A Most Excellent Light Test

mattsaw

I noticed this, what a great idea!

http://road.cc/content/news/69237-big-roadcc-lights-test-2012

Impressive stats from the Magicshine at a decent price point

Kieran_Burns

Wanders off to buy a Magicshine...

rubertoe

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Wanders off to buy a Magicshine...

I don't need a Magicshine, totally urban commute you see, I am gonna get one though...

Kieran_Burns

rubertoe wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Wanders off to buy a Magicshine...

I don't need a Magicshine, totally urban commute you see, I am gonna get one though...

I do.

Well. I don't.

I have a Vision 2 and a Vision 1 at the moment but it can be dark as a coal 'ole picnic on the way home in places.

Just trying to find the best deal / battery combo

Agent57

I've got one of those MagicShines. Too bright for town use; but I have it illuminating the ground in front of me quite well.

asprilla

/Pats Exposure Strada lovingly....

DrLex

Pretty sure they did one last year or at the start of this year.

Agent57 wrote:

I've got one of those MagicShines. Too bright for town use; but I have it illuminating the ground in front of me quite well.

Ditto, although the £30 DX-knockoff & I point it down at the wheel, putting it on strobe when negotiating roundabouts/busy junctions to minimise the SMIDSY risk.

meanredspider

Shame the Ayup (which figured very well in the test published on BR) isn't included. Back to using mine and, tonight, in the pitch black and pouring rain, it was great

pastey_boy

I've just bought the Electron Terra 3, £110 from Merlin. Absolutely superb all in one unit, similar output to the Exposure Strada but better runtime and nearly half the rrp price. It came with a smart charger and was nicely packaged. Seems very made and the mount is solid and quick to fit. Highly recommended.

asprilla

pastey_boy wrote:

I've just bought the Electron Terra 3, £110 from Merlin. Absolutely superb all in one unit, similar output to the Exposure Strada but better runtime and nearly half the rrp price. It came with a smart charger and was nicely packaged. Seems very made and the mount is solid and quick to fit. Highly recommended.

Erm, 9hrs for the Terra 3 vs 10hrs for the Strada.

pastey_boy

Asprilla wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

I've just bought the Electron Terra 3, £110 from Merlin. Absolutely superb all in one unit, similar output to the Exposure Strada but better runtime and nearly half the rrp price. It came with a smart charger and was nicely packaged. Seems very made and the mount is solid and quick to fit. Highly recommended.

Erm, 9hrs for the Terra 3 vs 10hrs for the Strada.

Erm,I meant on full power (800 lumens) Strada just about manages 3 hrs, Terra 3 nearly 4. The lower settings will have different output levels and so will differ.

asprilla

Electron say 3 hrs on their site, don't they?

Must admit I've got mk3 Strada which is only 645 lumen and I can't see why you would need the 800 the new version gives. I dip it when anyone is coming the other way for fear of blinding them.

Just got my Joystick today and I'm liking the OMS function they've introduced this year. It lets you select different combinations of what constitutes High and Low so you can set the max at 50% of the available and the min at 20% if that's all you need and the burn time extends / contracts accordingly.

pastey_boy

Had just under 4 hrs before I needed to recharge so very impressed although it is heavier than the Strada. The Electrons mid 500 lumen setting seems more than plenty tbh although there is a stretch of very dark unlit road near me where the full setting came in handy. I know the Exposure lights are beautifully engineered high quality items but Electron have really stepped up their game with this light, glad I took a punt.

vermin

So helpful for new commuters, it arguably deserves a sticky on this thread. Don't you think?

Happy with my XPower 500.

rick_chasey

vermin wrote:

So helpful for new commuters, it arguably deserves a sticky on this thread. Don't you think?

Happy with my XPower 500.

So good it might be moved to commuter general you mean.

notsoblue

What a brilliant article. No Ayups though, shame.

Sharkyssurfers

my magicshine is the 2000 lumens job great on country roads, this moring so daft idiot thought my light was too bright on 3rd highest setting, so put their lights on full beam, so i did the same back, 2 secs later car turned theirs off, i win

mudcow007

ive got the moon X300 - the same as on test an have found it pretty good

im getting another Magicshine though, part of my commute is a disused railway line an is freaking scary in the pitch black

i broke two magicshines last year hopefully 3rd time lucky?

davis

Great way to compare lights. I've got a v1 Exposure Strada and it's still going strong, but I'm struggling to come up with the money for a brighter one (commute's changed a bit, and I definitely want more light).

bails87

mudcow: Get a proper Magicshine, not the £30 clone of a MS, they're much better built.

UndercoverElephant

Interesting, but a bit skewed towards raw power. The less powerful version of my dynamo light is on there, which, when angled correctly illuminates the whole road evenly, without a bright spot to spoil your vision of the rest of the road, or spilling into oncoming drivers' eyes. My magic shine isn't as good on the road, by a long way, because by the time it's pointed downwards enough to not be obnoxious, all I can see is the spot 5 feet in front of me.

gbsahne001

I like the new MiNewt 500 however my current set up is pretty good, evidenced by the cars dipping their headlights for me last night.

lostboysaint

Hmm, disappointed that the previously highly-scored Four4ths aren't in there. I really like my original one (now the Exodus) and the low setting is perfect for urban commute and the high setting excellent for trail/country roads.

mattsaw

bails87 wrote:

mudcow: Get a proper Magicshine, not the £30 clone of a MS, they're much better built.

This. I used to go through a new set of lights every winter, because the build quality is generally crap. Two years ago I bought my magicshine, and with the exception of a lost charger and a broken clip due to some overzealous tightening its as good as the day I bought it.

I also learn to appreciate cars thinking you'e much bigger than you are and giving you the space they would afford other cars and motorbikes. It's quite refreshing until spring comes.

thegibdog

pastey_boy wrote:

on full power (800 lumens) Strada just about manages 3 hrs, Terra 3 nearly 4. The lower settings will have different output levels and so will differ.

Any idea of the runtime for the Terra 3 on the 500 lumens setting?

supersonic

My £30 MS 'clone' is superbly built. I guess they must vary.

fossyant

You can also get a wide angle filter lense for the Magicshine, this spreads the light pattern out sideways. Cost £5.

The magicshine isn't great on roads as the light goes every where, so can dazzle. The wide angle lense reduces this.

Kieran_Burns

My 808e turned up this morning. I'd be interested in getting the filter....

(only ordered it yesterday I was very impressed with the speed it turned up!)

cyberknight

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Wanders off to buy a Magicshine...

beat me to it
You know the roads i ride and i definetly need a MS, its amazing that every year the mags trot off very similar articles and never review the MS/xml t6 clones .
I have just started using my MS again on my unlit country lane commute , it was a bit dark at 5 am this morning and TBH the cars i saw did not flash me to "dip " like they do when they think a vehicles beam is dazzling .I have the beam pointed down slightky to illuminate the road so that the hotspot is far enough in front of the front wheel to see properly and the overspill covers enough road without blinding other road users.
I know the MS 900 lumen really comes out at about 600 lumens but according to goolgle a dipped car beam comes in at 900 lumen approx so they have no grounds to complain if angled right.

supersonic

What Mountain Bike just did a summary/short test of 18 lamps. The MS880 won ;-)

meanredspider

supersonic wrote:

What Mountain Bike just did a summary/short test of 18 lamps. The MS880 won ;-)

Is that different from the MJ-880 that BR seemed to score evenly with the Gemini and Ayup lights?