LordMarv

Has anyone used the Philips SafeRide headlight? I am considering it for my commuter, I like the beam shape and the design. Wondered if anyone using it could comment on how they liked it. Not the most bright light out there, but I like how it doesn't waste alot of the light on the trees and sky.

tarwheel 

I have not owned or used a Philips Saferide, but it generally gets high ratings from reviewers for the brightness and quality of its beam. On the downside, it doesn't seem to have very long run times and apparently the batteries are not easy to replace -- which seems like a real design flaw.

ItsJustMe

Wait, the batteries don't just go in and out, they have to be charged in place?

That's a deal killer for me. I was kind of thinking about buying one, but no way if I can't swap batteries easily.

2_i 

I am using the dynamo version of Saferide on one bike. It is a bit brighter than the near-illumination IQ Cyo I used before, but it its beam outline is well more erratic (as if the reflector plastic was being pulled out of the mould without being fully relaxed). In the end, I stayed with Cyo as my standard on different bikes as I found the random pattern of light too distracting. Still I think that Saferide is OK, particularly if you need to illuminate a wide dark path - I did not pull it down from that one bike. Saferide's standlight is well dimmer than that of Cyo and it causes more electromagnetic interference than Cyo, if anyone cared about those issues.

MrCjolsen

I just got the Saferide 80.

Lights up the road very nice. My commute is on very dark roads and I like to go fast. For once, I feel confident that I won't outrun my light. Also performs well in the rain. Went for an 18 mile ride last night in complete darkness. Might as well have been daytime. That's how good it is. Also, light is solid and appears well made.

Now for the battery setup. It runs on 4x AA batteries. You can either remove them and charge them with your own charger, or leave the batteries in and use their charger. It also can be charged using USB. So far, I'm not real confident about their onboard charger. The times I've used it, the light has not made it to the advertised 1.5 hours on high.

I'm finding that it's very important to use good quality rechargeable AA batteries. The ones that came with my light had two cells that were either not charging fully or not holding a charge.

The only other downside with the light is that it's big, heavy, and bulky. At least compared to what's being sold currently. If your bike does not have 31.8 bars, and you need to use the shims that come with their mount, expect some wobble.

LordMarv

So, the onboard charger is not charging the batteries to their full capacity, do you think?

MrCjolsen

Perhaps. I need to do some more testing with batteries that I know are good. The thing is that if the onboard charger gets them to 95% of what my smart charger does, then I'm using the smart charger because that last five minutes might be when I need the light.

rekmeyata

YES, I own one! That light is a great light. Run time on high is 2 hours, on low 8. If you look at the beam comparisons here: https://reviews.mtbr.com/2012-bike-li...pattern-photos You'll find that lights that are brighter cost a lot more money, and you can get an Saferide on Amazon for around $80!

This light is the brightest light in beam projected appearance on the bike paths and roads that I've run into riding around in Fort Wayne Indiana. It out did my friends Magic Shine 1100 or 1200 in brightness, light width and length.

The batteries ARE EASY to replace, simply loosen the screw and pop the back off, inside are 4 AA batteries spring loaded like any other AA battery device...how difficult is that? Putting the back back on is a bit difficult because of the tight waterproof seal, and the seal works as witnessed to it's several downpours one would expect riding in the Midwest. And why would someone not be confident of their on board charger? I've had mine now for 2 riding seasons and it charges the batteries just fine, it's a smart charger too instead of a timed charger that can overcharge batteries if their not run to dead prior to charging. My original light came with a battery that would not charge right, so I contacted Philips, they sent me a new light/charger/batteries and that one is fine. The huge advantage with using AA bats is that you can buy more at any store, but I would make sure the new bats have at least the same amp hour rating as the ones from the factory.

I do not find this light to big, heavy, or bulky. I also own a Cygolite MityCross 480, combine that light with the separate battery pack and you have a bulky light, but neither of them are big or heavy. Look, the light is all one piece instead of two separate units, plus instead of using cheap plastic or thin aluminium walled construction Phillips made this light very durable with thicker aluminum shell then other lights, but it's aluminum not steel. I don't find the light to be heavy. In fact my friends former Magic Shine 1100 or 1200 battery alone was bigger, heavier, and bulkier than the Phillips! Big...hmm, as a one piece light goes compared to my one piece Cygolite ExpiliOn (another Cygolite I have) it is bigger, but that size enabled Phillips to use a larger lens, and a larger lens is much more eye catching to oncoming motorists than a smaller lens producing a pin prick of light appearance. I had both, my Phillips and the Cygolite Mitycross 480 on and I had my wife drive towards me from 5 blocks away, as she rounded the turn to come towards me she told me later that the first thing she saw was the Phillips because of the larger lens surface produced a bright large area vs the Mitycross that looked like a pin prick of bright light, and due to the larger size she could estimate her distance to me better than the other light.

The mount has no wobbles either, it does need to be tightened once in the correct position with a tool to keep it from shifting downward as you hit ruts and bumps in the road because it front heavy, Phillips should have put the clip for the mount in a position giving it 50/50 weight distribution but I guess they couldn't think of everything. You can hand tighten it enough to ride but occasionally you will have to readjust the light. The light mount is not going to work with some sort of oblong shaped bar, all my bars are round and it fits on all of them from vintage on up to brand new.

I find the beam pattern not erratic at all, it's very evenly distributed in a pear like shape with the point of the pear out the furthest of course. In fact I find this light to be the least erratic of all the lights I have, which granted are not a lot, I have an old Cygolite Metro 13 watt converted to 16 watt halogen, Cygolite ExpiliOn 350, and the Mitycross 480, and the Phillips beam pattern is more evenly distributed than those. or a friends former MagicShine 1100 or 1200 I forget.

Take a look at the 2012 MTB head light shoot out, and see for yourself. Keep in mind when you look at those pics that you look at them without looking at how much light is hitting the tree tops, but rather how much light is hitting where the street would be...the grass area, then look at the lower half of the fence, and look at the width of the beam. Pictures don't do any light justice compared to the human eye, in real life the Philips looks better than the pic shows, but then so would all the other lights, but at least you can get a comparison.

Athens80

Looking at the weights reported at reviews.mtbr.com, the SafeRide is heavier than newer lights with similar lumens output (wherever those lumens are going). The SafeRide installs at 334 grams, lighter than the older Magicshine MJ-872 which installs at 370 grams (that's a 268 gram battery). Newer models seem to be lighter: the MityCross 480 is 240gm, while the NiteRider Lumina 550 is 172gm, and the Bontrager Ion 700 is 120gm, just to pick out a couple.

ItsJustMe

There's no excuse for needing tools to change batteries. I'm supposed to fish a screwdriver out of my tool kit when the batteries die mid ride? What other light requires you to use tools to change the batteries?

I'm still kind of considering it, but I probably won't go for it since I already have 3 acceptable front lights and my budget is spent for a while.

MrCjolsen

I found a workaround for that problem. I just put a thick piece of mtb sized inner tube around the front of the light and ditched the screw. Holds it firmly in place, and I can change the batteries in the dark.

Hmmm. I'll need to do a test run after having charged good batteries with the onboard charger. Do you think it was my batteries? As of right now, most of my rechargeables are at least a year old.

This would be a perfect light if they went with a battery pack. A Li-ion, USB rechargeable would be cool. I wonder of you could modify it to use a pack with 4 C or D cells. That would make make the unit that attaches to your bars lighter while extending the run time.



See above for my fix to that problem.

First of all, I think this light is marketed to commuters who ride an hour or less on the road. MTB riders who go for much of the night probably don't need it's optics but want less weight and longer run times. For them, the current crop of flashlight based models is fine.

rekmeyata

But the weight loss is due to other companies using inferior casings. I would much rather have a slight weight penalty for a better made more rugged and reliable product. It's why I like 36 spoke wheels too. And since I don't race the weight of a 150 grams over a Niterider is nothing. And the light output of the Niterider 600, which is 50 lumens brighter then the one you mention is far dimmer than the Phillips in the useable area of the road illumination. This is all plainly visible on that 2012 MTBR beam comparisons, in fact those two are side by side for easy comparison.

rekmeyata

No excuse to be riding around without tools!!!!! Your suppose to fish out a tire iron mid ride for a flat? Oh my god next please.

no1mad 

Don't know about front lights, but my 4D Toplight rear requires a screwdriver and I think the PDW Radbot 1k does as well.

Otherwise, I've got mixed feelings about needing a screwdriver to swap batteries out. Biggest disadvantage I can think of is what happens should one drop the screw(s) while performing a swap mid-ride? I know with my vision, a tiny screw hits the ground at my feet, it might as well have fallen into a black hole.

rekmeyata

If the workaround works for you than by all means do it, but I don't want to possibly compromise the seal of the clamshell design with some inferior way of keeping it closed. I will say this, the back closes so securely before you even attach the screw I'm not sure if a screw is even needed! I do use it, but unlike some I carry tools in the form of a Park MTB3 mini tool which has all I need to open the back of a light.

The battery pack idea probably someone could make, but I that's why I got the Philips so I wouldn't have a battery pack!

The light will burn on high for 2 hours not 1 hour, and high is so bright I rarely use it and I'm 60 years old with dimmer vision than a 20 or 30 something younger folk. On low it will run for 8 hours. How much time do you need? Of course it was made for commuters, it wasn't made for nighttime century ride.

rekmeyata

most of my lights, including head and tail require screwdriver excluding the Cygolite Metro from 18 or so years ago and the Cygolite Mitycross. Even the pop off back of my Planet Bike Super Flash requires a screwdriver to get the back off and that battery is not rechargeable! gee what a headache to have to reach for a screwdriver...

Athens80

All reasonable claims and reasonable choices. But your subjective values are more convincing when they're not mixed in with incorrect objective statements like the "Magic Shine 1100 or 1200 battery alone was bigger, heavier, and bulkier than the Phillips!" The MagicShine battery is lighter than the the Phillips, and with the head, just 36 grams more than the Phillips.

Others may judge that the SafeRide is "big, heavy, and bulky. At least compared to what's being sold currently" [the new models]. That's objectively true. Whether it matters to a rider is a matter of judgment and priorities.

Maybe someone out there will sell a light that has a better light pattern like the SafeRide along with the newer technologies of current lights, which weigh less and shine longer.

ItsJustMe

I flat maybe once a year. I swap light batteries once a week. And no, I don't fish a tire tool out for a flat. Flat tire fixes only require a pump, no tools, but even when they do (like with my IGH bike), I have to get the tube out anyway.

rekmeyata

well the old one my friend had, it broke 5 to 7 months ago was about 1 1/2 years old at that time, meaning now the light would have been about 2 years old. The battery pack by itself weighed more than my Phillips. It's possible the new battery packs are lighter as you stated, but regardless as you stated the Phillips is still 36 grams lighter...not that I care the least bit.

And yes, eventually someone will make a better light then the Saferide that will have a better pattern, longer run time, and weigh less, but for right now for $80 on Amazon you won't find a better light.

Athens80

You don't get to have your own facts. I've twice referenced the actual weight of OLD MagicShines as measured at mtbr.com, and the fact is that their 268 gram batteries do not weigh more than your Phillips, assuming that your SafeRide is the same as the 334 gram Phillips SafeRide which they weighed. Newer lights, including the battery packs, are shedding weight.

Just for kicks, I weighed my own MagicShine battery from GeoMan in 2010, and my kitchen scale claims it weighs 252 grams. So you can test that fact -- does your Phillips SafeRide with batteries weigh less than 8.9 ounces / 252 grams?

Enjoy the SafeRide, recommend the SafeRide, but realize that your preference for it is subjective and others today who choose a different $80 light are not wrong.

MrCjolsen

I'm far less concerned about the weight of the battery if I don't have to attach it to my handlebars.

rekmeyata

The 2013 MJ880's battery pack weighs 403 grams, the head weighs 119 grams, this is their newest and lighter generation of batteries, the one my friend had was their brightest offering at the time in 2011 which had their largest battery at the time. Anyway here is the proof of the 2013 weight as I discribed above according to the manufacture model: https://reviews.mtbr.com/magicshine-m...ights-shootout After calling him tonight he thinks he had the 872 model which the lumens I quoted was incorrect, he said it was suppose to been 1600 but was more like 500 even though not only did the Phillips Saferide out did it but my Cygolite Mitycross 480 was almost identical to the brightness of the 872, the Cygolite had a smaller beam shape vs the wider 872 but Cygolite seemed a wee bit brighter in longer distance. You can't compare the MagicShine you quoted because it pales in comparison to the Phillips in brightness.

rekmeyata

Even if you don't like the Phillips for whatever reason, Cygolite makes a series of ExpiliOn lights that all have a self contained battery that while it is a proprietary battery they are user replaceable and you can buy more bats and swap batteries all you want. On Amazon their EpiliOn 800 is now only $107, but Amazon has a whole series of them; see: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...yg%2Caps%2C334 just pick out the one you can afford.

Athens80

I'm not wanting to make a whole thread about the weight of the old Magicshine MJ-872 you've been talking about, which, as I wrote three posts ago, installs at 370 grams (that's a 268 gram battery). Please just concede the basic math that the 268 gram weight of that battery is not heavier than the 334 gram weight of the SafeRide.

Now you're bringing in the new brighter but not lighter Magicshine MJ-880 U2 which is a current model and in a different class from the MJ-872 and the SafeRide, as it is measured to deliver 1473 lumens. You can't compare the Phillips SafeRide because its 39 lux pales in comparison to the MJ-880 U2's 148 lux in brightness.

GeneO 

Y, there are plenty of those self contained, removable battery. Look at the Lezyne Mega drive on Amazon. $130 / 1200 lumen. And it doesn't require a screwdriver to get to the battery - there is a hinged clip that holds the backdoor sealed shut.