Magicshine vs Exposure

[carlbiker]

Two decent brands, exposure has the battery integral which I like, magicshine needs a separate bank….

Exposure MaXx-D MK13 Front Light | Tredz Bikes £350 not cheap but for the 2500 lumens it does, EDIT just found it for £285

Magicshine 8000 - £220 on aliexpress, the best in class according to Best mountain bike lights 2021: 14 top-rated options for night riding

Have a scan through the slideshow on the lights, gives a good idea of how rubbish some lights really are…

Magicshine weights

3500
light 109g / 5200mah battery 274g

6500
Light 150g / 10,000mah battery 367g

8000
light 150 / 10,000mah 367g

exposure maxx-d mk13
Light 360g / 11,600mah

 

[Mteam]

Just get one of the 25 quid led lights from. Amazon or eBay, they're just as good where it counts and you can literally buy 10 of them for the price of one of those above.

Something like this will do the trick, get one on the bars, one on the helmet.

 

[L666GTB]

Trek Rail light

Is there a Trek (or any brand) light designed for our bikes? There is an additional wires in the down tube presumably for it, so am surprised they’re not promoting a light to plug in!

www.emtbforums.com

This thread above contains info about Exposure and Magicshine Ebike lights that wire directly into the motor and are powered by the battery.

 

[carlbiker]

Just get one of the 25 quid led lights from. Amazon or eBay, they're just as good where it counts and you can literally buy 10 of them for the price of one of those above.

Something like this will do the trick, get one on the bars, one on the helmet.

I should have added I already own an allty olight 1500, wasn’t enough on its own, tried a cheapo Amazon light too same thing. Not saying I couldn’t get used to it but I see now why people get proper ones

 

[Mteam]

I should have added I already own an allty olight 1500, wasn’t enough on its own, tried a cheapo Amazon light too same thing. Not saying I couldn’t get used to it but I see now why people get proper ones

No they're not enough on their own, that's why I said you need two, one on the bars one on the helmet.

 

[carlbiker]

I’ll consider, hard to ignore the extra you get from the night sun lights but not spunking cash can be nice…..also the bigger lights sound as though the head one isn’t needed as much

Id also seen this which doesn’t fall into the save the pennies territory but was interesting Exposure Flex E-MTB Front Light but no idea if it’s compatible with the rise or what max lumen output would be, you’d literally just leave it there most likely, weight next to nothing.

 

[B1rdie]

The magicshine separate battery setup allows you to place the light at the helmet and the power pack at the back pocket of a jersey so you releaf the helmet from that weight.

 

[RustyIron]

Two decent brands, exposure has the battery integral which I like, magicshine needs a separate bank….

Magicshine was the first low cost "import" brand that I used when they first started coming into the U.S. about fifteen years ago. They're a good light. But since those days, the Chinese have been making a LOT of lights at much lower prices I've used plenty, and it's not possible to figure out if one is going to be any better than the next. For starters, many look alike, but they're branded differently. If you find one you like today, it just might disappear next month.

My advice is to shop Amazon or Deal Extreme for something that LOOKS like something you want, has a luminosity that seems reasonable, and is cheap. Find your two favorite, and buy one of each. You NEED two lights.

You need one light on your helmet, so you can move your head around to illuminate wherever you need to see. The problem with only one light that is helmet-mounted, is that it's too close to your eyes, and you can't easily see the shadows of rocks, holes, and other trail features. Everything looks flat. You need another light on the bars to illuminate the trail in a way that will allow you to see shadows and trail features.

The last two lights that I bought were about $30 each, back in 2019. And as someone else mentioned, a remote battery saves weight on your head. A heavy light is very uncomfortable.