I saw these a while ago and finally took the time to build one into a wheel. I have wanted to have a winter dynamo wheel for some time and I bit the bullet with this very inexpensive hub. Right out of the box it feels smoother than a Shimano but not as smooth as a Schmidt. I can tell you that if you use the correct spokes for a Shimano hub, the Sanyo will fit with the spokes being just a touch short. Not unreasonable at all.
A slightly annoying feature to the Sanyo is the connector for the light. The Shimano hub has a casing that protects the wires after attaching them to the connector. Sanyo builds this casing into the hub, which means that if you unplug the headlight, there is a greater chance for the wires to pull out. Not a huge thing, but I am glad I am using it for winter riding when I don't have to deal with many flat tyres.
We will see how the long term, violent conditions wear at the hub. I don't put tons of miles on during the snowiest time of the year, but my bike sure sees some awful conditions. As far as I can tell the Sanyo should be great for dealing with this. I have run a Surly sealed bearing hub for my rear wheel for 3 years now and I have yet to replace bearings (not that they couldn't use it, it just isn't totally necessary yet). I am hoping that this dynamo will be just as nice. I will purchase a replacement set of bearings this summer and put them right next to the Surly's to hang out until I need them, several years down the road.
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