MTB Winter Lights?
Discussion
Mr2Mike said:
I bought one of these Magicshine clones very recently, and whilst it's certainly very bright, the symmetric (circular) beam shape is not great for use on a bike as the only front lamp. It is also dazzling to other road users if it's adjusted to give a reasonable amount of forward vision.
With the Magicshine fresnel lens they are quite a lot better though there is still a fair bit of scatter lighting up the tree tops etc. The mounting arrangement with a big O-ring is also pretty crap, even with the shortest O-ring stretched murder tight the lamp still tends to move around when going over rough stuff. My first mod (after fitting the new lens) will be to sort the mounting out, as it's bloody annoying to have to keep adjusting it.
There's a solution to everything.With the Magicshine fresnel lens they are quite a lot better though there is still a fair bit of scatter lighting up the tree tops etc. The mounting arrangement with a big O-ring is also pretty crap, even with the shortest O-ring stretched murder tight the lamp still tends to move around when going over rough stuff. My first mod (after fitting the new lens) will be to sort the mounting out, as it's bloody annoying to have to keep adjusting it.
1. Once you've bought and installed the wide angled lens, there's a "hood" type of affair (like the peak of a baseball cap) you can buy which will stop the penumbra from picking out the tree tops or annoying oncoming drivers.
2. The Hope quick release brackets will fit to these lights and hold them steady. They don't quite line-up as aesthetically comfortably as they do on some earlier versions of these lights (where the mounting hole was about 5mm further forwards) but they will mount and hold fast.
I've mounted my latest pair using the smaller o-rings such that the lamp body rests on a sticky foam pad on my brake lever. It's all at the right angle etc so I'll leave them there.
Watchman said:
There's a solution to everything.
1. Once you've bought and installed the wide angled lens, there's a "hood" type of affair (like the peak of a baseball cap) you can buy which will stop the penumbra from picking out the tree tops or annoying oncoming drivers.
2. The Hope quick release brackets will fit to these lights and hold them steady. They don't quite line-up as aesthetically comfortably as they do on some earlier versions of these lights (where the mounting hole was about 5mm further forwards) but they will mount and hold fast.
Whilst undoubtedly a lovely bit of kit, the Hope bracket appears to cost more than the entire battery and LED lamp which certainly takes the 'shine' off it's bargain price.1. Once you've bought and installed the wide angled lens, there's a "hood" type of affair (like the peak of a baseball cap) you can buy which will stop the penumbra from picking out the tree tops or annoying oncoming drivers.
2. The Hope quick release brackets will fit to these lights and hold them steady. They don't quite line-up as aesthetically comfortably as they do on some earlier versions of these lights (where the mounting hole was about 5mm further forwards) but they will mount and hold fast.
minimoog said:
From the brief comms I've had with tomtop-digital regarding a minor problem with my shipment I get the impression they are a straight-up dealer who are very willing to try and resolve any issues. I think the reported problem with family illness is probably genuine, though I appreciate this shouldn't really be the customer's problem. Still, with only £17 or so at stake I think some slack should be cut.
They refunded me the full cost, the day after I asked. After 6 weeks I got bored.Had my £7 of Chinese loveliness out for their first trial run last night, have to say Im very impressed. I have a couple of them but only went out with the one as it was mainly cycle paths I was on last night. Would definitely benefit from an additional helmet light for the darker sections but certainly in no doubt about recommending these, be interesting to see the difference the second one makes.
Lensey said:
Mr2Mike said:
I am, as I mentioned in my post 
A rubber lined stainless steel P-Clip seems to be a simple and cheap solution to this, though not a quick release system.
I just used some self-amalgamating tape around my bars and this grips the o ring well enough to not let it slipA rubber lined stainless steel P-Clip seems to be a simple and cheap solution to this, though not a quick release system.
matts4 said:
matts4 said:
TonyHetherington said:
Would you believe it - it arrived today! The final day before I could open a "didn't arrive" ticket on eBay.
That's great news (for you!) I'm hoping mine may turn up soon.....I'll give it another couple of weeks. Enjoy!
Did you blind yourself in the kitchen whilst testing it too?!
TonyHetherington said:
Great stuff
Did you blind yourself in the kitchen whilst testing it too?!
I was seriously worried for my eyesight yesterday when in a drunken haze I decided to take one of my lights apart and inadvertently looked directly at the LED while making some measurements. It was sobering as I couldn't see my beer for a few minutes. Did you blind yourself in the kitchen whilst testing it too?!
It turns out that it's quite well made, soldering not too bad at all. I did find it funny that they had sanded the writing off one of the chips, it's a common thing to do if you don't want anyone copying your design.
If they didn't do that, another chinese manufacturer could build a cheaper version and we'd end up with a copy of a copy and maybe get stuck in an infinite loop or something.
Anyway, the reason for taking it apart was to see if I could rewire it to this:
http://www.sandifordoffroad.co.uk/trail-tech-switc...
as I have two lights and don't want to blind anyone, I'd like to have a high beam (far away cow) and a dipped/near beam for on-coming traffic. I've mounted both lights on a topeak bar extender below my bar-bag so that they are just above the dynamo light, so it's not practical to be reaching down to press the switch, hence the remote switch idea.
Edited by Fartomatic5000 on Monday 5th November 20:50
Placed an order for one of these lights from tomtop_digital yesterday, has been dispatched today.
Start the clock!
Also ordered the diffusing lens off ebay. It's the UK seller, 'magiclights' or something like that, they were the only ones selling when I searched. Bang on £5 for that (£4.25 + 75p delivery).
Start the clock!
Also ordered the diffusing lens off ebay. It's the UK seller, 'magiclights' or something like that, they were the only ones selling when I searched. Bang on £5 for that (£4.25 + 75p delivery).
Edited by blueheron on Thursday 8th November 16:05
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