Looking to get a new light
 

Hey guys,

I'm looking to pick up a new night riding light. Something that will last me at least 3 hours. My old light isn't cutting it anymore and I'm seeing more and more affordable solutions out there.

One light that interests me is the Gemini Titan for $110USD.

I read Colleen's in depth review against the Magicshine somewhere on the forums. Okay I will provide the link :rolleyes: here.

Anyone have experience with this light? I was thinking about just getting a Magicshine too, but would like to try out this company.

Josh

Or if somebody has other suggestions, I'm all ears! Happy riding.

From the looks of it, the Gemini Titan is the same thing as the MagicShine. Not exactly, but it looks like it could be just another generation of MagicShine light. Maybe it's a MS with slightly upgraded components.

FWIW, the only problem I've ever had with my MagicShine is that the wire tends to fray at the connector where I unplug it every day. After about 4 months it's really frayed so I replace it. Replacement cables are about $3 each from DealExtreme, so if I replace them every 4 months, say twice a year given that I don't really use the light in the summer, after 10 or 15 years I'll have almost made up the difference in cables to the next most expensive light.

Actually I put a new cable on just last week, and I am trying out a new strain relief; I split a 2" length of 3/8" plastic hose, put it around the connector and filled it with epoxy. It seems solid as a rock now, we'll see how well it lasts.

Personally if I JUST wanted a headlight, I'd just get a flashlight. My P7 flashlight works fine. I like the MagicShine because I also use their taillight and I really feel that such a light is necessary for me on my commute - 50 to 70 MPH cars on 2 lane roads, no shoulders and all weather conditions. The MS tail is $30.

I ride with the P7 flashlight on the bar next to the MagicShine, but I only use it when the MS fails. That's only happened once in the last 6 months or so, when I forgot to charge the battery.

Thanks for your input.

I'm a little concerned about the tint of the light and the brightness. From the tests conducted in the review above, it seems that the Gemini Titan is much brighter.

Also it comes with a one year warranty.

Do you carry some extra batteries for the flashlight? I think the flashlight is a great idea, but just need more runtime.

http://harriscyclery.net/product/bus...eries-2692.htm

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...-power-web.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...eenShot017.jpg

I just received a new MS900 with a Geoman battery. The tint difference is still there with the MS light. On all fairness you probably won't notice it unless you have another light that has a cooler tint. That's pretty much what happened to me. I rode several months on the MS and it was fine until I got some thrower flashlight with the SST-50 LED and that's when I saw the color difference.

The new battery pack casing is very nice however I am having an issue with the battery and will be contacting Geoman for a replacement. It too early to go into detail yet until they determine the cause.

Your will have to decide on several things like the tint, the slightly better throw of the Titan, the extra hour runtime, the blink mode, the non return policy from Gemini (unless they changed that), the price difference, and Geoman great customer service.

If you decide on flashlight, keep in mind that the beam pattern and overall light lumen can be different. I've gone through several different model of flashlight and yet found any single flashlight that can be used stand alone that can equal a single MS or Titan. Usualy I found myself having to use two flashlight to get the beam pattern or the lumen I need.

I'm not sure who you're asking. As for me, yes, I carry a couple spare batteries, but I've never had to use them. I get about an hour on high, about 1:45 on medium. I'm on medium most of the time. I have a 45 to 50 minute commute, so I could probably go two days on a single cell but I generally swap out nightly, it's easier on the cells.

check this out...http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808e...-4x18650-57100

Get the same for a few more $$ from a us based seller and Bfer

http://bikeempowerment.com/Magicshine.html

wow, wish I'd known about them when I bought my magicshine last month. Not to derail the thread, but is the MS light head supposed to get quite hot when it's running? Mine does and I was wondering if something was wrong.

It should only be warm to the touch when riding at night, it should not be hot..

It'll be fairly hot if you turn it on and let it run while stationary. Probably not scorching hot but pretty hot. If you keep moving, it should only be warm. I mainly run mine when it's below freezing out so I don't know how hot it would get in the summer at night.

ok, was just trying it out in my apartment and it was quite hot. hopefully it'll be better while riding. thanks.

Yeah, it'll get quite hot in that situation. I did runtime tests at home but I pointed a fan at it. Most high power lights should not be run without airflow.

Actually - feeling the heat is a good thing. I'm just wondering what that particular light is drawing current-wise.

I've seen Dealx MS900 draw 1.65A and the plug in geoman's version and see it draw 1.45 off the same battery just a few seconds later.

More than one watt and at least 100 lumen difference! Who knows? One thing for sure, the new MS geo version does indeed have thermal-based current limiting -already have seen it work. Just wondering what might happen on a hot summer night - riding when its already 90F.......

I've often ridden at night >90F, and MS is barely warm to touch if you're moving >10mph. Only gets hot if you leave it sitting still for >10min.

Like ItsJustMe said, you need fan cooling to conduct battery runtime testing.

Please, do tell when you get it sorted out.

I'm waiting to receive my warranty battery, then I might buy a MS XML head and run 2 MSs.

I've had good luck with my MagicShine. Just finished second season (winter after-work rides) with it. I got something about the recall in the mail but haven't opened it yet.

I recently ordered 3 KD C8 Cree XML T6 from kaidomain for a friend. They're brighter than all the p7's I've seen, and more nicely built. The Trustfire True 2400mAh batteries are recommended with these flashlights, as some people reported the blue trustfires' protection kicks in when used in the KD C8.