oops, no lights...
- Thread starter Col5632
- Start date
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That's happened to very many of us - and it's the sort of thing that makes us all a little mellower when we come across a Ninja Bike or a car with one headlamp out that looks like a motorcycle.
These days I always have a pair of Cateye Cubes and a similar pair at the rear.
While still on my 'learning curve' and with only one rear light, I started to get beeped on a very dark commute home on the A417. I thought it unkind until a glance below my backside revealed that my rear batteries had gone. I was about 5 miles from home, but they were dark, damp miles full of crests and curves and where close passes are a way of life.
I always have 3 minicab firms in my mobile, so I gave one a call. I said I had a bike and the guy showed up in a 607 (born for the cab rank if ever a car was). I think it went in the boot with only one wheel off, but that may be a bit rose-tinted.
Anyway, I got home safely, had a nice chat with the cabbie, put it down to experience and put extra lamps on my bike that week.
The tight part of my brain (most of it) still thinks I'd have made it home without a rear lamp, but the executive element in my internal actions-prioritising system knows it made the right judgement. Despite resenting the cost of the cab....
These days I always have a pair of Cateye Cubes and a similar pair at the rear.
While still on my 'learning curve' and with only one rear light, I started to get beeped on a very dark commute home on the A417. I thought it unkind until a glance below my backside revealed that my rear batteries had gone. I was about 5 miles from home, but they were dark, damp miles full of crests and curves and where close passes are a way of life.
I always have 3 minicab firms in my mobile, so I gave one a call. I said I had a bike and the guy showed up in a 607 (born for the cab rank if ever a car was). I think it went in the boot with only one wheel off, but that may be a bit rose-tinted.
Anyway, I got home safely, had a nice chat with the cabbie, put it down to experience and put extra lamps on my bike that week.
The tight part of my brain (most of it) still thinks I'd have made it home without a rear lamp, but the executive element in my internal actions-prioritising system knows it made the right judgement. Despite resenting the cost of the cab....
PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
Dynamo anyone?
For any extended period of night riding this is indeed "the way to go". But even dyno lights can fail - it's rare, but it does happen, so you still need a back-up.
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
Most of us don't have a problem with any lights - someone forgot to charge them - the indicator told the OP a week before they stopped !
Fair enough - I misinterpreted what the OP meant when I read that.
OP
OP
Col5632
Guru
- Location
- Cowdenbeath
Didnt get any with mine
Most of us don't have a problem with any lights - someone forgot to charge them - the indicator told the OP a week before they stopped !
I have charged it since the red light came on last week, like i said i charged it most days but not charged it for about 2 days or so, kinda forgot i hadnt charged them but defo had since the red light came on the previous week, im daft but no that daft
goo_mason
Champion barbed-wire hurdler
- Location
- Leith, Edinburgh
That reminds me - I'm going to have to get a new rear as my Cateye TL-LD1100 has developed the same nasty habit as the previous one in that it suddenly goes very dull without warning. I think it's a connection issue, but haven't sussed out the cause. I've tried a few things to no avail. It's usually solved (for a little while) by giving the end-cap a bit of a twist back and forward, but finding it (even with fresh batteries) looking like the batteries are dead a minute or so after it's been retina-searingly bright is a worry. Mind you, I have a 2nd light attached to the back of my Creative Reflectives rucksack cover, so I'm never without rear lighting even with the Cateye conking out.
OP
OP
Col5632
Guru
- Location
- Cowdenbeath
Im needing a much brighter back light and a spare, thats next on the list of things to buy 
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Didnt get any with mine
I have charged it since the red light came on last week, like i said i charged it most days but not charged it for about 2 days or so, kinda forgot i hadnt charged them but defo had since the red light came on the previous week, im daft but no that daft
Yeh yeh - they all say that !
I have the Magicshine MJ-816 front and when I added a Magicshine MJ-818 to the rear, it came with a spare battery and charger. So I keep one charger at home and the other at the office. I also carry the spare battery in my pannier.
As if that wasn't enough redundancy cover, I run a Lumotech IQ Fly Senso R from a SON hub dynamo and carry two spare Cateye TLD1000s and a pocketful of little single LED lights (these are fab: http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.212-3106.aspx ).
There'd have to be some bizarre set of disastrous events that left me without some form of lighting.
As if that wasn't enough redundancy cover, I run a Lumotech IQ Fly Senso R from a SON hub dynamo and carry two spare Cateye TLD1000s and a pocketful of little single LED lights (these are fab: http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.212-3106.aspx ).
There'd have to be some bizarre set of disastrous events that left me without some form of lighting.
OP
OP
Col5632
Guru
- Location
- Cowdenbeath
Where did you buy your MJ-818 from?
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
I bought one MJ818 from bikelightcompany and another from magicshinelamps, both on ebay. Can't remember which from where but light + battery was round £37, then I bought a second MJ818 (light only) plus splitter cable, for about £25.
They're incredibly bright. People (not only other cyclists) are always asking me where I got them.
Best rear light I've ever owned.
And on the other end of the specturm....
Poundland are currently selling cycle lights - (these ones) and for a pound they are pretty good... I bought a few of each for 2nd/backup lights to spread between bikes and work and home. Although not sure the fronts will fit on my road bike - I'm on the winter hack at the moment.
I always make a point of charging mine after my morning commute. That way, I know my lights shouldn't fail on my way home when it's pitch black. If they do run out of juice it will do it in the morning when it's getting lighter anyway. There is the added benefit of using works electricty to charge them.
normskirus
Veteran
- Location
- Edinburgh
Hi
The magicshine rear light - the 818 - is fantastic.
However mine broke about a month ago and if you do a bit of research online you will find that its not common but not unknown. If you open one up (unscrew the central lens) you can see what happens. The circuit board that mounts the outside lights and has the coil for the switch, isnt fixed to anything. What can happen is when you turn the silver ring to switch it on / select the light setting, you end up moving the circuit board. When you move the circuit board you place strain on either wires connecting the board to the battery or the wires connecting the board to the central led. After a while (14 months in my case) the soldered joints or the wires break. It seems easy enough to fix just a bit of solder or new wires. In my case i didnt bother. I was pondering what to do when the coil part of the switch fell off - it was beyond my skill or knowledge to fix that.
When you turn the silver ring just make sure only the silver ring turns and not the lens.
They are great lights for the rear but its an example of getting what you pay for.
Normskirus
The magicshine rear light - the 818 - is fantastic.
However mine broke about a month ago and if you do a bit of research online you will find that its not common but not unknown. If you open one up (unscrew the central lens) you can see what happens. The circuit board that mounts the outside lights and has the coil for the switch, isnt fixed to anything. What can happen is when you turn the silver ring to switch it on / select the light setting, you end up moving the circuit board. When you move the circuit board you place strain on either wires connecting the board to the battery or the wires connecting the board to the central led. After a while (14 months in my case) the soldered joints or the wires break. It seems easy enough to fix just a bit of solder or new wires. In my case i didnt bother. I was pondering what to do when the coil part of the switch fell off - it was beyond my skill or knowledge to fix that.
When you turn the silver ring just make sure only the silver ring turns and not the lens.
They are great lights for the rear but its an example of getting what you pay for.
Normskirus
