Bike lights Vs Camera

_Ferret_

I am seriously thinking about getting some decent lights this year and was looking forward to the MBUK reviews, til I checked out the price!
good lights would set me back about 200-250 pounds. Then I started thinking that for that money I could probably get a decent helmet cam and take some cool footage.

My dilema is:
Which one to choose?
Which lights would be decent enough to hack around in through winter?
Which camera would take good footage?
Which would give me more fun for my money?
Which would you choose?

alfablue

Ferret. your dilemma can be resolved by reading the What Lights thread and discovering that a Magicshine or other P7 light will equal or beat the performance of most £250 bike lights for 20% of the cost.

_Ferret_

Interesting thread. Seems I could get a cheaper option on the go using these LEDs and a DIY solution but is that the way to go?
I mean - If I have lights, that's great, but none of my mates have them. If I had a camera we could share our falls and mess ups and have a laugh, no?

Does everyone do the DIY light solution?

alfablue

_Ferret_ wrote:

Interesting thread. Seems I could get a cheaper option on the go using these LEDs and a DIY solution but is that the way to go?
I mean - If I have lights, that's great, but none of my mates have them. If I had a camera we could share our falls and mess ups and have a laugh, no?

Does everyone do the DIY light solution?

I get the imnpression that most people are opting for the MTE P7 torches, or the Magicshine Bike Light - I think you wold be very hard pressed to beat the price/performance of the Magicshine even with a DIY build, in fact, the Magicshine housing is cheap, pretty much ideal, comes with battery, charger, mount and LED, can't see the point in DIY now.

.blitz

As above, the lights win every time. Helmet cam yawn...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

cat_with_no_tail

Magicshine from DX £50
Go-pro Wide £150-£200

Job done!

Not a fan of the helmet mount myself, or the bar mount. Chest or frame mount FTW!

Or you could save a bit longer and go for the Go-Pro HD.

(I dont have much experience with cameras so I only suggested the Go-pro because it seems popular)

big_scot_nanny

_Ferret_ wrote:

I mean - If I have lights, that's great, but none of my mates have them. If I had a camera we could share our falls and mess ups and have a laugh, no?

Does everyone do the DIY light solution?

Does not have to be DIY at all.

Ferret, I bought the magicshine and a C1 for the helmet based entirely on the adivce of that thread, to give it a bash, had always wanted to try it and at that price it would be crazy not to. They are amazing. Works great. Only DIY invovled was tieing the C1 to the helmet (zip ties did the job!), the magicshine is awesome in its performance and simplicity. :!:

So, to your other point about none of your mates having them... get them to come out with you with your new magicshine and they will want to get their own as it opens up a lot more riding options in winter. That's waht happened to me, 2 mates were immediately sent the link to DX from me, so we now have a night time riding crew. Wicked!

Oh yeah, and my boy still thinks the coolest thing he's seen in years was when we tried out the magicshine from the back veranda for the first time and completely lit up the neighbourhood. Both of us just said... 'wow'. 8)

Always good to impress your kids!

Kev

PS I don't wnat to overstate my case too much, but I was like you thinking how friggin expensive lights were and I have wanted them for YEARS, but the cost was so prohibitive. 80CHF handlebar light and a 18CHF headtorch and I'm riding my night time trails with my pals having a right old laugh. Wonderful!