My bastid light died last night, after 2 years of good use so I’m not too fussed.

as funds are quite short I’m considering buying another one, but there seem to three pretty similar ones , looking at the single bulb one.

Anyone got any recommendations about which of the three is best?

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ha-iii-ssc-p7-c-sxo-3-mode-900-lumen-led-bike-light-set-25149

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ha-iii-cree-ssc-p7-c-sxo-3-mode-900-lumen-led-headlamp-set-4-18650-included-29489

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808-ha-iii-ssc-p7-c-sxo-3-mode-900-lumen-led-bike-light-set-44459

they all look pretty similar – apart from unnecessary (to me) battery indicator and helmet mounts.

anyone got any experiences in use?

Cheers

The last one is the most recent model. Apparently the battery is improved and waterproof/water resistant.

Also check out lightandgo. They are doing 1100 lumens for £80

Can I have your dead one please 😉

I think the only difference between the first and the second is the inclusion of a headstrap, which you can ‘adapt’ to create a helmet mount. As above, the third one comes with the ‘improved’ battery in a weatherproof casing. That casing/battery though weighs half as much again as the standard battery pack.

I’ve just got one of these. The light is slightly larger that the bastid but seems to stay cooler. Nominally still 900 lumens but seems brighter than the others to me. The handlebar mount is a bit shonky. I’ve had to ‘mod’ mine and it’s OK now.

Spokeshirts do decent lights as well, bit more expensive though.

I’d be the last to diss the magicshine but when mine dies I’ll be looking to buy something next gen (as per Funkydunc), currently these are whats available – the fireball & foride (hopefully proper XML LED light will be out soon), this is what spokeshirts are selling when they have stock in.

Available from http://www.lightandgo.com/

Thread to prove they are shipping, even if the american tend to get spooked easily…
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=668083

I got a Light and Go Fireball a few weeks ago. It definitely worth the extra cost for the output. It is at least twice as bright as my Magicshine.

Neninja, those Light anbd Go lighst look very good to me, but I was wondering if the supplied charger works on UK voltage or not? 🙂

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PeterPoddy – did you get sorted for riding this weekend? Drop me an email if not, should be able to sort you out for a ride on Sat or Sun if not. If you could let me know ASAP though so I can dump arrange a babysitter for the kids 🙂

</hijack>

Yes charger works fine (well it has so far). You just need a US to UK plug/shaver plug which are cheap enough and available at pretty much any diy type store.

The light and go battery packs look like the older DX ones.

I emailed light and go asking them the difference in run time on the 4 & 6 cell batteries using the Fireball… Not had a response yet!

neninja – Just some q’s.

What run time are you getting out of the lights on full, and one down from full?

How long does it take to charge and does it get really hot charging?

Whats the build quality like compared to Magicshine?

hugo stiglitz
Can I have your dead one please

Damn, beat me to it. Anyone else got a dead one?

Woody – Still trying to sort something out…..

Neninja – Cheers, as I’d hoped 🙂

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I recently chucked a dead DX in the bin. Reading that the mounts fits the Light and Go lights, I’m already regretting that 🙁

Woody, YGM 🙂

FunkyDunc
Not done a ride longer than 1.5 hours with the Fireball but it’s still been going strong at the end of a ride using full power for most of the ride (using the 4 cell pack)
MTBR tested the Fireball and got 2 hours 20 mins on full power from it.

Not noticed the charger getting too hot when charging. After a ride it usually takes about 2 hours to full charge again.

It seems pretty decent quality – certainly for the price – was £85 delivered. Similar quality to the Magicshine I would say.

Thanks for all the advice

I’m not sure which bit of the DX light has failed, its between the battery and the charger I think, as when its plugged in the charger light goes green instantly.

The main reason for going DX again was to be able to reuse whatever components were still working as spares.

I’m hoping its the charger that has failed so that when I buy replacements I’ll have a spare light unit and battery.

It looks from the pics of the light and go site that they use the same cable fittings as the DX, can anyone confirm that?

Also the step up in lumens doesn’t interest me too mush as 900 seemed plenty with the DX

I would be interested in an improvement in run time and also weatherproofing

seems like the latest DX is the way to go there

My bastid light died last night, after 2 years of good use so I’m not too fussed.

Yep I’d agree, though I’ve had to replace the battery on mine (before I was aware of the new lights), £25 per year for a light set if amazing value IMO. Especially when your lupine/lumi/whatever would have lost a load more than that in depreciation & still been no better output wise (except the mega expensive ones which depreciate even more!).

The main reason for going DX again was to be able to reuse whatever components were still working as spares.

Come on you’ve said you’ve had you money’s worth, take the next step up & ask a couple of quid for your old battery/head/charger, from some one who want to play DIY with your dead unit.
I was initally non-plussed about the 1200 lumen light I added to my setup (Trout Mini) over the magicshine, but then started using it as a helmet light and the improvement is vast.

But whatever it’s your choice, I just know what I’d be doing 😉

DX do a seperate battery pack for around £19.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/4400mah-external-battery-pack-with-pouch-for-sku-29489-30864-4-18650-32756

I bought one recently and it is more waterproof than the orignals.
Andy

If you are interested in run time you would get something like 10 hours from a Fireball on low and about 5 or 6 hours on medium which is still much brighter than a Magicshine.

The connectors on the Fireball seem to be the same as for the Magicshine.

Why are people after the dead Dx’s ? Can they be easily upgraded to some thing more powerful?

ie if I buy one and it fails, would I then be able to mod it to some thing brighter still?

s’pose it cause they are cheap & plenty of them about to start messing around with DIY LED’s. I thought that getting an XML upgrade would be the option of choice, but Troutie seems to think it’s not…

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/anyone-upgraded-a-bastid-light
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=682652

Pity…

I’m building a dynamo powered light and prefer a round enclosure to the rectangular one most people use.

My DX light stopped working after about half an hour on monday which was poo because we had a decent turnout and it was a superb evening to go out.
I gave it to my brother to look at, he texted me earlier to say it was now working again, i will post further news on what was wrong when i see him and hopefully it will help people if they have trouble with theirs.

Why not just get one of the torches…me & a good few mates have found the 5-mode ones very reliable. At least there are no battery pack/charger bonfire issues.
And is that much of an inconvenience to swap a cell over after 1hr 15 mins ?

Curlie467 – that would be interesting – Cheers

Takisawa – can you post a link to the torches you’ve used? How easy are they to mount to the bars?

I have two of the torches & a Magicshine unit. Always found the torches to be very hard to mount stably, not so bad on the helmet but they wobble like hell on the bars (2fishlock block mount). I’m sure better mounts are available but the MS unit surpasses them IMO. If you went down the torch route I’d be looking at the newer XML torches rather than older P7

I have just bought one of the 5 mode torches with 2 batteries as back up to my Dx light. They look good, only got it today but rated at 900lumens so should be pretty good depending on the light spread.
About £38 i think so good value too!

Right, my Dx light has been brought back, the problem was a loose connection in the light unit, he has fixed it and it works a treat again!
I wander how many lights get binned for something so simple?
The reason the battery looked like it was dead (it didnt light up the voltage reading) was that the protection circuit was basically protecting it from the short circuit on the lighting unit!

I hope this helps some other people who might have thought about shelling out on a new unit when the current one could be repaired, there is bound to be someone you know or even someone through a friend who is good with electronics.

What’s the cleanest way to break open a DX light – I think they are glued.
My switch works about 1 in 20 times so I tend to persist then leave it on full beam all ride. I would like to see whether it is fixable / replaceable.

Spares you say?

my ‘new’ Betty after last nights over the bars rocks interface thingy… 😯

Ouch, lucky it isnt an expensive one!!

Random: not sure, i will ask him how he split it open.