BlankTim

My Blackburn Flea 2.0 just isn't cutting it as a "to see with" light. It's not bad, it's just not "enough" light.

Budget:~ $100.00. I can/will go higher if it will get me a quality light, but I want to stay below $150.00 if at all possible.

I'm thinking either a MagicShine MJ-808 at 900 Lumens, or a Gemini Titan at 900 Lumens. The MagicShine is $89.95, and the Titan is $129.99. A difference of $40.00 is significant, financially, but not a deal breaker. Again, if it's *better, I'll spend the money.

I've looked at a couple of reviews of both lights, including Colleen C's really excellent review and comparison of the two lights, and I think the Titan is more what I'm looking for performance-wise but, there isn't all that much of a difference in the performance of these two lights, based on the photos. OTOH, MagicShine doesn't have a stellar reputation based on what I've been reading. The MS is a great light for the price, but I've learned the hard way that when buy "for the price" you have to put up with a lot of performance and reliability issues that you generally don't worry about with higher priced things.

Can anyone recommend something similar and in the same price range that might perform better than the Titan? My only major requirement is that it use a wall charger system, which both of these lights use, rather than a battery that needs to be replaced regularly.


Thanks all


*Better= More light, longer throw while still providing good near field lighting, whiter color, at *least* a 3 hour operating time.

K'Tesh

If I was on the market I'd be looking seriously at the NiteRider MiNewt.600 Cordless Bike Light




for $150 or save $40, and go for the $110 NiteRider MiNewt.350 Cordless Bike Light

Terry66

I use the Cygolite TridenX Xtra light and it is just crazy bright. I mean it is as bright as 2-3 of my friend's lights together. It's a bit over your budget at like $279, but wow, it is a good light.

no1mad 

I was going to point out the B&M Big Bang, but it's 10x the OP's budget...

achoo

Try this one:

https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...2_527817_-1___

That's a steal at $40 or so + S&H

If that one isn't enough, get this one, too:

https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...2_525893_-1___

Only a bit over budget, and you get two good lights - one for your bars and one for your helmet.

RobCG

Cygolite's Expilion series are nice. One-piece design, rechargeable Li-Ion battery. I own an Expilion 250 and am very happy with it. The newer models range from 170 to 400 lumens.

dahut

A BikeRay. 1300 lumens of glorious light.

no1mad 

That's for the III- the II is 900 lumens. They've got a II in red on close-out for ~$90 for the full kit. It sucks being poor ...

Easy Peasy

I'm interested in the 250 Cygolite. I've got Crowbar handlebars on my MTB that are about 2.2 cm in width. Do you think the light will mount will accomodate it? Does it come with shims? Thanks.

RobCG

My bar is a Crowbar as well, and yes, shims are included with the light and I did have to use them.

Cheshire

Any opinions of the PlanetBike's Blaze 2W?

MijnWraak

MagicShine MJ-816

ThermionicScott 

I like the Serfas 250 lumen model. Bright enough for my needs (I often use it at lower brightnesses) and decent battery life.

stdlrf11

I like it.

I use it with a MagicShine. On the road, the MS stays on Med and the Blaze stays on flash.

When I get to the MUP, I turn off the MS and put the Blaze on high. It lights up the path well.

For the road, it doesn't seem like enough for me to see by. But then again I'm spoiled by the MS.

bikegeek57

Read a few of the Magicshine reviews..... there is a recall for the Magicshine MJ816? Due to QC problems at factory?

andychrist

MagicShine themselves rate their 900 lumen lamps at 600 lumens, guess they run them lower because the circuit board cannot handle the full load? I just received my MJ-816, the one with the supposedly 900 lamp between two 250 lumen "mickey mouse ears." Also ordered a Cygolite Expillion 350 from another vendor (because their sale price of $86 put it below that of the 200 lumen model) but USPS effed up and sent it back as undeliverable at my address. Called the local PO and it seems they had "mis-scanned" the item, what ever the hell that means. If it ever arrives here I'll write up a comparison.

Sun's setting, going to test out the new MagicShines on the road. Gulp.

andychrist

Well after less than fifteen minutes of use from a full charge, the battery is down to 75%, according to the LED indicator on the control button. This from a light that is supposed to have a 2.5 hour runtime on high. And as the batteries are not supposed to be drawn down bellow around 20%, I'd be lucky to get 45 minutes use out of this thing on the highest setting. Bleh. Reminds me of the Sigma Pava I had, that was rated for an hour on high, but never gave me more than twenty minutes. Guess manufacturers feel confident in overstating run times by a factor of three? Gonna go test it now with just the side lamps, see how far I get.

rekmeyata

Amazon has the same light for $128.

rekmeyata

I have a Cygolite ExpiliOn 350 and you can get those on sale on Amazon as well for about $95. It's a great light, Cygolite has stopped making that particular one and up the lumen's to 400 but will cost $130. The ExpiliOn is a very well made light, they have a removable battery so you can replace it should the bat go bad, or have an extra ready to go while one is charging. They also came out with the Trion 600 but that beast is expensive. Cygolite's run time ratings are spot on, other brands except Cateye, will lie a bit to juice up the numbers, Cateye underestimates their run times.

boffenbec

I like it the planet bike website has a great demo shot https://planetbike.com/page/learn/lightfinder/ you'll have to switch the photo from the 10W to the 2W

rekmeyata

Also try this site, at least their not comparing just Planet bike products: https://www.modernbike.com/light-comp...singleshotplus

aboatguy

I have a blaze mounted on my bike opposite of my GEOMAN Magic Shine and they are not even in the same league.

If you need a see light skip the blaze.... you'll end up like me and have to buy a real see light anyway.

Mike

itsthewoo

I have a 300 lumen Cygolite model, and I absolutely love it. It's survived downpours and such and is very well-made.

Cyclaholic

Wow, those prices!.... they saw you guys coming (pun intended ).

I run one of these...


That's an XM-L T6 that's good for 1000 lumens at 3 amps if you drive it that hard, found here for 25 bucks. I run mine on the medium setting and it draws 1.2 amps (I tested it). It lights up the darkest unlit bike paths on a moonless night.

I mounted it on my bar with one of these for less than 4 bucks....



...they also have the 18650 batteries and chargers. I paid $14 per pair for these (3000 mAh)...



and the charger for $13.40...



With this option the OP can get fully kitted up with a serious amount of light plus a spare battery (>2 hours runtime per battery) for under $60 delivered.

For $90 you could get two flashlights and mounts, mount both on your bars and use them one after the other for more than 4 hours runtime without having to stop and change batteries.

hsh101

I used the 2W Blaze, and it does well enough for my commute on the MUP in total darkness. Definitely check out PB's website for the visual comparison of their products.