Best value lights for proper night riding?

[scsnow]

I purchased a couple cree torches from China, with the latest XML-U2 LED. The manufacturer claim 1300 lumens each, but all my mates agree when they're on Turbo mode are noticeably brighter than the Magicshine MJ-816! I liked the idea of no cables so the pair of torches works a treat.

So impressed, I bought a stack of them - watch out for them in the classifieds!

Here's a clip of them in actions: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=yKEITs-hPaE

 

[Glover Fan]

Thanks a lot, I'm still tempted by the smarts, will doubling up make a big difference?

 

[BigTone0777]

Dynamo????

 

[Davidc]

Dynamo????

As I said above I'll be using my B&M CYO 60 powered by a Shimano hub for the EE. I've used it riding most of the roads on the route and it's fine up to about 20 mph in pitch darkness.

I'll also have a Hope V1 - which I now own - complete with 3 spare battery packs, at least 2 of which should be unnecessay. Although the CYO would be enough I'll want the Hope for Cheddar Gorge and the road off the Blackdowns into Broadhembury, which I've ridden 3 times this year and have found covered in loose gravel each time. It'll also get used but on lower brightness up Burrington Coombe and up Blagdon Hill, but that's because I'm so slow that the dynamo lights get a bit dim. No matter what light anyone has it can fail and on a route like this a backup which is useable alone is essential.

I've tried the Hope before and its brightness on level 3 is about the same as the CYO, on level 4 it's brighter than the CYO.

Many of the roads in this area are as Baggy describes, they have precious little street lighting, and for next winter it appears that the local authorities are going to switch off many of those we do have so good lights are going to be even more of a necessity.

 

[jay clock]

mAgicshine 808. Amazing. I got a spare battery. Mounts and dismounts in seconds too

 

[Origamist]

820 lumens on high, that's a lot of light

High is too bright for urban riding so I have it on the lower settings, but it's v good for nightrides/MTBing when you're at the tête de la course!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16114972@N00/5421279317/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16114972@N00/5421885840/

 

[MacB]

High is too bright for urban riding so I have it on the lower settings, but it's v good for nightrides/MTBing when your at the tête de la course!

http://www.flickr.co...N00/5421279317/

http://www.flickr.co...N00/5421885840/

if you're on Whitstable we could have a comparison, I should have my E3 Triple by then

 

[Wobblers]

Am not quite convinced the Smart Lunars would be powerful enough. What about an Asteri 3 LED or as I think it's been re-branded now, Asteri One23
It's rechargeable, reasonable price and we've used ours a lot for unlit rural commutes.

+1

I have an Asteri 3 and it's an excellent little light. It puts out enough light for 20 mph plus along pitch black lanes, and it'll do it for more than 7 hours on full power. Shop around and you should be able to get it for around £45.

The Hope 1 or Ixon IQ are both good choices if you already have decent rechargeable AA's and a good chrager to go with them, else factoring buying them too makes them an expensive choice. I found the bracket on the Hope 1 rather fragile - I managed to break mine just by dropping it two feet! The Ixon IQ is also rather fragile, I broke one when I didn't clip it properly into its mount.

The Magicshine is always recommended because of its price. Its cheap for a reason - it's built down to a price and durability and reliability were not considerations (think electronics being driven at twice their rated power... ) There are plenty of reports on the mtb fora of people with dead Magicshines. I'd run it with a decent second light as a backup: you don't want it breaking as you're going down Cheddar Gorge! Actually, I'd recommend having a decent backup whatever light you use.

 

[TorchyTheBatteryBoy]

The leds are rated at 1300 Lumen max, but with 1x 18650 battery, they will draw around 1.5A, If you download the data sheet from CREE you will see that this equates to around 600 Lumen (from memory). The led will only reach it's full output with a 4x 18650 battery pack.

 

[cyberknight]

+1



The Magicshine is always recommended because of its price. Its cheap for a reason - it's built down to a price and durability and reliability were not considerations (think electronics being driven at twice their rated power... ) There are plenty of reports on the mtb fora of people with dead Magicshines. I'd run it with a decent second light as a backup: you don't want it breaking as you're going down Cheddar Gorge! Actually, I'd recommend having a decent backup whatever light you use.

Funny because there is another light thread on here with 2 of us running magicshines , another forumite has had his over a year and i have had mine 7 months and they have neither exploded or died.The problem lay in the battery pack but that was a global problem with all lights using the same battery type including very expensive models and even laptop s.

 

[Hacienda71]

My Magicshine rocks! Can't get a brighter light at that price point as the vast majority of reviews point out.

 

[Kestevan]

I have to admit I came incredibly close to buying the magicshine when I wanted a new light. The only thing that made me get the Vision1 was the fact that as a commuter I needed something totally reliable and easily replaceable.

The magicShine may be a cracking piece of kit, but I figured that the chances of the Hope failing were a little lower, and that if the thing did fail, I'd have more joy dealing with Hope (a uk company with a very good rep for customer service), than an unknown distributor in Hong-Kong.....

I'm still tempted to buy a MagicShine as well just for messing about in the woods, but any further expenditure has been put on hold till the missus stops looking

 

[TorchyTheBatteryBoy]

I can only go by my own experience. I have found Magicshine can only be relied on to go wrong.
I put some details on my blog to try and stop others having their fingers burned (literally in some cases): http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/magicshine.html

I'll give the XM-L a go (they surely can't go wrong with that) and the 4x XP-G.

 

[Glover Fan]

I completely forgot about this thread!

I ended up going with my gut instinct and inner-tightness and went for 2 sets of the Smart 35 LUX at £15 each. Not disappointed at all, took it out very late at night the other night and gave a good spread of light, and could comfortably travel at 15mph+

Jon.

 

[elsdyr]

I can only go by my own experience. I have found Magicshine can only be relied on to go wrong.
I put some details on my blog to try and stop others having their fingers burned (literally in some cases): http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/magicshine.html

Torchy, with all due respect, I am actually here to stalk you.

I have some questions to your 18650 comparison on your blog, but you don't seem to have any contact information; nor are comments enabled.

I see you use an UK power plug, so I suppose you're located on the British isles like myself (Dublin).

As I am looking to optimise for value, is there any chance, you could share the price paid for the different cells in your review?

All reply is appreciated, including a 'no, thank you'.

And if you are reading this - thanks for an excellent blog!

Cheers
--Einar