Are expensive bike lights a rip off?

I always look towards the more expensive brands because i worry about the safety factor of cheapo generic made chargers and wiring.
But cheaper brands from reputable sources - Halfords and the like have been improving year on year and becoming more powerful and capable.
So I suppose I'd agree with the premise that more expensive isnt always better.
 
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I’ve used cheap Cree lights ( they’re were good for most trails but hassle with all the cable and battery’s), used magic shine eagle ( was good but hassle with cable and battery , also would turn off by itself) , now use exposure D max and Diablo on helmet ( no hassle ) , best lights all round but expensive however you can sell them years later for loads of cash 👍👍
 
Gary said:
Been mtb night riding for 30years and along the way have used everything from homemade diaphoric bulbs mounted in plastic plumbers pipe housings and nicad frame mounted batteries to super expensive (at the time) branded LED and HID lights.
Currently I own a 3200lm magic shine Eagle system, a couple of solarstorms with custom liion packs (one is permanently mounted to a helmet only used for night rides). A Chinese cree with similar custom liion battery. A bike hut 1600 which is my most used light- lots of commuting on and off road, sub 3hr road night rides and occasional helmet mounted use off road. And a few rechargeable cheapie bar mounted 250-500lm band on bar lights for pub/commute/kids/loaner use.
I have a ridiculous amount of rear LED lights, and LED arm/leg/foot bands too.
Despite looking like a human Christmas tree on my way home since the clocks changed. so far this week I've had 11 near misses by blind cunts in cars pulling out or cutting me up with no indication or pedestrians stepping out to cross in my path without looking and no warning. Fun fun fun *sigh*

@Pdoz the one situation I do usually wear a helmet a whole ride is night mtb riding.
A bar mounted light alone (no matter how powerful is pretty awful off road compared with helmet mounted.
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Now I want a long exposure shot of gary doing a down hill trail - legs/ arms everywhere as he styles it up, and the helmet light constantly shaking in disbelief as he passes other riders ;)
 
Konanige said:
My Exposure MaxxD has been going over 10 years now, no drop in runtime or power so I'd say it was a bargain!!!
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Same..720 lumens ..gen1.
Fantastic light still used as my bar mount ..with another 2,200 lumens on the noggin ..which is all I've ever needed off road ..
Saying that ..its been a few years since our little group did anything serious / regular in terms of night riding but getting back for closing time at the pub used to be a real struggle ..
Guess we've all gone a little bit soft ../ can't be arsed with cleaning duties and "global warming " doesn't help ..most rides were on crisp frosty ( even snowy ) evenings ..where now it would be predominantly wet & muddy ..but hell it used to be fantastic ..
 
The cheapo amazon/eBay Chinese leds do a decent enough job for my off road riding needs. One on the bars, one on the helmet - like Gary I have a dedicated night riding helmet that has a light permanently fixed to it.

The expensive lights are no more of a rip off than that yeti ebike. I wouldn't spend my money on them though.
 
Had my exposure maxxd and Diablo for 4 years now and still amazing, starting with cheap eBay lights and the battery and wires are just awfull. Had a battery pack melt on my SC Branson frame and the next set of cheapies the charge burnt out..

some things are worth paying the money for, the engineering and built quality in exposure lights is the best there is.
 
I think Rob touched on but when running lights of the eebs battery performance might not be as good as running the same light off it’s battery pack due to power output differences. Exposure sponsored a night stage of a recent event I did and theirs didn’t look better than other lights there.
 
Having watched Rob’s video I’d pick the Magicshine over the Exposure; better spread of light and significantly cheaper at £289.99 (the video price seems to include the 10% discount… ) although the latter is a neater solution.
@Rob Rides EMTB have you done a burn test yet!
 
I love quality bright lights.....and yes they were expensive, I run a Light and Motion Seca 2500 on my Helmet, and a Niterider 4200 on my bars. I can ride at night pretty much as fast as I ride during the day in some situations. Normally you would want to ride the brighter light on ur helmet but the Niterider has a much better barmount & the Seca has better mount on the helmet.
 
I also remember when magicshine was a cheap Chinese brand, think I paid 50 quid for my first magicshine light from ebay around 12 years ago
 
Really enjoyed this video. Thanks Rob. It’s got me motivated for a night ride now 🔦
 
Over the years I've run heaps of chinese budget lights..... Almost all have broken wiring & batteries now. Then I won a Hope R8+ - lucky me! However I found some good Chinese brands. Sofirn for lights & Liitokata for batteries & chargers. The head light/torch I use is a Sofirn IF25A. About £30 on aliexpress or £48 on Amazon. Worth getting a spare battery - 21700 battery used, a swap after an hours use is ideal. Might fit your existing charger ...thicker battery... I've got a Liitokala charger and their 21700 batteries that have more mAh than the std Sofirn batteries, and it all works!
 
Doomanic said:
Having watched Rob’s video I’d pick the Magicshine over the Exposure; better spread of light and significantly cheaper at £289.99 (the video price seems to include the 10% discount… ) although the latter is a neater solution.
@Rob Rides EMTB have you done a burn test yet!
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The older magicshine Eagle (F3) head unit I have with its option to run dip/flood/spot and any individual combination of brightness is still the most useful light spread I've used for a bar mount light. The wireless remote makes it super easily adjustable while riding too.
The downside is its bulky frame mounted battery pack and wiring
 
I tried a cheap chinese light but the charger literally blew up when I plugged it in! Bits everywhere and a puff of smoke. I am a bit worried many of them aren't built to proper UK safety standards.

Also tried Magicshine, but I think there was something wrong with mine as some of the LEDs didn't seem to work properly. Didn't have a great experience trying to return it either. Sent back, refused a refund, and the light wasn't sent back to me either!! No light and no money. Ended up getting it resolved via ebay.

So I went back to Exposure. My previous one latest 10 years. Must use very good quality batteries. Plus their warranty support is amazing. Even after it runs out they will carry out repairs very cheaply.

BTW - Exposure lights have a "reflex" mode which adapts the brightness. The Six Pack in the video won't have put out the full 6000 lumens until it's being used riding at speed.

Also, they are often a lot cheaper at SDJ :

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I actually use the Toro, which is more than enough brightness for me (3200 lumens)

SDJ Sports | Sports & Leisure Shop | Cycling, Fitness, and More

Shop all your fitness and leisure needs online at SDJ Sports.
sdjsports.com sdjsports.com
 
I think as @robbydobs points out the Exposure wasn't set correctly as the reflex would make the light brighter once running properly.
But the main point with that feature is the length of run time you get with exposure lights.
I bet the Magicshine (as good as the spread is) doesn't have a 12 hrs burn time as the 6pack does??? An assumption I know.

I have had and loved Magicshine, cheap Chinese, and pretty much all types of bike lights (and battery packs), and as previously pointed out it's the horses for courses scenario. if you're just pootling down a canal path a £25 light is fine, if you're hitting that gnarly enduro trail, you need a fooking bright light with a big throw and no battery pack bouncing up and down on your frame.

Exposure wins on burn time, convenience, performance, and customer service. :)
 
I am running a Moon Storm Pro and 2,000 l is fine for what I need (xc/trail). I do local tracks and trails which I know well. Buy what you can afford but cheap and cheerful on a very expensive bike might the wrong call if you intend to throw yourself down a red or black trail unless you like hospital food:LOL:
 
I am using Lezyne 1300XL, one on the bars, one on the helmet.

Loads of light when used on max setting. Pretty small too for the output. No cables, just plug it into USB to charge. You can feel it on the helmet but its not crazy heavy. A nice feature is to set it to use just 2 output settings, mid and max. Useful if you have to go on the road and don't want to dazzle car drivers.

I might get another one on the bars to have left and right hand side, which would just be ridiculous.


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Curious tale, I found an ~80 year old man hiding behind a tree in the middle of the woods at night. Heart missed a beat when I caught sight of his arm move.

I stopped and asked if he was OK etc. Reckons he was out getting wood (with no saw or wood being carried in sight). Very bizarre experience!
 
VWsurfbum said:
I bet the Magicshine (as good as the spread is) doesn't have a 12 hrs burn time as the 6pack does???
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12 hrs? It's 3hrs at max setting according to Exposure's website. Magicshine is 1.5-2 hrs.
 
Why do my comments on the Youtube channel keep getting removed. I was only saying you can buy these direct online cheaper is this wrong ?
 
Well, it's a bit bloody cheeky to post that in a review thread.
 
Mteam said:
I also remember when magicshine was a cheap Chinese brand, think I paid 50 quid for my first magicshine light from ebay around 12 years ago
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When Magicshine first hit the U.S. shores, they were the only alternative to the expensive First World Lights costing several times as much, yet yielding no more light. One man had the sole importation rights, and all was well. Then the Chinese did what they always do, and decided to screw him out of the business. The whole debacle took it's toll, and he ended up tipping over. But what comes around goes around, and now half the lights shipped out of China are direct rip-offs of Magicshine.
 
talking of cheapness. If £50ish is your budget. all the cree/solarstorm bike lights are available to buy separately without the dodgy battery packs and scary chargers. Those head units are still pretty decent and a custom Liion battery pack and charger from more reputable source still isn't too expensive.
 
all I will add to this is cheap Chinese lights (and batteries) are great until they aren't. I know a guy who put his on charge on the kitchen worktop and then heard a loud bang, the battery had exploded and blew a hole in the kitchen worktop, there were marks on all 4 walls from shrapnel and the room was filled with smoke!
this was 5 years ago so maybe they have improved since then, who knows. I did actually buy a really cheap set of lights for MTB rides in winter and the light output for the price is amazing, I remember I got a bar mounted Chinese light and a branded helmet light(lezyne) and the cheap lights were 5 times brighter, the battery lasted longer, and they still work now 3 years later even though I use them twice per winter on average. the lezyne light packed up after one year, and even from new it was just pathetic, despite being more than twice the price.
I'd never charge my cheapo light in the house, I leave it in the middle of the garage on a concrete floor
 
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