ed 

Alright...I guess it's time I got some detailed photos of the lights up. I'll do some side-by-side beamshots tonight in the yard with MTBR's night-photo-standard Aperture / Shutter settings so you can see the practical value of each.

First off, the MTE SSC P7 flashlight pic's. It's marketed as a "900lm" flashlight, but it's not putting out 900lm. 500-600 most likely. Runs off 1x 18650 drop-in battery.


It's a pretty small flashlight...smaller than I had anticipated fer sher!



Second...obviously the Magicshine. This thing is the PIMP. It's got more flood AND throw than the MTE. It's using the same LED, but it's got a little larger reflector and lamp head. It also runs on a 4x 18650 battery pack.







Finally...the little lipstick light. UltraFire Cree MS-C Q5. Shown here next to a standard sized AA battery for size reference...it's friggin small, B!! (doesn't fit a AA) It's only 230lm, but it's got a pretty tight spot with enough spill to give you a bit of peripheral. It runs on 1x 3v lithium // 1x CR123 // 1x RCR123a The RCR is the "hottest" battery for the light and gives it visibly around 30-40% brighter beam than the standard 3v lithium that you can buy in the camera section at WalMart.




They all have a clicky button on back:

The MS has an LED behind it to let you know what your remaining battery life is. (grn/ylw/rd)
The MTE is standard black.
The little Cree has a glow-in-the-dark button.


They are all 5-mode lights with Hi / Med / Low / Strobe / SOS


Battery shots with the AA thrown in there for size reference: (RCR123a / AA / 18650 / 4x 18650 pack)




MS charger plugs into the pack, but this little gem for charging the flashlight LiIons was only $8 and does a plethora of LiIon cells. A plethora? Yes a plethora. What exactly is a plethora, ElGuapo?

ed 

Mah dadgum winter ride: (like my boots?)



My nasty freakin' rear meat:



2.35" Nevegal up front:




Here's what happens when you ride every day to work in salty / icy / snowy cond's:



This is why I have "the crapper". Yes, I lube and clean. Not every day, but it wouldn't matter much b/c it freezes in my sub-zero shop anyhoo. No time to dry.

ed 

Bonus...the MTE flashlight fits in a Blackburn mini pump holder, so I screwed one on to my shelf for quick and secure acces. Snap-in...snap-out:

ed 

Run times:

On high, the MS gets over 3hrs. The MTE gets 30 strong minutes and another 15-30 tapering ones. The Cree gets ~20 hot minutes and starts to taper for another 15-20.


They all get hot. The MS will be very easy to cool with normal riding "wind". The MTE and Cree are decent as well. I left the Cree on indoors (74') on high for around 10-15min and it got so hot that I couldn't hold on to it. When strapped to my bars with some wind blowing past...it did fine.

ghettocruiser

Alright, I've been riding to work every day in a pasty mix of rock salt and water and my chain DOES NOT look like that.

What the hell are they putting on the roads down there? Is someone dumping brine on your chain when your're not looking?

ed 

Haha...nope, just a ton of salt and sand. I often don't dry it off when I put it away. I also ran out of wet lube one day and made do with 10w30

It's also a bottom of the barrel chain. I don't even think the plates are nickel.


Thus...this is the purpose of the Crapper. Take it to the car wash...slap a little lube on there...put it away.

ed 

Here they are...

I used the MTBR "approved" beamshot comparison settings:
ISO-100
Shutter Speed - 6"
Aperture - f/4
White Balance - Daylight

The shed is around 40-50 feet away. Its a fairly "light" night, so you can somewhat see the snow on the "control" shot.


Control (no lights)


Here's the MTE on Low:

MTE Med

MTE Hi



Magicshine Low

Magicshine Med

Magicshine Hi

ed 

Now here's the impressive thing....granted it's obviously not as good as the other two...the little pucker of a lipstick tube Cree Q5

Low

Med

Hi



Here's all 3 on Hi




Here are some closer shots (6-8ft'ish) I had to change the shutter speed to 1" to get a more accurate idea of what's going on here:


Cree Hi

MTE Hi

MS Hi




So all-in-all...the MS has the brightest hot spot over the MTE by a little, yet the spill is quite a bit brighter. It's like a flood and a spot all at the same time. The MTE is impressive for a flashlight that is about the size of a good chicken leg. Still though...the most impressive one to me for its size is the Cree Q5.

The biggest advantage of the MS over the MTE would be the run time. You get marginally better performance for 3hrs. The MTE starts to dim after a little over 1/2 hr or so. If you can put up with it for 40min, then you can change out the cell and blast it for another 1/2hr.

The Cree will definitely get ya back outta the woods in a pinch. Heck man...it's small enough, you could hold it in your teeth.

IRONHEAD1

Good thread, even better thumb ring lol

sscyco

Awesome thread - thanks. I see a magicshine in my near future.

Glynis27

Nice.

What type of wet lube do you use? I've ridden for 3 winters, and my chain never got like that. They use a ton of salt here. I use either a 850 or 870 chain and then COVER it with Finishline Wet. It may look gross, but it does not ever wash away or let the salt get through.

ed 

I think the reason its so bad is b/c I ride to work in the crap and let it sit and corrode for 9hrs and ride home. I'm sure if I cleaned and lubed every couple days...it would look better. I was using TriFlow until I ran out. I'm too lazy to drive across town for The Crapper, so I've been using 10w30 for several weeks

sscyco

My commuter gets Triflow dumped on it every couple days - and looks like a black rope. Change the chain regularly, but the cassette and big ring now have to be changed - got almost 4 years out of them.

dstrong 

Very enlightening!

A couple of questions:
1 - Why is there a big space between the bottom of your headtube and the top of the fork? At first I thought "Headshok" but then I saw "Jamis". 'sup wid dat?
2 - I think a great test would be: each light on the reflective street sign for your street; each light on the address number on your house...along with your city name and state.
3 - A shot of each light showing the entrance to your garage or wherever you keep all your cool stuff.

Thanks bro!

ed 

...my address is:
Born2bahick
217 hillbilly blvd


The fork is a Kona P2 "Tall Race" fork. It raises the HT to a 100mm travel fork A2C. It's an Ugly Duckling that I got on clearance for pennies. The Crapper is a super-cheap budget build. I also have a Tank Hit headset on there which has a tall lower.

mzeffex 

I want a magic shine light. But as of tonight I am not allowed to ride at night.

sknhgy 

After a dirty ride I'll wash the chain off with the garden hose then drench it with, get ready for this, WD-40. Before I ride again I'll apply chain lube.

Glynis27

Pfft, clean and lube. I don't touch my chain at all in the winter. I just dump more Finish Line XC Wet on it about once a month, if it needs it. When springs comes, I give it a good cleaning and put it away for next winter. I use a different chain and lube in the spring.

RIC0

Keep that chain and cassette hosed down with WD-40 and it'll be good, well kinda late now but when the winter commuting starts. Yeah yeah yeah, waaaah don't use WD-40 it'll cause your chain to fall apart, it's a not a lube, it's the worst thing you could ever use. I used WD-40 for years on my ATV chains which seen worst conditons than a sissy azz bike chain would EVER see on it's worst day. I raced all over the east coast in horrible conditions and I NEVER had a rusted chain. Why would someone NOT use a product that disperses and protects against water in wet conditions**********************************************************************************************************************************??
Not bashin you Chelboad but all the dillholes that are going to reply about how bad WD-40 is for chains.

ed 

Yeah man...I don't care. It's a cheap crapped out chain and thrashed 990 cassette. The whole point behind it was to ride it through soupiepoop and throw it on the porch for the next day. Maybe I should use 90wt

You wouldn't catch me treating my Komodo that way. That thing always gets cleaned and lubed with Finish Line wet or dry depending on the cond's. Occasionally I'll use Wh Lightning in a pinch.

I'm like the kid in junior high who throws his WalMart bike out in the yard in the rain. I just don't give a flyin' phart about that one.


Oddly...it still shifts quite will.

ed 

I'm doing another "run time" experiment now. I'm inside in about 70deg with a fan on medium. I'm actually pretty impressed. I guess the cold really "DOES" make a significant impact on run time.

Ultrafire Cree strong for 30min, dims from that, but is still burning dim as crap like a birthday candle after 1hr 15min
MTE was pretty strong for a while hour. Wow, man. Starting to dim now at 1hr 15min
Magicshine is strong and LED indic. is still grn after 1hr 15min.

ed 

My Uber-tech testing facility:


After 1hr 20min, the MTE is really fading, the Q5 is non-existant, the MS is still MS'ing.

ed 

After 2hrs, the Q5 is basically completely gone, the MTE wouldn't come close to getting you out of the woods, and the MS is still strong...still green. I should have used all the same camera settings so it's more "controlled" testing, but you get the picture.

ed 

Dang...I'm pretty surprised. 3hrs 13min and the LED on the back is still green. Still looks the same as it did 2hrs ago.


Weird.



Edit: Right at 3.5hrs now and the indic. skipped yellow and went straight to red. (hmmm...maybe there isn't an amber setting) Still bright though.

never

Mine doesn't have a yellow indicator, just green and red (I have the more basic DX versions which are only 3 mode, not 5 mode like GMG). I went out for a trail run one night with the light on red (didn't notice until I got on the trail) - I was going to do as many laps as I could through my property before it went out. Well I did the full 45 minutes I was planning and it hadn't gone out yet.

How can you go wrong for an $80 light! I'm still surprised after what I paid for a L&M 15W halogen and what some buddies paid for Topeak Moonshine HIDs. I'll have to borrow one of the Topeak HIDs and do a comparison with the MS.