power

Dynamo output is fixed at 6 volts and 3 watts, so hubs compete on drag, weight and serviceability rather than power. The Schmidt SON 28 wins on measured drag; Shimano's hubs are the value answer you can actually buy.

Power banks fly in the cabin only, two per passenger, and must not be recharged in the air. Under 100 watt-hours needs no permission, over 160 Wh does not fly at all, and an e-bike battery is over 160 Wh.

For almost every bikepacking trip, a solar panel is the wrong half-kilo to carry: a bigger battery or a dynamo hub buys more usable power. Here is the physics behind that, and the narrow band of trips where solar flips to yes.

Dynamo chargers decide how fast your devices actually charge. We compare the Sinewave Beacon 2, Revolution, kLite, Igaro, Cycle2Charge, USB-Werk, Cinq Plug and Forumslader, with every output figure traced to its source.

Batteries rarely fail on a bikepacking trip. Cables, ports and connectors do. Here is the wall brick, the cables, the adapters and the dry pouch we would actually pack, and the four ways this kit dies.

Rated runtimes assume typical usage, which is not a loaded bikepacking day. Four things explain almost all of the gap: the screen, the radios, the satellite setting and the cold. Here is what to change, and what each change is documented to save.

A 10,000 mAh power bank does not hand you 10,000 mAh. Here is the watt-hour arithmetic that turns your gear list into one number, and that number into a bank size that survives the trip.

Power on a bikepacking trip is a budget, not a gadget. Here is how to count your daily watt-hours, choose between a dynamo hub and a power bank, and size a charging kit that actually covers the gap.

On most routes the sockets already exist: cafes, libraries, laundromats, shower blocks. Here is where to find them, how to behave at one, and how to turn a 40-minute stop into real watt-hours.