MTB Winter Lights?

[jagfan2]

otolith said:

It comes with a head strap, not sure how well that would work with a helmet.

Most people use this, velcros on to the helmet instead of elastic

http://www.bikelightsuk.com/accessories/magicshine...

[jagfan2]

antspants said:

Me too. I was at Cannock last night and suddenly realised I could only just see where I was going when I was in amongst the trees.

Might order another one for my helmet but I'll see how I go with just one to begin with.

Stick it on the helmet first, , much better when you only have one light, you loose some bump/depth perception, but can see over bumps and round corners a lot easier.

Been night riding round cannock for 8yrs, started out with a 10+2W Smart hallogen light with 3kg lead acid bottle battery, so know how things have changed!

[Flippin' Kipper]

I have two of those magic shine ebay clones (£20 from China) and the charger for one has failed, I would like to replace it with (the charger) with something that feels a little less like it will fail / burn the house down. Does anyone know of any decent chargers I could buy?

[Watchman]

I did notice someone on Ebay selling UK chargers for these. I'm on my Blackberry now so can't search effectively but I'm sure you could find it searching for "magicshine".

[CoolC]

Be careful doing that though.

I bought one of the magicshine UK chargers as I wasn't completely happy with the Chinese one. However, the two chargers have very slightly different connectors to the battery so aren't cross compatible.

I now just use the Chinese charger with an adapter.

[Matt106]

I've not plugged mine in to charge yet, I think I'll wear some wellies when I attempt it!

On a postive note, I used the light over the weekend when walking the dog and it performed very well for £17!

[mrmr96]

scottri said:

Viperzs said:

I'm surprised how many people are buying cheap instead of quality. I'd love to know how long those MagicShines will last.

I have bought 'quality' and it was 5 times the price and half the power. Only time will tell whether it pays off. For £18 its worth the risk IMO.

Exactly.

There's no guarantee that a cheap one will fail, and there's no guarantee than an expensive one won't. But what IS a guarantee is the price, so when comparing the two unknown failure rates, and then comparing the price, it's a no-brainer IMO as I could replace the cheap one 4 times if it failed, and STILL be ahead of buying a branded one.

[dterry]

I have had one of the Chinese P7 lights for nearly a year now. Its been used for biking, but more for dog walking. It came in brilliantly when sorting the loft, but does get a bit warm on the head strap.

When I brought mine I looked into them, and apparently some of the cheaper Chinese ones might have batteries without the li-ion safety circuit. Apparently li-ion batteries can be dangerous if over charged or over discharged (remember the self com busting ipods and Dell laptops).

I have had no issues with mine, but one thing I don't do is leave it charging overnight or when I am out of the house. I normally charge it in the garage away from anything seriously combustible.

[Watchman]

With cheap Lithium Ion batteries, it's more likely that you will run them down so low that they will never charge again. The self-protection is missing.

I've had these cheapos on charge overnight with no issues.

[Watchman]

My new one turned up today - it's slightly different to the other two:

1. different shaped battery - shorter and squarer
2. Green button light instead of blue
3. 3 brightness levels instead of two
4. No flashing mode
5. O-ring mounting instead of a more conventional (but equally crap) screw-tighten handlebar mount.

I'm happy this one is different because I'm going to mount it on my helmet but I'll make my own mount that sites the light closer the helmet. If I used the mount that it came with, the light would stick up an inch or more.

And... WOW it's bright.

[minimoog]

Watchman said:

No flashing mode

Press and hold the button for >3 seconds - you might be surprised.

[Watchman]

minimoog said:

Watchman said:

No flashing mode

Press and hold the button for >3 seconds - you might be surprised.

Wow. Gets better..!!

Thanks.

Had a think about how to helmet-mount it. I thought I might want to use it as a headlight one day so decided not to cut-up any of the original brackets. The piece attached to the light would damage my helmet if I tightly attached it using the O-ring so I made something to bear the pressure - in the end all it needed was a very small section of a broom handle. Can you spot it?



The whole thing looks way too geeky for my liking, so I'm happy it can be taken off when I'm not riding at night.

Need some way of attaching the battery now. I think it'd work best hanging off the back. Whaddaya reckon?



The battery case has velcro straps attached but they're too short to pass through the vents in my lid, so I'll probably just get some longer ones. Easy-enough.

Edited by Watchman on Tuesday 9th October 11:26

[CoolC]

Neat solution, although it looks like it is pointing down too much but that might just be the camera angle.

I'd just go with the battery in your back pocket, saves having the weight on top of your head.

[Watchman]

CoolC said:

Neat solution, although it looks like it is pointing down too much but that might just be the camera angle.

I'd just go with the battery in your back pocket, saves having the weight on top of your head.

I've tried it around the house and it seems OK. True test will be when I try it on the bike over the weekend (no time in the evenings during the week). It can be tilted up and down from that position.

I don't like trailing cables but I absolutely acknowledge what you say about the battery weight. I'll have a think about it.

I also wonder how these helmet attachments (cameras too) compromise the protection the hemlet gives. Anyone got any thoughts about that?

[Gizmoish]

Watchman said:

I also wonder how these helmet attachments (cameras too) compromise the protection the helmet gives. Anyone got any thoughts about that?

I think I'd rather not think about it.

Problem is, in an accident you'd prefer the light to come away completely, off the mount and the cable. But the cable is hard-wired and the mount has to be secure or it'd come off all the time (and wobble). Catch-22. Therefore, in the event of an accident involving the lamp being the impact point, you want the helmet to withstand that impact: so you need the mount to have the greatest possible surface area on the helmet to distribute the force...

Of course, the simple fact of having a decent light means that you'll avoid 99 out of 100 accidents (by being able to avoid tree roots, ruts, low hanging trees and invisible potholes), so worrying about the other 1/100 is probably pointless...

[With these feet]

Light turned up today (I spotted it sitting on the step by the front door so may have got here yesterday...) Very impressed, mates have asked me for the ebay number so they can order some as well. Ridiculous value for money IMO.

[Watchman]

So good, I've ordered two more. These are much better than the ones I bought before.

[TonyHetherington]

Are you guys talking about the eBay light the Watchman recommended? I ordered mine on 26th September but still not received - just wondering how long yours took to come through? I got a shipping note on the 27th September, so it's on it's way to me!

Went out last night, 6 of us (road bikes) - everyone had trillion lumen lights, I had (near enough) nothing. I need this light to come

[Watchman]

TonyHetherington said:

Are you guys talking about the eBay light the Watchman recommended? I ordered mine on 26th September but still not received - just wondering how long yours took to come through? I got a shipping note on the 27th September, so it's on it's way to me!

Went out last night, 6 of us (road bikes) - everyone had trillion lumen lights, I had (near enough) nothing. I need this light to come

Most people are talking about the one I pointed at, yes. Don't worry though. I didn't order my most recent one until some time after I originally mentioned it and it turned up yesterday. In Ebay, you get a range of delivery dates. Mine came on the 2nd day in that range.

[Matt106]

TonyHetherington said:

Are you guys talking about the eBay light the Watchman recommended? I ordered mine on 26th September but still not received - just wondering how long yours took to come through? I got a shipping note on the 27th September, so it's on it's way to me!

Went out last night, 6 of us (road bikes) - everyone had trillion lumen lights, I had (near enough) nothing. I need this light to come

Mine turned up within two weeks, not sure on the exact time as I was on holiday and the neighbours intercepted the parcel!