Chinese lights on ebay

[donfisher]

richardxjr said:

Please don't use a light like that on strobe. For the road, steady low power and angle it down so it illuminates the road doesn't blind others.

Agreed - the strobe function on these is obnoxious and one of the areas these £20 jobs show their cheapness.

I strap it under the front of the top tube - when the strap came adrift of the battery cover and I repaired it with some zipties I took the opportunity to also wrap the excess cable round the pack and secure it.

[voicey]

Thanks for the info. I guess I should be aiming for charging twice a week and I'll look to relocating the battery.

Re: Strobe - noted, thanks.

[richardxjr]

FWIW I do like a flashing front light so have a little Moon Comet on flash, alongside the Big Light on steady low. That needs charging every 3 hours though iirc.

It will also just about be useable in the lanes on steady high should the Chinese one fail

[Watchman]

donfisher said:

Agreed - the strobe function on these is obnoxious and one of the areas these £20 jobs show their cheapness.

That's a little misleading. These are direct copies of the original Magicshine lights that were originally over £100. They had a flashing function too.

But I agree, flashing lights that are this bright are obnoxious. Offensive, even.

Edited by Watchman on Wednesday 4th February 12:53

[lotusandy]

voicey said:

2) Does the little green LED on the button run the battery down much when the light isn't in use?



Cheers...

The battery pack is quoted as 6400mAh Battery Pack, a single led used as an indicator is probably 20mA so ignoring loads of other stuff this gives around 320 hours life if you just had the green button LED on.

Andy

[dudleybloke]

For a rear light I recommended the magicshine 808.
It will plug into the same battery as the front and is very bright and very well built.
Costs about £30 but is well worth it.

[donfisher]

Watchman said:

that's a little misleading. These are direct copies of the original Magicshine lights that were originally over £100. They had a flashing function too.

Fair enough, but the better lights now seem to have either a sort of pulse function or a flash that's not quite so frenetic. My ebay cree flashes like the strobe in a budget student disco. My Lezyne macro drive's flash is much erm, nicer I suppose.

[Watchman]

donfisher said:

Fair enough, but the better lights now seem to have either a sort of pulse function or a flash that's not quite so frenetic. My ebay cree flashes like the strobe in a budget student disco. My Lezyne macro drive's flash is much erm, nicer I suppose.

I absolutely agree - the cree light's strobe is horrible.

There's a chap I meet in the other direction on my way to work who has a good light. It is a constant beam with an intermittent short-duration bright pulse. That catches your attention without being overkill.

[Devil2575]

dudleybloke said:

For a rear light I recommended the magicshine 808.
It will plug into the same battery as the front and is very bright and very well built.
Costs about £30 but is well worth it.

Do you need something very bright for the back? I use one of these:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cateye/5-led-r...

I only need the much brighter chinese lights so i can see where i'm going on an unlit road as opposed to a light just to make you visible to other road users.

[AyBee]

Watchman said:

But I agree, flashing lights that are this bright are obnoxious. Offensive, even.

True, but I find that it's sometimes required in heavy traffic when I need to be noticed. I tend to flick between low for normal riding and strobe when I have to filter but I do make sure that the light is angled down.

[dudleybloke]

Devil2575 said:

dudleybloke said:

For a rear light I recommended the magicshine 808.
It will plug into the same battery as the front and is very bright and very well built.
Costs about £30 but is well worth it.

Do you need something very bright for the back? I use one of these:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cateye/5-led-r...

I only need the much brighter chinese lights so i can see where i'm going on an unlit road as opposed to a light just to make you visible to other road users.

With the bright rear light pointing towards the ground iv noticed cars treat me with a lot more care.
I even have it on during the day if I'm on busy roads and car drivers seem to appreciate that I'm putting the effort in to be seen.
I don't have any of my lights strobing or painting in peoples faces but make sure I'm seen.

[Kermit power]

AyBee said:

Watchman said:

But I agree, flashing lights that are this bright are obnoxious. Offensive, even.

True, but I find that it's sometimes required in heavy traffic when I need to be noticed. I tend to flick between low for normal riding and strobe when I have to filter but I do make sure that the light is angled down.

Really? My commute is in and out of Central London on CS7, and not once have I felt the need for a strobe...

[sjg]

Devil2575 said:

Is there are reason why people spend £350 on lights?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Exposure-MaXx-D-Mk6-Fron...

There's a premium for really well designed, well made (in the UK) products. They actually make their light output, unlike the "5000 lumen" chinese stuff. It packs an excellent light and battery pack into a single unit, no faffing about with a pack velcroed to your stem. Proper electronics with real protection circuitry, throttling to control output if the light were to overheat, etc. The chargers and batteries aren't likely to burn your house down if left charging. Good spares backup and useful little accessories like a rear light that can plug in and share the battery, or a little "get you home" battery if you need a bit more runtime. They have proper UK support and warranty (and support their network of shops pretty well too).

I wouldn't spend £350 on a Maxx-D, but I can completely see why someone would. If you nightride a couple of times a week for most of the year and it lasts a few years, the cost is totally justifiable.

The super-cheap Chinese stuff is hit and miss, although the battery packs are almost universally garbage (look at what an equivalent pack made from new cells cost and draw your own conclusions as to where they source them from). Please, please, please don't leave them unattended to charge, and ideally use a LiPo bag (available from R/C model places) to charge them in case they do go. Battery fires are nasty - these two got away lightly:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12...
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8...

[Silver940]

Anyone recommend a decent charger?

8.4v 6.6ah battery.

Edited by Silver940 on Thursday 5th February 11:29

[Fartomatic5000]

I have a magicshine 808 on the rear (amongst others) and had a middle aged car driver pull up along side me to ask what light it was. He had just started cycling and was looking for a recommendation. He said it was brilliant, he could see me for miles (it was a country lane after dark).

My light is angled downward, it doesn't shine directly into driver's eyes.

The cheap chinese lights on the front have been fitted with fresnel lenses and shades, and again pointed down about 3 m infront of bike. This is the third winter for them, still going strong and used 3-4 times per week for 2+ hours at a time.

[TwistingMyMelon]

I followed a guy down a twisty lane the other day with a really bright rear light, pitch black twisty B road

The light was great, you could literally see him from a mile off

But it was so bloody bright up close, when I sat behind him at a junction it was a bloody distraction and was so bright my eyes were struggling to adjust to check for oncoming cars when passing.

I'd always go for bright lights, especially at the back, but sometimes I think too much can be a bad thing

[TheLemming]

Fartomatic5000 said:

I have a magicshine 808 on the rear (amongst others) and had a middle aged car driver pull up along side me to ask what light it was. He had just started cycling and was looking for a recommendation. He said it was brilliant, he could see me for miles (it was a country lane after dark).

My light is angled downward, it doesn't shine directly into driver's eyes.

The cheap chinese lights on the front have been fitted with fresnel lenses and shades, and again pointed down about 3 m infront of bike. This is the third winter for them, still going strong and used 3-4 times per week for 2+ hours at a time.

The 808 is brilliant, very much the nuclear option for a rear light. I normally reserve it for poor weather or otherwise restricted visibility - or taking the lantern rouge on a club ride.

The only downside is it has no settings other than nuclear which means it's not useable in a group ride.

[AyBee]

Kermit power said:

AyBee said:

Watchman said:

But I agree, flashing lights that are this bright are obnoxious. Offensive, even.

True, but I find that it's sometimes required in heavy traffic when I need to be noticed. I tend to flick between low for normal riding and strobe when I have to filter but I do make sure that the light is angled down.

Really? My commute is in and out of Central London on CS7, and not once have I felt the need for a strobe...

Most of the CS7 has a bus lane for bikes to ride in so doesn't have heavy traffic. There's a couple of spots on my commute (not many) where traffic on my side is virtually stationary but there is still movement in and out of side roads and across my lane where I find that strobe tends to get me more attention. Since there's no car keeping up with me, I highly doubt it bothers someone sat in traffic because they don't have to look at it for very long.

[Devil2575]

sjg said:

There's a premium for really well designed, well made (in the UK) products. They actually make their light output, unlike the "5000 lumen" chinese stuff. It packs an excellent light and battery pack into a single unit, no faffing about with a pack velcroed to your stem. Proper electronics with real protection circuitry, throttling to control output if the light were to overheat, etc. The chargers and batteries aren't likely to burn your house down if it left charging. Good spares backup and useful little accessories like a rear light that can plug in and share the battery, or a little "get you home" battery if you need a bit more runtime. They have proper UK support and warranty (and support their network of shops pretty well too).

I wouldn't spend £350 on a Maxx-D, but I can completely see why someone would. If you nightride a couple of times a week for most of the year and it lasts a few years, the cost is totally justifiable.

The super-cheap Chinese stuff is hit and miss, although the battery packs are almost universally garbage (look at what an equivalent pack made from new cells cost and draw your own conclusions as to where they source them from). Please, please, please don't leave them unattended to charge, and ideally use a LiPo bag (available from R/C model places) to charge them in case they do go. Battery fires are nasty - these two got away lightly:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12...
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8...

That's all great but it still leave people like myself between a rock and a hard place. There is no way I have hundreds of pounds to spend on bike lights. My bike only cost £360.
It also doesn't change the fact that the expensive light will still have a massive mark up on it based purely on the fact that cycling is now the in thing for people with lots of disposable cash. If I can buy a smart phone or a lap top for £350 then there is no real reason why a bike light should cost that, no matter how well made it is.

[anonymous-user]

Devil2575 said:

That's all great but it still leave people like myself between a rock and a hard place. There is no way I have hundreds of pounds to spend on bike lights. My bike only cost £360.
It also doesn't change the fact that the expensive light will still have a massive mark up on it based purely on the fact that cycling is now the in thing for people with lots of disposable cash. If I can buy a smart phone or a lap top for £350 then there is no real reason why a bike light should cost that, no matter how well made it is.

I don't think its 'haven't got the money' but 'I think that's expensive?

Getting a bit bored of this thing where people blame others for the cost of things, chosing a quality product over an unbranded competitor with no warranty and hit and miss quality. The reason they're more expensive is because they are made with better parts and have a warranty which has to be serviced.

It seems fine to pay out for a smartphone or laptop, when my Cree failed in the middle of a Bridleway I was definitely reassured that I had paid decent money for the laptop sitting on my desk.

Buy them, don't buy them but can we stop slagging off others who make a different choice?

Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 6th February 06:17