How to charge your electronic equipment
This post was first published on the excellent blog of La Cordée stores.
In our modern world, electronic equipment is almost as important as our bicycle on a cycle touring trip. It is used to navigate or to take pictures and affublé them with hashtags. Here's how to make sure you never end up with a phone or a flatbed camera.
Because I'm nice, I'll even give you the quick conclusion right away of what you need if you're going on a long bike trip.
An external battery, if you have frequent access to electrical outlets.
A dynamo, if you're heading into the middle of nowhere for several days.
A solar panel, if you think you will have long periods without moving too much or if you are driving on a beautiful open road and not too bumpy.
The dynamo
For my cycling trip around the world, I personally chose the dynamo. I knew I would find myself in the middle of the desert for over a week and on top of the mountains of Central Asia. With a phone dying in less than a day and camera batteries draining quickly when I take photos of the Milky Way, I definitely needed more than an external battery.
The trendy dynamo, in real life.
The advantage of the dynamo was clear. And then, as long as you are pedaling all day, why not use the energy that I generate?
A few companies make modern, ultra-efficient and durable dynamos. (I'm approaching 25 km with mine, without showing any signs of fatigue. I can accumulate the energy of a few phone charges in a day of pedaling.) And most of the time, the resistance that I feel when I pedal is smaller than the equivalent of a few pounds less pressure in my tires. Suffice to say that it is imperceptible.
In practice, my front hub is replaced by a dynamo which contains magnets, which create an electric current. This current then passes through a wire which runs along the fork, and which continues its course inside the steering tube. There, the cap on the top of the stem is replaced by a USB socket specially designed to close the stem. With this system, it is also possible to power a duo of front and rear lights that work with pedaling.
The major drawback of this kind of device is its rather high price. And unless you buy a new bike, you have to reassemble your front wheel, which means you have to buy new spokes.
Aside from the price, you should know that it is necessary to maintain a minimum speed between 9 and 12 km / h to produce an electric current. A point to take into account if you plan to ride on sloping terrain for a few days.
In conclusion, the dynamo is a good choice if you plan to get lost in the great outdoors quite often and for several days.
Recommended dynamo: Schmidt SON (Germany)
Recommended USB socket: Cinq5 The Plug III (Germany)
Solar Panel
I have found that solar panels are much less popular than the dynamo among long distance cyclists. Even the rare travelers met who had opted for this system generally regretted their choice. Particularly because of the heaviness of the gear, the need to have a lot of natural light for recharging (the panel requires an almost cloudless sky) and recurring breakage.
Not to mention that it is not easy to spread the panels on the luggage and keep them in place when driving on sometimes bumpy roads. The solar system is convenient for walkers, but less so for cyclists.
So I wouldn't suggest you use a solar panel unless you plan to use it for other sports or activities as well. Or if you mostly drive on well-paved roads, in the Arizona desert for example.
My light illuminates my road in the middle of the desert in Kazakhstan.
Without a dynamo, I would never have had enough energy to take this photo of the Kazakh sky.
External battery
While I could charge my phone directly using my dynamo, I prefer to plug in an external battery, which I can then use to run all my gear. So I use the battery combined with my dynamo.
I have noticed, however, that in the vast majority of cases, the whole dynamo system is a bit useless when you're a little energy efficient and dragging a portable battery of respectable power. The battery, which retails at a fraction of the cost of the dynamo, can usually charge a phone several times. Just remember to plug it in whenever you cross an electrical outlet. So, unless you're camping several days in a row off the beaten track, the battery alone is definitely a good option.
My rear light allows me to see, even if there is not a lot of traffic in the Vosges, in France.
More information
For more technical information, I suggest you take a look at these links. Good pedaling!
And those who wish to see what my dynamo system looks like, I invite you to watch my little video not so serious on the subject…
Rivers of plastic in South Korea, mountains of bottled water in the Argentinian pampas and long strips of toilet paper littering my way all over the world. We take sadly bad care of our beautiful planet.