Magicshine MJ-816 LED front light

Hi, I was thinking of getting one of these.

Looking to start biking into work on a decent old MTB I bought about 10 years ago second hand but never used yet in darkness. Part of my route will be on road, part on unlit cycle path (old railway). Any ideas if this is suitable for this job or any suggestions of something else suitable?
Thanks

the visibility of the light - or over visibility - is really dependent on lighting in the surrounding environment, I think you just have to have some sensitivity and adjust light accordingly. I've met cyclists on a poorly lit path section of my commute with their lamps blazing and had to ask them to dip them, I think they just hadn't thought about it but it could actually be quite intimidating for pedestrians. The same lights passed on a lit road wouldn't be an issue.

I've been using the single lamp magicshine for a few weeks now and have found that medium and low settings are more than adequate for most of my commute, just turning it up to full blast on some pitch black shortcuts. The flash mode is pretty useless ...---... but I switch it on to strobe 'rave' mode on a couple of dodgy junctions, just to maximise visibility, then back down once past.

I've also got the rear magicshine light which is bright enough to compete with car brake lights and has reasonable rear / side visibility. It's only really let down by the flash modes which have long pauses between groups of flashes, I'd rather it flashed slower but more regularly

I bought an SSC P7 front light (claimed 900 lumens) via Ebay from Hong Kong and took it on its first ride last night. I have to say it was incredible.

It's dimmable for when there are oncoming traffic issues but the full beam allowed me to ride on dark (and snowy) roads with far more confidence and I genuinely believe improved safety. I could see every pothole and icy patch and could be sure traffic could see me. Every oncoming vehicle on the 10 mile ride last night dipped their full beams which is almost unheard of.

I have a little back up light in my camelbak in case of problems, and based on the price I paid if this P7 unit only lasts one winter it was around 10% of the cost of a fancy UK made unit and that included the charger, handlebar bracket, Li-ion battery and postage. I'll buy another and still be quids in. In fact I might buy another anyway - 1800 lumens?!! Bonkers!!

IME modern LED lights make night riding a safe proposition - most of my riding is on narrow unlit roads and knowing that at least approaching traffic will slow down rather than attempt to smear me against any tree / wall / hedge - it also stops approaching cars putting their lights on fullbeam - a big bonus IMO.

I have this light, and have been using it for about 2 months, bought it via dealextreme.com

The problems I've had so far are the following:

1. The charger made a loud click and stopped working the second time it was used. On further inspection something in side of it had burned. - had to buy another charger.

2. The battery does not have the 2.5 hours burntime on max, probably closer to 1.45 hrs.

3. The unit leaks water in very wet conditions - I found two leaking spots, one where the "ears" are connected (wiring) to the main module, the other spot was where the glass is fastened, it was not tight enough. fixed both with some silicone.

4. There is a screw in the mount (where it connects to the light) that got loose, and my light popped of the handlebar. I managed to fix that also.

Still... I really enjoy this light, it's really bright and useful, and good in the winter nights here in Iceland. The alternative is the Light and motion Seca1400, which is more than 4 times the price. I'm just hoping I'll not have any more issues.

I ride 40 miles a day, every working day and use an Exposure Joystick.

I'd like a little more light but I will wait until I can afford another Exposure light - the reliability and convenience of the single light/battery unit is not something I am willing to give up purely for more bang per buck.

As the owner of Magicshine UK who supplied these lights it's interesting to read all these comments. Please remember that the command switch allows you to dim the lights, in whatever mode you've set them to, steplessly. This means you can easily dim them if you think they're too bright and turn them up when you need more light. This option gives you the best of both worlds!

I'm lucky enough to not pay for my lighting so perhaps skews my few. Basically I am of the opinion that the risk you take with lights from a cheap or non bike specific set up in terms of failure when out is not worth it.

The output will be great but the quality of manufacture at key points like the wire entrance and exits and quality of the sealing makes me nervous. As well as the quality of the battery and design of the driver

When the P7 generation of lights launched Planet X started shipping out P7 driven kits super cheap. At the time I was working for a reputable lighting brand. At a 24hr mtb race on the light charge stand one of the guys from planet X walks in during the darkest hours. He had a sainsburys bag full of batteries, cables, chargers and lights and says "can you sort this out none of it seems to work"

Cheeky at best I thought given he was under cutting the brand I was working for with clearly crap products which couldn't last one race. I dont think the team finished the race........

£300 investment for 2-3 seasons of winter training and summer racing seems pretty good to me.

The guy who rides this Pugsley though seems to want 3,900 lumens - bonkers.

Similar arguments rage on motorcycle forums about the fitting of after-market HID conversions to headlights......as an individual people have to assess what lighting requirements suit their particular needs be it city riding or dark country lanes......commonsense dictates that you want to see and be seen but not go out of your way to p*ss off other road users.

If the lights are bright enough to dazzle motorists bear in mind that you could encounter a cyclist coming the other way and given the slower closing speed they could be staring at you headlight for a lot longer than an on-coming motorist.

These lights have been heavilly discussed over on STW, general consensus is the betteries are not waterproof and moisture will work its way in over time, frying the battery. The light itself is ok to use on the road in low mode but your no better than all those car drivers everyone complains about if your riding around with it on High, its just plain selfish and irresponsible.

I have a high powered dynamo light (about 400lumen) on my commute bike, like cars it has a reflector and i happilly whizz along at 20mph+ and see what is on the road. You are very visable with it too, even in the day light you can see the light very clearly.

On my cross/mtb's i use an exposure MaxxD (1000lumen on High) which fires light everywhere, even on high its not as good as the dynamo light for the road as light is just wasted. If there is traffic around i make sure it is on low as you can seriously dazzle a driver and lets face it, do you want a driver coming towards you that cant see?

Those of you complaining you need 4,000,000 lumen to see where you are going, get a grip! Buy a proper road light and you will be fine, ask all the audax crowd (who have been riding through the night since you were in daipers) what they use, using an offroad light on the road is a waste of time as the majority of the light is wasted.

And urban environments having a really bright light is just as important. If you have a low powered light no one notices you, your lost amongst a sea of other lights. I would rather a motorists think who is that a'hole with the bright light than not see me at all. It is akin to having your lights on when on the motorway if your the only car doing that, then you attract attention.

Handlebar cam is talking rot. I run 2x Dinotte and a fenix collectively putting out 600 lumens albeit not as effective as a single unit. And that only just provides enough light on the roads, you need more light for riding on the road than when off-road, as your light is consumed by dark country lanes no bounce back. Plus you are moving faster on road and when you fall it hurts a lot. I need to be able to see every pebble, leaf, branch, I need to know if the black patch is ice, mud, a pothole or water and what depth. To get that information you need a light that will illuminate as far up the road as possible. A wrong decision on the road could cost you your life, imagaine moving down a country lane at 25 or 30 mph with a car driver only a few meteres behind, get that pothole wrong and that car will drive right over you and probably not stop. My research shows that the average car beam is around 1500 lumens, so even the best lights are only matching that. It is just that bike lights are more focused. Sorry if I offend car drivers and when possible I will dim my beam, but getting home alive is first priority.

okay they're bright lights hbc, but let's not pretend that they're the equivalent of car headlights on full beam because they ain't. okay you might get an eyeful of direct beam every now and then if you're in a car, i bet it's no worse than those new prismatic headlights that seem to be everywhere these days and are *much* brighter than normal halogen ones.

I use a big light at night (not this one). Cars stop at junctions, rather than pulling out into me, because they're not sure what I am. that, as far as I'm concerned, is A Good Thing.

there have been some issues lately with the Magic Shine batteries. have these already been sorted out?

"RECALL: Geoman Gear / MAGIC SHINE Battery, STOP USING THIS BATTERY"
http://www.nycc.org/node/48439

Golly the nasty lights might "annoy" some poor motorist and make them pull over and give me some room on an unlit country road, and the harm there would be?

Put me down for a set Santa!

Quote:

Near the performance of car headlights, I felt hugely confident in the bends, grit and mud, 3 cars coming towards me pulled over and stopped, probably thinking what on earth it was coming at them.

Only a cretin rides on the roads with three massively powerful off-road lights, so loosely attached to their bars that they cannot control where they are pointed. The output may be near the performance of car headlights, but car headlights have a cut-off to direct most of that light on the road, below the horizon. This sort of bike light is intended for singletrack off-road riding, where you need to illuminate low-hanging tree branches and the like. You boast of forcing cars to pull over. I think most cyclists who ride at night have experienced encountering jerks who drive at your with their full beams on, not knowing or caring that cyclists can be dazzled by their lights, making it impossible to see where you are in relation to the verge. Several times, on narrow roads, I have had to stop, blocking the road until the moron realised they had to dip their lights. These bike lights have no dip-switch. Even at half their maximum brightness they are probably still extremely annoying. Starting a arms-race with the more irresponsible section of the motoring public is not the solution. For on-road-riding on dark country lanes you do not need anything more powerful than the excellent Niterider Minewt Mini USB, which I bought a year ago on a recommendation from this web site, and use it pointing down with a newly purchased Cateye EL-340 (previosuly an EL-500) pointed slightly higher but still below the horizon. I can still ride 20 mph with that set up, and have done so for years on similarly long and rural commutes to yours. Advocating the sort of "I'm all right Jack" attitude that this article contains is irresponsible.