MTB Winter Lights?

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Discussion

Watchman

6,391 posts

244 months

Wednesday 3rd October 2012
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Gizmoish said:
Watchman said:
I used to frequent the candlepower forums - OK, I'm a sucker for anything "gadgetty".
(...)
Gwnerally SMO gives you better distance but with "artifacts" in the light (like concentric circles of different brightness lights) where various OP reflectors smooth out the light into one consistent circle, but at the expense of ultimate throw.
Realistically, I think since the advent of high power LED emitters, outright distance has ceased to be a consideration. With the pidding little filament bulbs rubbing off two C-size Evereadies the mirror needed to give it as much help as possible, but when was the last time you actually needed to see something 1km away?
I was quite amazed at the difference between filament bulbs and LEDs when comparing "throw". LEDs just cannot compete, however my ROP kills 6x D cells in about 20 mins. An LED light running on 6x D cells would probably last until Christmas, and would still offer a decent amount of "useable" light. LEDs are just not so good if you intend to set fire to cows a couple of fields away. biggrin

minimoog

6,852 posts

218 months

Wednesday 3rd October 2012
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bicycleshorts said:
fk me it's bright. Should be great if I choose to cycle along the unlit canal though.
Good to know. My commute includes about 4 miles of unlit woodland bridle path smile

What's good in the rear light world? I might go for a Magicshine MJ-818 at £30. Anything else to consider?

antspants

2,401 posts

174 months

Wednesday 3rd October 2012
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dudleybloke said:
Watchman said:
Magicshine for a little over 17 quid.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Bicycle-HeadLight-C...

Don't be fooled by the fact that it isn't branded. It's the real deal (I've got two).

Edited by Watchman on Tuesday 18th September 18:06
just ordered mine.
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.

Watchman

6,391 posts

244 months

Wednesday 3rd October 2012
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minimoog said:
Good to know. My commute includes about 4 miles of unlit woodland bridle path smile

What's good in the rear light world? I might go for a Magicshine MJ-818 at £30. Anything else to consider?
The Knog Skink is a nice, low profile design which allows you to mount it on the seatpost or the seat-stays.

Whatever you decide to use, if you're on the road, get a couple of separate lights to ensure issues like dead batteries or water ingress don't leave you with no lighting at all. I have a couple of Skinks - they can be set to flash at different intervals which make them especially eye-catching.

Gizmoish

18,150 posts

208 months

Wednesday 3rd October 2012
quotequote all
Watchman said:
minimoog said:
Good to know. My commute includes about 4 miles of unlit woodland bridle path smile

What's good in the rear light world? I might go for a Magicshine MJ-818 at £30. Anything else to consider?
The Knog Skink is a nice, low profile design which allows you to mount it on the seatpost or the seat-stays.

Whatever you decide to use, if you're on the road, get a couple of separate lights to ensure issues like dead batteries or water ingress don't leave you with no lighting at all. I have a couple of Skinks - they can be set to flash at different intervals which make them especially eye-catching.
You must have really fat seat stays?

I've got a Skink, it sits on the seat tube just under the top tube / seat stay point. Good idea to get mudguards though, because it's not especially waterproof.

minimoog

6,852 posts

218 months

Wednesday 3rd October 2012
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Gizmoish said:
I've got a Skink, it sits on the seat tube just under the top tube / seat stay point. Good idea to get mudguards though, because it's not especially waterproof.
So I've been reading. I think I'll keep looking.

Watchman

6,391 posts

244 months

Wednesday 3rd October 2012
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Gizmoish said:
You must have really fat seat stays?

I've got a Skink, it sits on the seat tube just under the top tube / seat stay point. Good idea to get mudguards though, because it's not especially waterproof.
Doesn't work on mine admittedly but does on my bro's Focus CF frame. I think they are still relatively thin but "shaped" enough that the Skink has enough meat to hold on.

Digga

40,206 posts

282 months

Thursday 4th October 2012
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Digga said:
Had a guy with a Lupine Betty follow me once and I nearly got a sunburnt neck.
Same bloke behind me on a singletrack section last night and, partly due to his 'brighter than a thousand suns' gear and also due to my recent lack of night riding (I've spoken to a few riders who say it takes the eyes a few weeks to properly dial-in) I got the front wheel jammed into something and smakced my knee off the handlebar stem.

I either need a brighter light or for this guy not to ride behind me!

scottri

950 posts

181 months

Thursday 4th October 2012
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minimoog said:
My order placed too. I also ordered a wide angle lens as it's reportedly a bit 'spotty' as stock.

Lens from here: http://www.action-led-lights.com/collections/acces...

Edited by minimoog on Wednesday 3rd October 10:33
I ordered one and it arrived today. Very impressed for the money. Came with UK plug adapter and it all works nicely. The only thing is it is very 'spotty' as mentioned so i've ordered those lenses and another light :-)

Pick of my Lenzye super drive for comparison. paid best part of £100 for it 6 months ago.


£18 ebay jobby....


Both on...


Viperzs

966 posts

166 months

Thursday 4th October 2012
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I'm surprised how many people are buying cheap instead of quality. I'd love to know how long those MagicShines will last.

scottri

950 posts

181 months

Thursday 4th October 2012
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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.

Watchman

6,391 posts

244 months

Thursday 4th October 2012
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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 happen to know that the genuine ones and the unbranded ones are largely the same - at least to begin with. My bro imports from China. He's been to a number of factories where branded items are made, including these. The Chinese make the batch they were commissioned for, then they continue making them AFTER they have filfilled the brand order, selling the unbranded ones directly.

Where it goes wrong is when they run out of original materials they substitute inferior items - well, cheaper ones. Sometime this doesn't necessarily mean inferior.

The batteries these ones are shipped with are not the same as the genuine ones but the 2 I bought last year (still working well) appear to have the same circuitry, same cabling, grommet, mount, internal chassis and case. One has a thinner lens but that's the only inconsistency I could find.

With these feet

5,728 posts

214 months

Friday 5th October 2012
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I do chuckle sometimes when there are these "if its not expensive then it must be rubbish" As the previous poster said, its often the case that its the same manufacturer only due to there being no copyright laws, they sell the items themselves after the original run.
Sure, there may be a change in some things but when the price is so vastly different, sometimes its worth a punt.


Oh, and Im still waiting for delivery ! smile

vwsurfbum

895 posts

210 months

Friday 5th October 2012
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I ordered the 3600 lumen monster from light malls, last month, its awesome, but last night i recieved a letter from FedEx expecting £18.50 from me! now i recieved the light 3 weeks ago and i paid the extra for FedEx, anyone else had the same issue?
I never have with my lights ordered through DealExtreme.

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 5th October 2012
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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.
Last years single T6 generic Cree lamp which has seen all sorts of crappy weather is still going strong. Bought a triple T6 this year just becuase smile

Compared to the overpriced stuff that is touted as 'quality' I am still quids in. £21 for the whole of last winter and £37 for this one, I could probably eBay last years one if I felt like it actually?! A couple of guys in the club said 'they're bloody crap those things' and have subsequently ended up buying some themselves this year. Sorry but £100+ and £200+ lights are a very poor purchase...but if you have the money and it makes you happy then why not wink

Fartomatic5000

558 posts

154 months

Friday 5th October 2012
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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.
Who says they are cheap? Who says they are not quality?
They only appear cheap when compared to the competition.

For example stuff like this:
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories...

I mean WTF? £850 for a bicycle light?
At what point does someone say, "hang on, it's only a battery, an LED, a switch and a few wires". Bike lights are not exactly rocket science, the profit on them must be astronomical.
As for the quality of the battery and LED, I would guess if you sourced the parts you'd find they came from the same Chinese factory, it happens all the time.

yellowjack

17,065 posts

165 months

Friday 5th October 2012
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And with comments like "Reliability of previous Betty and Wilma lights hasn’t matched their vast price either." I know that I would rather risk c£30 than c£850 to end up with something that's not entirely reliable.

CoolC

4,213 posts

213 months

Friday 5th October 2012
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I have one of the "cheap" Chinese lights, but as I can count on one hand the amount of times I need a light each winter I'll be damned if I'm spending £00's on "quality" lights.

They are more than good enough for my needs.

Digga

40,206 posts

282 months

Friday 5th October 2012
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yellowjack said:
And with comments like "Reliability of previous Betty and Wilma lights hasn’t matched their vast price either." I know that I would rather risk c£30 than c£850 to end up with something that's not entirely reliable.
I returned a Lupine light which had cost me about £450 because it was an utter pile of bork. It stopped working within a month or two from new, sent back with a 2 - 3 week wait (no immediate replacement) and then some of the cheap, crappy fixings bust so I gave up and returned it for credit. Never again.

Hope 2-LED light isn't as bright but their service back up (I had work done out of warranty period at a very reasonable fee) is faultless.

Matt106

Original Poster:

383 posts

163 months

Friday 5th October 2012
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Mine turned up whilst on holiday, very impressed for the money. The beam is narrow very similar to my lenser p7 on full throw. It came with a UK plug adaptor and arrived in under 2 weeks, I'll take it for a test ride tomorrow night smile.