I don't doubt others have superior build and are maybe brighter, but for the price I don't get why folk would buy much else. I could have 4 of them on my handlebar for one 'premium' light... What am I missing?
Bike Forum
what's the catch with magic shine lights....?
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Posted 5 months ago #
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......What am I missing?
Nothing.
I think you summed it up quite well.
Posted 5 months ago # -
quality of battery and charger and ease of charging.
Beam quality.
clamp quality.
I have Lumicycle and magicshine - and the magicshine is good, but so is a £600 stumpjumper........so why ride anything else?Posted 5 months ago # -
Your not missing anything they are good and cheap
they may last for a few seasons they may nothave 2 just in case of a failure when out
I have had a few in bits and while they are not built like a rolls royce
they are not too shabby (sadly)I dont know how they do it for the price
does make me wonder why I do what I do
Posted 5 months ago # -
They're fine. I've been using mine for commuting daily for 2 years. That is a LOT of use. The only time I've had a problem is when I got the polarity of a dodgy homemade battery the wrong way round, which blew the board. Replacement $4 board from dx and back in business ...
I find the beam pattern spot on with the original 'bastid'.
If you need a glow ring for road use, the wee pot you get with Persil small n mighty clothes washing fluid works a treat if you cut the bottom off.
If you get the new waterproof battery version, you don't even have to gaffa the battery packs.
Posted 5 months ago # -
does make me wonder why I do what I do
because no matter how disposable and cheap things get, some people appreciate an artisan who gives a toss about what he does and the people he does it for.
Posted 5 months ago # -
the o-ring clamp isn't brilliant but a Hope one can be retro-fitted easily. Battery is a tad heavy...
Posted 5 months ago # -
Honestly a balanced opinion - read on.
Basically Magicshine clone (ish) euro / emerican designs - Lupine, Hope, etc etc. Thats good and bad I guess.
Over the last few years I've bought (for me and mates) SSC p7 torches (all lasted about as long as their price indicates), chargers (bought a fire extinguisher), batteries (saved up biscuit tins!). All tongue in cheek - honestly.
A year later Magicshine cloned the Lupine Tesla (the ssc p7 - known as the bastid). Fantasic for the cash. I still have and use 2. Regularily failed for simple reasons (if mine was anything to go by). Needed soldering iron and basic skills and a supply of cables and connectors to keep going. But still got me out of an evening for £50 and the occasional bodge through the worst winter ever (or the best one ever imo!).
A year later - 2011. A new breed - this time some seem to be copying brands like Hope and striking out on their own. Some reports of chargers burning. Quality improving, still reports of problems.
So - on balance - if I was a bit more cash rich - time poor - I'd buy a hope or whatever. But I aint. So I buy magicshines every year so far. And I love and recommend them.
The thing is - for me - I dont need many more lumens. I dont know what the magicshiners will do next year - probably more lumens - but I doubt I'll go and buy "more lumens".
Next winter I'll look at beam spread, run times, guarantees - or perhaps way way better - diy fixability / modability / reflecors / lenses / batteries....
Some folk may already be there. So that's kind of my point. I've gone from cheapest possible - to next year "I'll happily pay more for X,Y,Z".
Posted 5 months ago # -
Above post kinda sums them up,
Of course there is a lot of brand snobbery on here by a lot of folk for a lot of stuff, including lights,
i think there ace for the money, if they last just a year for £89 (872) then i am happy to spend that every year when the clocks go back...
£89 is at least the cost of a night on the razz in Edinburgh with a shared taxi home... so there well worth it
Posted 5 months ago # -
boxelder - Member
quality of battery and charger and ease of charging.
Beam quality.
clamp quality.None of these have proved true, for me. Possibly true of the cheaper ones but the higher end models like the MJ872 come with a different, seriously sealed battery pack and an upgraded charger. Not really sure what "ease of charging" means? You just plug them in.
Beam quality of the XMLs is, IMO, pretty awful. But the P7s were a match for Diablos etc, and the 872 is on a par with the equivalent exposure and hope lights.
The mounting is exactly copied from Lupine. For some reason, people who've paid £30 for a Magicshine complain about this, people who've paid £400 for a Wilma don't. Easily fixed if you don't like it- you can bolt on other clamps easily, and for the MS helmet clamp adding a wrap of some sort of grippy tape- masking tape, cloth tape- makes it rock solid.
I've said this before, but if the 872 had Hope written on the side people would fall over themselves to pay 3 times as much, and wouldn't look so hard for reasons to criticise either.
Posted 5 months ago # -
The mounting is exactly copied from Lupine. For some reason, people who've paid £30 for a Magicshine complain about this, people who've paid £400 for a Wilma don't.
I was a bit wary of the o-ring mount, but after a few weeks with it, tbh I've every confidence in it, seems pretty secure to me.Posted 5 months ago # -
It could be better, to be fair... Something like Exposure's brilliant helmet mount. But, it's effective.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Beware the batteries on the cheapest available MS lights. I have numerous MS lights, and the batteries on the cheaper ones dont hold a charge very well. I have had no issues with the lightheads themselves.
if you can afford the upgrade to the newer German batteries (Open Light Systems)they are IMHO worth it.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Dantsw13
Firstly, i'm a MS light user - have yet to expereince any problems with them, but it is my first winter with them
Thanks for the link to the Open Light System website
however, £80 to £120 for batteries to use on a £30 light seems a bit silly?
If i was gonna upgrade both mine with the best, then that'd be £240
I could buy myself a very nice premium light for that...
Posted 5 months ago # -
couldawouldashoulda has summed them up nicely.
I have three MS battery packs, the original from several years ago which is gaffa taped up, another unsealed one from last year, and a new 'waterproof' job. I also have three chargers (courtesy of having two bastids, and one dx rear light). They all work fine, even after continual commuting usage.
I had one charger give up the ghost, not blow up as some reports suggest, just stop charging. I have another two ...
The one thing with DX, is it can sometimes take a while for orders to go out - partic around Christmas, and if the goods are faulty outside 30 days return, its a fight to get replacement stuff. Not like many UK-based operations, though I've had fights with UK based peeps before too.
That said, all the bits are usually availibly very very cheaply, so you can fix yourself for minimal outlay.
If I had a spare £200--300 for some trout uber lights, I'd get some tomorrow. As it is, DX do the job well enough for the money, provided I give them some TLC.
Posted 5 months ago # -
in my experience there isn't one! although waiting 3-6 weeks for your order is a bit of a pain!
Posted 5 months ago #
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