Dynamo Wire Aesthetics

[Jkarlin]

After putting together my first dynamo system (front and rear lights on a Clem L), and focusing solely on getting it to function, I took a step back and the rear wire wasn't exactly appealing to look at. Getting the wire to hug the frame and then the rear rack (Nitto 32R) nicely wasn't immediately intuitive to me. Do y'all have any thought or tips?

[NYCbikeguy]

I've had similar issues where the wires ruin the look of the bike. I would suggest that you find speaker cable wire that either matches the color of your frame/cable housing and either crimp or solder the terminals. It's a lot of work... but hey, it's a cheap alternative! 

Also, pics would help!

Best,

IY

[Matthew Williams]

I fished my dynamo wires inside the fork and inside the NDS chainstay.

Here’s how I did it:

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[Bill Lindsay]

I only have the annoying jerk thoughts:  

A dynamo tail-light is super cool to have, and worth the money to pay somebody else to do the internal routing for it.  

For any bike that I don't want to spend the money on paying somebody else to deal with the internal routing, battery tail-lights on the bike are plenty.  

My "winter helmet" has a tail light on it, which is a much better place for a tail light anyway (because it's higher up).  

Reflective conspicuity is IMO more effective as a traffic safety measure than any tail light, again IMO.  

All that said, I mega-approve of Matthew fishing a tail-light wire into the extra hole of the  BB cable guide.  That's swank.  I worry the edge of that hooded dropout will bite through the wire someday, but he'll figure that out when it happens.  

BL in EC

[Wyatt]

Here's a rear dynamo routing method that's worked for me. Underside of downtube, up through BB (or above BB if you have dropper style routing on your frame), through the seat post, and mounted on saddle rails.

A couple small parts that keep this mounting style tidy:

https://analogcycles.com/products/blue-lug-koma-under-saddle-mount

https://analogcycles.com/products/p-clamps?variant=44022145745128

That a B&M micro taillight, btw.

[Ryan Mulcahy]

this bothered me at first, on my AHH, but I'm so in love with the light I don't care anymore. I did the best I could to keep it tight under the top tube and it looks fine. Like Wyatt, have the B&M with p-clamp hack but mine's mounted with a braze-on. Will put it under the seat once these little brackets are back in stock at analog. (thanks for the tip!)

[ian m]

My dynamo lighting "hack" has been to fully heat shrink wrap the chintzy looking wire, it ends up looking more like cable housing which isn't so jarring to look at on the frame, and I've found is easier to route around rack parts

On Thursday, November 14, 2024 at 1:05:19 PM UTC-5 Jkarlin wrote:

[Spencer Robinson]

You know those plastic tubes that 90’s MTB would run the rear brake cable through along the top tube? I used one of them and a couple or 3 tiny zip ties to follow the brake cable, it kinda disappears that way. Plus it is on the non drive side for pictures! 

[Jkarlin]

Thanks, everyone! These are some awesome ideas. I'm also wondering if a few strips of strategically wrapped newbaums might be a fun way to address this. The author of last week's newsletter (Will?) mentioned he just bought a Clem and is going to add a rear dynamo. Maybe I'll ask him as well. I'll include some pictures, maybe just of the finished project, as soon as I get a chance to work on it. 

[Michael Baquerizo]

I just wired a clem (dark greenish? bronzey? not sure the official color)

because it's so dark, the black B&M wire hardly shows as it twirls up the fork leg. it goes under the basket to the left side where the front light is. 

the rear light follows the cabling to the rear brake, all the way to the noodle, where it parts right around the area the rear rack starts. i used 'clear' zip ties all along the way. 

the rack has a kids seat attached to it so it serves as a good place to hide the rack under, at which point it exits to feed into the rear light. 

on my red hillborne it's a lot more apparent it exists, but i use color matched zip ties where i can. on this bike, with all its accoutrements, i hardly notice it's there. 

[Jeremy Till]

A couple of years ago a list member (Collin A?) brought these to my attention: 

https://www.performancebike.com/shimano-sd50-etube-di2-wire-cover-white-ismewc2w/p333253?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_id=17393956213&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAi_G5BhDXARIsAN5SX7oXbYoYz_LGctG_BbfQInEVnLLMFkosjKedRIf8byU7TGFQ2dcQGTEaAnb7EALw_wcB

They're self-adhesive wire guides that Shimano sells for routing Di2 electronic shifting wires on bikes that don't have internal routing for them. I recently used a set to route the wire for my taillight along the underside of my top tube, next to the brake cable, on my Surly Long Haul Trucker. I got the black ones and since the LHT frame is black, I'm happy with how they pretty much disappear. They may be more conspicuous depending on the color of your frame, but even if they're noticeable I do think they help things look neat and tidy. 

-Jeremy Till

Sacramento, CA

[Collin A]

I was just about to bring those up Jeremy! They perfectly fit the son coaxial cables and the adhesive is quite strong, just make sure to clean and dry the area before application.

Collin in DejaVoakland

[Brian Campbell]

I have use small amounts of Shoe Goo adhesive to attach wires. In my experience it holds through all kinds of weather, is removable if need be and does not harm the paint.

[Rory Woods]

Hi Wyatt,

This looks great and I've been curious about this method since seeing Anton Stutter use it.

Did your Thomson post have a hole in the top or did you have to drill one?

Thanks!

Rory

[J]

No one ever shows how they get the wires from the fork/headlight into the downtube. Is this like a magicians code of never giving up the the illusion kinda thing? 

[Eric Norris]

On my Alex Singers, the wire goes through a hole in the bottom head lug, presumably because this is where the strength of the frame is greatest. 

–Eric N

On Nov 21, 2024, at 8:01 PM, J <illum...@gmail.com> wrote:

No one ever shows how they get the wires from the fork/headlight into the downtube. Is this like a magicians code of never giving up the the illusion kinda thing? 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/e26dbb81-e26e-43bc-852f-bbbf06b7034dn%40googlegroups.com.

[Matthew Williams]

Ha! There’s no magic, here’s the wire route:

1: Wire goes in at the fork dropout, comes out at the fork crown

2: Wire runs along the underside of the downtube

3: Wire goes into the hole under the bottom bracket, runs inside the NDS chain stay

4: Wire comes out at the rear dropout

My bike doesn’t have a hole where the downtube meets the neck, so I ran the wire under the downtube where I wouldn’t see it.

On Nov 21, 2024, at 8:01 PM, J <illum...@gmail.com> wrote:

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/e26dbb81-e26e-43bc-852f-bbbf06b7034dn%40googlegroups.com.