Originally Posted by
williaty
I was able to borrow a MagicShine and ride on a MUP tonight. It's better than the LD20+, but it's not that awesome. I didn't feel like I could see meaningfully farther. It was obvious, however, that a much wider area was illuminated. However, for me (I have pretty bad night vision), the flood area wasn't bright enough. I could see things vaguely in the flood area, but not enough to be really confident about what I was seeing. It still had me swerving a bit to move the beam side-to-side so I could see into corners and whatnot.
Still, I don't think it gets any better than that for less than $800.
I've got a MS I use on the bars with a Terralux on the helmet, and a LD2Q5 I keep in the fridge. I used to use the LD2 as my main light until I got the others this past Christmas. I used the MS and LD2 on the bars for a few rides, and I kept wondering why the LD2 wasn't working. It was working, but the light was drowned out by the MS. Using the Terralux for a helmet light gives me the flexibility to light up the path when it goes around corners and uphill - and to look for critters that might run across my path.