Why righthand bottle dynamos?

[SA_SA_SA]

Why righthand bottle dynamos?

Why not pick a side and stick with it....?

Are they only rare in the UK?

[Bmblbzzz]

Are there some words missing in your title? Or maybe in your post? Did you mean to ask "Why so few righthand bottle dynamos?" Or maybe "they" in the last sentence doesn't refer to r/h bottle dynamos? It doesn't really make sense as it's written.

[Bmblbzzz]

Regardless of which side you're asking about, dynamos generate a/c. Are they actually handed? Their brackets might well be, but I'm not sure about the generators themselves. It's over 30 years since I had a bottle dynamo; AFAIR it was behind the left fork blade, but it could probably have gone ahead of the right blade.

[rjb]

Bottle dynamos were either left or right handed as the front lamp was often mounted off a boss on the dynamo. Depending on wether you were in the UK or Europe the dynamo was mounted on the left or right fork so it was more visible to approaching traffic and gave rise to left or right handed spring arrangements to engage the bottle on the front tyre.

[Bmblbzzz]

Ah, mine had the lamp separate from the dynamo, on a fork-crown mounting. I'm not aware of having seen any with the light mounted on the same bracket.

[rjb]

Lucifer were the models that riders lusted after. The front lamp attached to the bottle. This one is a RH mounting for UK use.

[SA_SA_SA]

Double post

[SA_SA_SA]

Are there some words missing in your title? Or maybe in your post? Did you mean to ask "Why so few righthand bottle dynamos?" Or maybe "they" in the last sentence doesn't refer to r/h bottle dynamos? It doesn't really make sense as it's written.

I meant why bother making righthand dynamos as well as (in uk?) more common left hand ones. Ie simpler for manufacturers to have only one type to make...

[SA_SA_SA]

Lucifer were the models that riders lusted after. The front lamp attached to the bottle. This one is a RH mounting for UK use.
s-l1200.jpg

Interesting that lampdyno combos were rh for uk
(Adding the weight of a lamp to a dyno front bracket seems asking for trouble imho).

[Bmblbzzz]

There would be other markets for these r/h brackets: JP, AU, NZ, ZA, IE, ID, IN, PK, KE, CY, JA...

[Cyclothesist]

Ah, mine had the lamp separate from the dynamo, on a fork-crown mounting. I'm not aware of having seen any with the light mounted on the same bracket.

Mine are both Axa RHS seat stay mount dynamos. They've sat in a box in the garage for > 20yrs so I guess that tells you how much I miss the draggy tyre munchers! The dynamo bracket also carried the rear light on a bracket. As mentioned by rjb in the UK the rear mount dynamo is a RHS model so as to minimise the bike stucture obscuring the rear light to vehicles coming behind.

[rjb]

Ah, mine had the lamp separate from the dynamo, on a fork-crown mounting. I'm not aware of having seen any with the light mounted on the same bracket.

Mine are both Axa RHS seat stay mount dynamos. They've sat in a box in the garage for > 20yrs so I guess that tells you how much I miss the draggy tyre munchers! The dynamo bracket also carried the rear light on a bracket. As mentioned by rjb in the UK the rear mount dynamo is a RHS model so as to minimise the bike stucture obscuring the rear light to vehicles coming behind.

Those Axa's will probably be LH versions. bracket on the right chain stay and dynamo pointing rearwards with the rear light.

[rogerzilla]

Some UK framebuilders put the dynamo bracket on the front of the fork/stay. So that's another reason you might want a RH dynamo.

Hub dynamos are now so good and cheap that this is getting quite academic!

[Mike Sales]

Some UK framebuilders put the dynamo bracket on the front of the fork/stay. So that's another reason you might want a RH dynamo.

Hub dynamos are now so good and cheap that this is getting quite academic!

I think that putting the bottle in front of the stay or fork it is fitted to is best practice. A rear facing dynamo may get disastrously entangled with the spokes in some failure conditions, whereas a front facing one will likely get deflected outwards.

[rjb]

Leading dynamos are less prone to slippage than following ones. Hence why most brazed on brackets on the rear right seatstay point backwards.
Old Moulton's with the brazed on brackets on the rear left chainstay need a Rh version too.