which one should I pick? (Lights Question)

[CyclingInsights]

Hey everyone, I’m trying to decide between two bike lights and could use some real‑world opinions.

Here’s my situation: I do a lot of night trail riding and commute in semi‑dark suburban roads before sunrise. Usually 15–25 miles per ride, some twisty singletrack, a few steep climbs, and a good amount of traffic on the commute home. I want something that lights up the trail well and makes me visible to cars without being too bulky or hard to mount/remove daily.

I’m looking at the Magicshine Hori 1300S and the Niterider Lumina™ Pro 1550 — both seem solid on paper, but I’m not sure which one performs better in terms of real lumen output, beam pattern, battery life on high, and ease of use. Has anyone ridden with both? Which do you prefer for mixed trail + road use under real conditions?

Any input would be awesome — thanks!

 

[Polar]

Hey everyone, I’m trying to decide between two bike lights and could use some real‑world opinions.

Here’s my situation: I do a lot of night trail riding and commute in semi‑dark suburban roads before sunrise. Usually 15–25 miles per ride, some twisty singletrack, a few steep climbs, and a good amount of traffic on the commute home. I want something that lights up the trail well and makes me visible to cars without being too bulky or hard to mount/remove daily.

I’m looking at the Magicshine Hori 1300S and the Niterider Lumina™ Pro 1550 — both seem solid on paper, but I’m not sure which one performs better in terms of real lumen output, beam pattern, battery life on high, and ease of use. Has anyone ridden with both? Which do you prefer for mixed trail + road use under real conditions?

Any input would be awesome — thanks!

Outbound lighting or Lupine connected to the battery.

 

[VWsurfbum]

I hear outbound are great (but we get hit with the shipping and taxes here). I use the Exposure lights, expensive but bloody brilliant with 12hr run time!

 

[Beaker2135]

I can’t directly answer your question but for night riding anywhere I like a light on the bars, to see where I’m going and a helmet light to see where I’m looking.
You can’t go wrong with Exposure if your pockets are deep enough, their after sales is legendary and rightly so in my experience.
I’m currently running a Maxx D on the bars and a Diablo on my helmet but I have a Joystick, a HTGO 2 and a Boost 2 as well for different purposes
I promise I’m not affiliated with Exposure

 

[#lazy]

I can’t directly answer your question but for night riding anywhere I like a light on the bars, to see where I’m going and a helmet light to see where I’m looking.
You can’t go wrong with Exposure if your pockets are deep enough, their after sales is legendary and rightly so in my experience.
I’m currently running a Maxx D on the bars and a Diablo on my helmet but I have a Joystick, a HTGO 2 and a Boost 2 as well for different purposes
I promise I’m not affiliated with Exposure

Me2 …. The Maxxd/Diablo is a great combo , pricey but will last for years and still hold there value . Had a magicshine previously, was ok but didn’t like the added battery faff !

 

[RustyMTB]

No to be contrary for the sake of it but I've been slightly underwhelmed by my Exposure Six Pack. It's ok but not really much greater than the Lifleline (remember them?) it replaced. It's had to go back twice under warranty for repair & even now I find the reflex feature is a bit hit & miss and it doesn't like running under 50% battery. Maybe I got a Friday afternoon one?

 

[Beaker2135]

No to be contrary for the sake of it but I've been slightly underwhelmed by my Exposure Six Pack. It's ok but not really much greater than the Lifleline (remember them?) it replaced. It's had to go back twice under warranty for repair & even now I find the reflex feature is a bit hit & miss and it doesn't like running under 50% battery. Maybe I got a Friday afternoon one?

That’s not what you want from a high end product
I have friends that swear by Halfords Advanced 1600 lights and argue that there’s no reason to spend ten times as much on Exposure. Each to there own as always

 

[RustyMTB]

Probably fair to mention when I have returned it, it's come back to me within a couple of days. Exposure are very good on the service side.

 

[Halmond6]

Most of my group run exposure - we cycle after 6pm all year round in the UK. Singletrack/fireroad/road etc.

Six pack on the bars and a helmet mounted joystick with the red eye. You won’t need anything else. They are fantastic and worth every penny.

 

[Growmac]

I'm another Exposure rider, MaXX-D on the bars and Zenith on the helmet. Pretty much our whole group use them, the reliability and good performance endure after the extreme pain of the price fades.

Mine is the Mk13 and I've found the reflex mode to be faultless, but others in my group have older and newer models, and it seems like it's a little more variable in other generations.

One thing though - the MaXX-D or 6-pack are not ideal for road riding. They have a very even beam, horizontally and vertically, which is brilliant off road, but means that it's guaranteed to dazzle traffic on the road, even when turned down. Given it sounds like you're commuting with road sections, you might want to consider an option like a Strada? You could / should add a helmet light for off-road redundancy.

 

[RustyMTB]

All of my squad run six packs & we regularly get moaned at for dazzling people & we do switch them to low on transitions. One other weak point is the mount with Exposure. It's very easy to strip the thread on the clamp bolt, all of us have had that happen.

 

[Polar]

Using the light on roads it's recommended to be stVZO approved.

​

 

[Trekka]

I can’t directly answer your question but for night riding anywhere I like a light on the bars, to see where I’m going and a helmet light to see where I’m looking.
You can’t go wrong with Exposure if your pockets are deep enough, their after sales is legendary and rightly so in my experience.
I’m currently running a Maxx D on the bars and a Diablo on my helmet but I have a Joystick, a HTGO 2 and a Boost 2 as well for different purposes
I promise I’m not affiliated with Exposure

Exposure all the way... Maxx D on Bars ..Diablo on helmet.... bulletproof and wellworth the outlay..

 

[Tranquil]

Outbound Trail Evo. insanely bright and amazing light pattern, no dark or overly bright areas. ROCK solid mount and the light itself is bullet proof. I use the Wahoo Radar rear light. I ride a turbo levo 4 comp carbon.

 

[Rockhopper70]

I hear outbound are great (but we get hit with the shipping and taxes here). I use the Exposure lights, expensive but bloody brilliant with 12hr run time!

Just as a heads up, you can get them on eBay and they don’t seem to sting as much on taxes etc….

Outbound Lighting Trail Evo Handlebar Bike Light – 2700 Lumens, USB-C | eBay UK

See full item description, click here.

ebay.us

 

[Polar]

@VWsurfbum with 12hr run time!
No way it's 12hr unless you got it at candlelight mode.
I always like as good light beam as possible therfore I always use max.

You got a massiv bling bike and you won't pay a little extra for shipping and tax?
I got two Evo, one Detour, a couple of other lights but ended up with Lupine SL mimimax and C14 - it's very nice to have unlimited max light.

Security is my main priority.

 

[VWsurfbum]

@VWsurfbum with 12hr run time!
No way it's 12hr unless you got it at candlelight mode.
I always like as good light beam as possible therfore I always use max.

You got a massiv bling bike and you won't pay a little extra for shipping and tax?
I got two Evo, one Detour, a couple of other lights but ended up with Lupine SL mimimax and C14 - it's very nice to have unlimited max light.

Security is my main priority.

Genuinely, it does have a 12hr run time, that's why they use them in 24hr races.
I'll take a couple of pictures on Wednesday night.

 

[Polar]

Genuinely, it does have a 12hr run time, that's why they use them in 24hr races.
I'll take a couple of pictures on Wednesday night.

I'm sure they got 12 hr but not at max but candlelight and OL Evo got pass-through therfore a tiny powerbank will give you more + Amflow got USB-C that can be connected to Evo.
To be honest even though Evo got a unique beam pattern I didn't like it since it's far from water-resistant.

It's lots of reviews on YT.

 

[RustyMTB]

I've found my six pack definitely throttles output on high once it drops below 30-40% battery.

 

[VWsurfbum]

I've found my six pack definitely throttles output on high once it drops below 30-40% battery.

yeah rarely use on full unless doing full on fast DH

 

[RustyMTB]

So three of us all with Six packs went out last night. Mine is a Mk13 & the newest light by a couple of years & on comparison on the same program there is no doubt it's output is way lower than the other two.

I'll be sending it back to Exposure for the third time & it's fallen out of warranty now too. I have to be an outlier but it has just not worked as it should for any length of time.

 

[Halmond6]

So three of us all with Six packs went out last night. Mine is a Mk13 & the newest light by a couple of years & on comparison on the same program there is no doubt it's output is way lower than the other two.

I'll be sending it back to Exposure for the third time & it's fallen out of warranty now too. I have to be an outlier but it has just not worked as it should for any length of time.

Could it be a problem with the reflex?

 

[RustyMTB]

Possibly but it's also down on output when stationary, we checked that specifically to test the reflex. Something's up with it.

 

[RustyMTB]

I'll be sending it back to Exposure for the third time & it's fallen out of warranty now too

Fair play to Exposure, I've just called them & they said as it's a recurring fault, they'll treat it as a warranty repair even though it's now out of guarantee. People, including me are quick to complain on the internet when things go wrong but we should recognise it when companies do well too.