Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - MTBR - 2010 Bike Lights Shootout

http://reviews.mtbr.com/blog/2010-mtbr-lights-shootout/

A great article. Hard to figure why anyone would buy anything but MagicShine at those prices!

They look to me to be more suited to MTB than road use. The way they illuminate the tree in the photos so high up indicates that they could be pretty blinding to other road/MUP users. IMO LED headlights have gotten bright enough so that now the manufacturers need to start working on beam shapes rather than just continuing to up the light output of the brighter lights. If not there could start to be legislation requiring it or limits put on light output for road use like in most of Europe.

They look to me to be more suited to MTB than road use. The way they illuminate the tree in the photos so high up indicates that they could be pretty blinding to other road/MUP users. IMO LED headlights have gotten bright enough so that now the manufacturers need to start working on beam shapes rather than just continuing to up the light output of the brighter lights. If not there could start to be legislation requiring it or limits put on light output for road use like in most of Europe.
That depends on how you aim the light. I have a P7 that would certainly be blinding if aimed too high (eg. "brights" on car headlights) but aimed a little down at the street it provides excellent light without risk to anyone.

A great article. Hard to figure why anyone would buy anything but MagicShine at those prices!

Up-front cost isn't the prime consideration for everyone :) I want the NR Pro 1200, not just from the beamshots, customizable outputs and feature set, but also from going night-riding with some guys who've got them. As Darth Vader would say... "Impressive."

The Lupine Betty is also impressive in terms of sheer output, but the Pro 1200 still tops it with the custom-tunable mix of spot versus flood, which I'd find very useful.


They look to me to be more suited to MTB than road use. The way they illuminate the tree in the photos so high up indicates that they could be pretty blinding to other road/MUP users.

For off-road use, bar-mounted lights need to have some fill light because the bars aim all over the place on a trail ride. Using the NR Pro 1200 as an example, if I were into a rock garden or technical descent, I'd probably switch to flood-only mode for an even view of the entire scene.

Helmet lights can be a bit more spot-oriented, but some fill light is still useful to provide context.

A great article. Hard to figure why anyone would buy anything but MagicShine at those prices!

1. 90 Day warranty
2. Questionable QC
3. Catch as catch can features (3 modes/5 modes, long cord, short cord etc etc)
4. Steal Me pilot light
5. Avg of 1 battery or charger per month exploding, catching fire or venting

I'm waiting to see how they hold up over a longer period than 3 months and what they do to them for 2010.

1. 90 Day warranty
2. Questionable QC
3. Catch as catch can features (3 modes/5 modes, long cord, short cord etc etc)
4. Steal Me pilot light
5. Avg of 1 battery or charger per month exploding, catching fire or venting

I'm waiting to see how they hold up over a longer period than 3 months and what they do to them for 2010.

The first four I would answer with: is it really worth $175 to $900 extra?

Number five is more troubling. Do you have something to back this up? That's pretty serious.

The first four I would answer with: is it really worth $175 to $900 extra?

For a quality light with the features I actually want, and more than double the actual power, it's worth an extra $500, yeah. I'm going to use it almost daily for several years, and there are tangible benefits to the better product, so I'd rather not go cheap on this one. Macaroni & Cheese, sure, I'll buy the 50¢ "house brand" there :)

I own both, the NiteFlux Photon Max Extreme (70 lux) and the MagicShine (37 Lux)... If I could get the NiteFlux for the same price as when I got it at the beginning of the year for $350.00 I'd do it again, but for $480.00 I can safely say that I would just bulk up on two or three MagicShine for around half the price. In fact the way they have the O-ring mount you can install dual MagicShines on the same bar or extension area. A key point to note is how small they are compared to other lights.

Quality control is a non-issue for me (since I treat lights like crap year-round).... But i'll tell ya this. My Max Extreme's battery died after 8 months of everyday use and the replacement cost $220.00! If a MagicShines head unit OR battery were to fail not under warranty... about 50 bucks shipped to replace either one.

The first four I would answer with: is it really worth $175 to $900 extra?How can you quantify what the difference will be? No one knows what the real cost of them will be over 2 years. Which is rather the point.


Number five is more troubling. Do you have something to back this up? That's pretty serious.If a poor thermal path, metal filings wandering about inside isnt serious then neither is battery/charger problems. It isnt hard to find reports in forum threads of DOA chargers, blown fuses, vented batteries and the like. Most arent real serious but they are brand new.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/spowell/DSC_1629.jpg
Link to original blog w/details. (http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/dx-bastid-charger-catches-fire)


Pretty good is not the same as pretty good for the money

I appreciate the link to the shoot out, I liked it almost as well as the Planetbike one. For the most part those lights all looked like they would be doable. It was nice to see beam shots of the various lights. I don't have any issues with my Magicshine. It appeared to perform within acceptable limits, both in the shoot out and, more importantly, in my world.