himespau 

So I'm interested in seriously increasing my front lighting and it seems that the magicshine is a popular option. Two main sources I see are deal extreme and geoman. It appears as though the same light costs about $30 more at geoman. Is this due to a superior battery (and if so is it really that much better) or something else the leal extreme light doesn't have, or is deal extreme just able to offer a lower price for essentially the same product? Alternatively, is there a better/more reliable light available from somewhere at a similar price point?

tligman

I bought mine at ediscountbikes...

seeker333

I bought my first MS light from Geoman in 2009.

I bought my second MS light from Nova Bike Lights in 2010. This guy has sold thousands of MS lights and is 2nd only to Geoman in terms of US sales, but easily their equal in Customer Service. It seems to be a one man operation and he takes your business seriously. He seems to sell exclusively on eBay, since 2009 when MS lights first became available.

https://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-IMPROVED-MAG...item4154409455

DealExtreme (DX) will almost always have the lower price. If you don't a. mind waiting for weeks to months with no real idea when (or even if) you'll get your order, and b. buying from a rinky-dink outfit in mainland China, where you'll never get your money back if dissatisfied, and c. all other considerations are secondary to cost, then choose DX. I've bought from DX - they treated me fine first order, bad on the second order, then simply ripped me off the third time, by sending me a totally defective item, to replace a partly defective item from the second order.

This is not an unusual shopping experience for DX. That's why people in USA will often opt (afterwards) to pay more from a reputable seller. Geoman and Nova are both reputable MS sellers.

A third seller from Canada, new at MS sales as of 2011, is Gemini, with their Titan light. It's essentially the standard MS900 type light with a slightly bigger battery (4h vs 3h) at higher cost. There's a review of this light here in this forum by colleen, search for it.

https://gemini-lights.com/

davidad

If you go for the DX get the newest one with the XM-L LED. From what I have read here Geoman has better customer service.
You can get replacements from DX, in your lifetime, maybe. I have had fairly good luck with their flashlights.

ItsJustMe

Back when there only WAS one model, so we were sure they were both selling the same product, the difference was only about $5. So if the difference is currently $30, I'd feel safe in assuming that GeoMan had something else going on, probably better batteries.

However, note that there ARE a bunch of different models at this point, possibly as many as 5 or 6, I don't know.

The new ones from DX look like they at least have a better battery wrapper, though there's no reason they can't put crappy cells inside a nice case, so you never really know.

himespau 

Are the lights (assuming I go front and rear) easy to remove daily? I have to lock my bike outside at work and in a secured garage at home, so I wouldn't want to be leaving them on the bike all the time. Would that be a vote for helmet mounting them instead?

rumrunn6

love my Magicshine bought from Geoman. love the customer service too. go with the realdeal

ItsJustMe

It takes 2 seconds to put the light itself on or off. The battery pack as ships is velcro. Shouldn't be too bad, depending on how you run your wiring. My wiring is taped to my frame, with the battery in the pannier in the back so it would take me a couple of minutes to get it off and I'd need new tape or zip ties to put it back on, but if I had to put it on and off all the time I'd go back to hanging the battery under the stem.

sac02

Where do you see that, I can't find it? Got a SKU? [edit - nevermind, I found it. Can't search "magicshine" and find it. SKU 57100]

Does any US dealer have the XM-L version?

seeker333

I can see better with mine on the handlebar instead of helmet. I'd rather be able to see better - the removal effort/time is trivial, as already mentioned.

Go to the first link in post #3.

I asked the same question of this seller two weeks ago. Jim said he would have some in his next order, and that MS had more changes coming, but didn't specify.

I suspect he will evaluate the new MS products, then decide what is best for his business, and eventually you'll see them for sale on ebay, or via Geoman.

You can email him at the ebay ad via the "ask a question" link at the bottom of the page.

himespau 

I wonder if it's better to wait for those changes or if they just mean higher prices and if it'd be better to order now.

Anybody know how long the regular cables attached to the light and the extension cable are? I didn't see specs for either anywhere and, since I only have one bike for commuting and recreational riding, I was thinking of leaving the battery pack in my pannier when I commute early mornings and running the y cable up to the rear light on my seatpost and having the extension cable zip tied to my top tube and then running the headlight from that.

That way when I just want to go for a ride to get some miles in all that's attached to my bike is the extension cord that I can plug into easily on both ends when I need to use it for lighting. Would that work?

Alternatively, I could just do without the rear light as I already have a radbot 1000 on my fender, a superflash on my helmet (not sure I want to keep it there as it blocks up 2 holes the way I have it zip tied now) and another on my seatpack (but often just throw the whole pack in a pannier when commuting so there's one less thing to take off my bike when I get to work, so this often isn't there unless I put the seatpost mount back on), but the 3W magicshine light appears to be more powerful than all these combined and 2 of these aren't the most conveniently located at the moment as I note above.

C.E.P.

Just to let you know, I'll be getting in the XM-L head only in stock maybe by the end of the week.
Chris

C.E.P.

You can look into the FEREI lights.

himespau 

chris, what's your site?

socalrider

Yes I ride down to SD a couple times a year, usually go from Fullerton or Anaheim down to Del Mar..

C.E.P.

Wow, how many miles is that?

C.E.P.

Let me know what model you want to know more about and I can give you the specs.
Chris

socalrider

That ride is 90-110 miles depending on where we start and if we tackle torrey pines at the end of the ride.. Let me know when you get the XML's in stock??

C.E.P.

I got them in.

Richard Cranium

Do you know which color? Neutral? Or Cool?

Can you spec a light head on high with a fresh battery?

If it is really as efficient as they say - you should see ~8V at 1.25A or some combination thereof. (10 watts)

My tests of DealX and Geoman light heads varied between 10.5 and 11.5 watts. Dealx heads ran hotter.

CbadRider

Just a reminder that advertising items for sale in the regular forums is not allowed. We have a Marketplace forum for sale transactions.

himespau 

I think the line between an informed discussion and making deals on the thread is safely far away at the moment (just my opinion), but that's a good thing to remember. I do miss the days when we had more vendors on the site and we could ask the bikesdirect chap (for example, never did end up buying from him) questions about their product directly before buying on their websites. That was an easy way to get technical questions cleared up so you were sure of what you were buying.

socalrider

While I agree with what is being said above, I personally would rather deal with a seller who is 100 miles away from me than Deal Extreme..

RT

Despite the battery SNAFU and the epic wait time for battery replacement, GeoMan's service is excellent. Quick response, honest and up-front.

PinkFloyd

Recently picked up the MS MJ-836 on eBay (U.S. seller, custom_paintings) for $62.55 shipped.

So far, I'm very pleased. Heckuva light for under $65.