I remembered seeing an ad for one online a long time ago and couldnt remember where so I went searching around Amazon and thishttps://www.amazon.com/MagicShine-MJ-808U-Bicycle-Improved-Battery/dp/B009GSLUR4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1355414533&sr=8-3&keywords=1100+lumen+bike+light was the best I could find out of all the cheap chinese lights claiming 4 digit lumens.

Have any of you used these and are they really any good at all? Still left wondering here whether to get that or the NightRider Minewt 600 lumen


https://www.amazon.com/MagicShine-MJ-...men+bike+light

Your link is flaky, but I'll end this thread right here and now. I still have my Geoman (no longer in business) 900 lumen Magicshine, and as long as you take care of your battery, it is a solid light. I paid $90 for it four years ago. I recently purchased through Amazon ($36) a similar, but more powerful 1,200 lumen lamp with battery. It works great. I also use the MiNewt 600, and it is now relegated to helmet duty on early commutes as the 1,200 lumen headlamp is remarkably bright.

Buy it, don't look back. There is no better $-per-lumen light out there.

Link not working?

45 day return policy.

https://www.fasttech.com/products/160...led-bike-light

That battery is a hazard. Mine came encased in plastic for a little more protection. Just shop around for one with a good battery solution as the lamps appear to be all the same.

yeah websites fault, easy to fix tho just put the colon after http when it comes up empty.

I must of got a lemon becasue mine crapped out after a few months.

How many hours are you getting out of that thing on Normal or Weak output (In areas that I'll be likely to ride, I don't think that I'll need 1200 Lumins)? I was looking at the Cygolight 300 (which is bright enough for my use), but 3-4 hours per charge is a bit of a turnoff. I do like the integrated form factor better, but it seems like it compromises runtime, 'specially with rechargeables, so the battery pack may be a necessary evil.

Bought two of these, one for me and one for Mrs. PJ. GREAT light. Have no regrets whatsoever. We ride early morning on MUPs that have no lights. No problems at all. We run them on medium. Never needed high.

https://www.action-led-lights.com/col...bike-light-set

My commute is 30-45 minutes in darkness, and I ran it even after I arrived at work for a total of 105 minutes on high. It also helps that I have two spare batteries (one original Magishine, one replacement). I do not ride paths in the dark as we have a lot of wildlife here, making streets actually safer. IMHO, one can never have too many lumens. The newest (1,200) dwarfs the supposed 900 Magishine.

How are you charging where it takes 3-4 hours? My newest battery pack takes about an hour and a half from dead to charged. The USB lights do not charge as quickly through USB/computer as they do through the wall outlet simply because there is less juice coming from your computer. You will forget about the battery pack after seeing the light :-)

have you tried the 1800 or 2000 lumen magicshine? those seem nice

I haven't bought it yet - the 3-4 hours that I cited is the manufacturer's claimed run time on a full battery. The recharge time is a claimed 4-5 hours via USB. I'm not so worried about the recharge time.

I have 2 years of hard use on a standard 900 lumen Magicshine. Long story short, I can't see any reason to buy anything else. It's inexpensive, durable, lasts for hours, bright as hell and has a nice beam pattern. It's great! At $90, when (if) this dies, I'll just buy a new one.

I've got the original MagicShine and have been happy with it. Tempted to get one of these new ones even though I don't need it.

FYI, I think it's good to have a second headlight as backup if you are doing real riding in the dark. I have a Terralux 300 flashlight strpped to the bars in case the magicShine dies mid-ride. The Terralux costs $30 or so and is a great household flashlight, but should cost less when you compare it to the above mentioned lights.

I would say they are pretty good, but QC has been spotty.

I agree that some manufacturers make more "solid" lights but you will end up paying 2 or 3 times as much per lumen.

Since LED lighting technology is changing so quickly, today's high-tech light may be almost obsolete in 2-3 years anyway, kinda like computers.

Therefore, I think going for a budget type light like MagicShine is best for most of us.

Long winded answer but I hope it helps.

+1 to above, for having a back-up flashlight or other light, just in case your main light dies or battery goes mid-ride

I have run one for years now. Does not get a whole lot of use, but has never had a problem one. It is the old 808 from Geoman as well. Bought it second hand from another member here. Lots of light, easy to install remove, etc. Helmet mount is a bit wonky, but that is just my opinion.

I have 2 of those 1200 lumen Magicshine knockoffs and they're great. I put one of my bars and one on my helmet for our weekly nighttime cyclocross ride and I have no complaints, even when riding tight single track after dark.

I've got two of them (900 L) that I got from Geoman - I have two of the redesigned (recall replacement) battery and one of a 6 Ah swiss or german battery. I've used them a lot for commuting, and took them on the FC508 twice (once riding, once crewing). You get about 2 hours on high (really bright) and 6-7 hours on low. I've had more reliability problems with Nightrider lights (connectors and switches) than with the Magicshines, and the magicshines are brighter and had whiter light earlier than the Nightriders. My biggest complaint is that it's hard to find a car charger-- I did manage to find one and it seems to work well. I also have a Cygolight expilion 350 that I got to have something that's USB chargeable, but it's really more of a backup. It's really too bad that Geoman went out of business - they did a really good thing with the recall, and it unfortunately probably is what drove them under.

Just get an inverter for your cigarette lighter.

The pros: inexpensive, best lumens/$
The cons: cheap construction, poor beam pattern (for me)

The price is low enough so that you can buy a few of these for the cost of something nicer. I have one of the originals and though I've replaced the battery and eventually the whole thing with something with better waterproofing and a better (for me) beam pattern, I have no complaints. I keep the old light to loan out to others. To amplify, the beam pattern on these is quite diffuse, with a lot of light going out to the sides and up into space, and there is a gap in the middle distance where there is very little light (this might have been fixed on later models). On the other hand, it is very bright for the money and hard to resist for that reason.

I bought the Amazon 1,200 lumen one because I lost my charger. For an additional $20, got the lamp and new o-rings Now I roll with 2,100 up front and 600 on the helmet. Think Close Encounters.

I have one-- they're noisy and it's silly to add the inefficiency of converting twice, especially when you're plugging in multiple things. I did manage to find one and it's working fine. There's even one available from someone on Amazon now.

When we were trying to use the outlets built into a rented minivan there was no indicator of whether the outlets were supplying power or not. The magicshine AC chargers have a "feature" of lighting up the charger light in green when the charger isn't connected to AC. So if the outlet isn't supplying AC, the charger tells you the battery is charged. With the one that plugs directly into the lighter it's got a more obvious indicator whether it's powered or not.

I don't see how that Magicshine clone on Amazon for $36 can be beat. It's that good. Even if the QC is a total fail and you get 2 dead units out of 3 (highly unlikely), you'll STILL come out nearly 50% cheaper than the nearest comparable competitor.

I've been running the '900 lumen' (really closer to 500 - still dang bright) for the last 2 years and it's been perfect. Nothing glitchy about it. The battery runs a legit 3 hours on max mode, bulb doesn't get hot, and charges in a good reasonable time and is still going strong after 2 years. While there are a lot of other choices out nowadays, at $36, you really cannot beat this light.

My latest escapade has been using the headstrap that's an option for the light (cheesily labeled "HIGH-POWERED HEADLAMP, duh!) for running. I throw the battery pack into the small pocket of a Camelbak, and strap the thing to my head on my 5AM runs where nobody's in sight. It's friggin' awesome. The only caveat is that it's SO bright that I wouldn't use it at like 6PM where you encounter lots of other cars and even some other pedestrians - the light is simply too blinding when viewed head-on. (A good thing if you want lighting power, though.) For my AM runs though, it's made it downright luxurious to run down otherwise scarily pitch-black unlit streets and trails.

Been running a 900lumen MS for a couple of years with no problem. Good solid handlebar light for proper dark rides - I pair it with a dinotte 200L on my helmet for helping visibility through the twisties. Very good value IMO.

For the price the Magicshine is a great value. I've been using one for the past 3 years and aside from having to replace the battery after a recall it's been a very handy light to have. I use it pretty much 4-5 days a week for about 1.5 - 2 hours. I ride through sections that are poorly lit so it really helps me ride at a decent pace since the road is well illuminated with the Magicshine and Serfas True 500 light.