Yesterday I fitted a Schmidt 20 R hub dynamo and Busch & Müller Lumotec Fly IQ Senso Plus light to my commuting Moulton APB. It all went rather well I’m glad to write. I actually bought the hub dynamo and light in February and had been meaning to fit them all this time.
I got the hub already built into the wheel with a Sun CR18 rim. I do rather enjoy building my own wheels but it takes me ages so on this occasion I just bought one ready made. The wheel has 36 spokes, which is massive overkill for a front wheel this size, but both my APBs have 36 spokes front and rear so for conformity I had this with 36 spokes as well. My plan is to have both APBs with CR18 rims front and rear so that I can easily have just one rim spare to replace any that wear out.
I fitted the Lumotec light to the front pannier rack of the Moulton APB. This rack is mounted to the frame above the front wheel. At the front are three little nuts arranged vertically, brazed to and flanked by a couple of rods which continue to join the rest of the rack. Two of these nuts are used as bottle mount and I think the third is there to add strength to the structure. I mounted the Lumotec light to one of these brazed nuts using an M5 screw, three penny washers and an additional nut. The screw passes through the first washer then the mounting bracket for the lamp, then the second washer, then the nut brazed to the rack, then the third washer and finally a locking nut. These penny washers mean that the weight of the light is carried primarily by the vertical rods of the rack and the brazed nut between those rods is mainly for fixing light in position. I think it is a strong enough arrangement for the light and I’m quite pleased with the simplicity of it if I say so myself.
The cable from the light to the hub is attached to the fork stirrup using zip ties which have been positioned with aerodynamic consideration of course! The electrical connection to the hub is by way of a couple of spade connectors. Fortunately my misspent youth mucking about with audio systems prepared me well for fitting the spade connectors supplied by Schmidt to the Lumotec cable.
The Schmidt 20 R hub is specifically made for 16″ to 20″ rims. I must write that it is truly a beautiful piece of engineering, mine is shiny aluminium and the finish is top class. It’s also available in black (anodised) but I don’t like black components very much for the bicycle. On my commuting Moulton it will very soon be covered in muck and unfortunately it will spend most of its life like that, but I feel that the engineering inside is likely to be good when externally it looks so well executed. In truth for the commuting Moulton it will be a good thing when the hub has become quite dirty as I think it will be less attractive to thieves. At the moment it is absolutely gleaming and may prove tempting to thieves. The skewer supplied for the front spindle of the hub is not quick release which I think is rather good as it means that the front wheel cannot simply be lifted out. In fact, I rather like the skewer. I’ve never been very fussed about quick release but hubs nearly always seem to be supplied with spindles designed for skewers. With this Schmidt dynamo hub I’ve seen this not-quick-release-skewer for the first time and I think I’d like to get hold of it for my other wheels perhaps. It seems very secure and it only requires an allen key as a tool to remove it.
The Lumotec light looks functional rather than attractive. I phoned the online retailer before buying it because I had some questions about it. They guy I spoke to was very helpful but he admitted that he’d rather be involved in an accident than have the Lumotec IQ attached to his bicycle. I think it looks okay myself and for my commuting APB looks are not very important.
On the back of the Lumotec light there is a switch for “auto”, “on” and “off”. Auto means that the light will come on automatically when it gets dark. This ability is called “Senso” by Busch & Müller, it accounts for the “Senso” in the light’s very long name. Beneath the switch on the back are spade connections for a taillight. There is a pair for taillight using earth as part of the circuit and a pair for taillight with circuit isolated from earth. At present I’m using a battery powered LED taillight so I don’t have need for these, however an advantage of powering the taillight from those connections on the Lumotec is that the taillight can be coming on automatically when it gets dark like the Lumotec itself.
Last night and tonight I’ve taken the Moulton APB out for a ride and I can see that this Lumotec light is very good. I haven’t gone very far and I’ve been on lit streets only, but I can tell by the beam I see even in lit streets that it will be much better than any light I’ve used in the past on unlit roads.
A great advantage for the commuting bicycle with this system is that I can completely forget about it. There is a stand-light which seems to be very good and bright. I think it stays on for long enough but I’ve only ridden the bike at night for a couple of short runs so I can’t say much at this point.