-use the spokes since they’ll be too long. If you haven’t built a wheel before: Be aware that it’s one of the hardest tasks in bicycle mechanics (though a front wheel is easier than a rear wheel). Also a wheel truing stand and spoke tensiometer would certainly help and improve the quality of the end result.
    – Michael
    Sep 11, 2018 at 10:40
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    It's probably cheaper to buy a new wheel with a hub dynamo and sell the old wheel than to pay someone to rebuild the wheel. Be aware that commercial USB chargers for dynamos can be surprisingly expensive.
    – StefanS
    Sep 11, 2018 at 11:16
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    @AllanKimmerJensen - besides what Michael said you should not reuse nipples either - those have been exposed to some tension already and may not sit properly in the holes - i.e. they might be loosening making the wheel not true
    – Mike
    Sep 11, 2018 at 11:18
  • You can look up local wheel builders and see what having a new hub built onto you rim would cost, but as others said, an of the shelf wheel is likely cheaper, and you'll have a spare front wheel. Building a wheel yourself is hard and the necessary tools are costly.
    – Argenti Apparatus
    Sep 11, 2018 at 11:58
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If it's just for a light (not the USB charger), Reelight can be an alternative for a hub dynamo

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  • At a quick check, their brightest model is 60 lumens. Assuming a decent beam pattern you could do with at least 3x that to illuminate the road, ideally more, so it's not really a replacement for touring use (implied by the bike model), and lacks the USB charging the OP wanted
    – Chris H
    Sep 14, 2018 at 15:32

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