Lights

I'm all for a drop of DIY, but what a crock of a finished thing that is - wouldn't put that on my bike.

1 Month since I ordered my Magicshine light and it finally arrived today, damn powerful and for £50 I can't complain! I'll post some pictures later

1 Month since I ordered my Magicshine light and it finally arrived today, damn powerful and for £50 I can't complain! I'll post some pictures later

Also just got my magicshine from DX this morning - also took one month, incredibly bright, and feels good quality also - I had also ordered a power adapter with it for about £2 so I could charge the battery pack with the supplied US charger plug, haven't tried that yet but looks ok.

Must have been a boat from HK arrive as my eBay lights (same as adoubletap got above) turned up yesterday. Brightness seems pretty good but the battery life has surprised me - with a set of 1000mAh NiMH AAAs I've had one of the front lamps running since 0900 this morning (so coming up to 3 hours now) with no appreciable loss of brightness. I'm in no way measuring output scientifically but just keeping an eye on the size/intensity of the beam on the wall across the room but I'm pretty impressed actually. Certainly wirht £1.50 each that's for sure.

It's dropped off sharply in the last 15 mins or so but a usable 3 hours seems pretty good to me.

^ yep thats same as I've been getting using them on evening 40min commute in addition to a Hope and they have just been beginning to fade on the Friday so around 200 mins of usable.

Cool. Glad to hear that that's about normal then.

I ran Reelight for years, when I only had 2k commute and didn't bother to get a proper bike and proper lights. I put all the magnets (HTFDTW?) front to have more steady light cause I hate blinkers and had a rear reflector.

It's no substitute for hub dyno lights, but MUCH better than nothing.

Must have been a boat from HK arrive as my eBay lights (same as adoubletap got above) turned up yesterday. Brightness seems pretty good but the battery life has surprised me - with a set of 1000mAh NiMH AAAs I've had one of the front lamps running since 0900 this morning (so coming up to 3 hours now) with no appreciable loss of brightness. I'm in no way measuring output scientifically but just keeping an eye on the size/intensity of the beam on the wall across the room but I'm pretty impressed actually. Certainly wirht £1.50 each that's for sure.

Did you get the 'updated version'? The one with the digital read-out on the battery pack that glows blue?

Did you get the 'updated version'? The one with the digital read-out on the battery pack that glows blue?

I didn't get the Magicshine (which is what I think you're referring to). Adoubletap and I ordered some of the eBay lights mentioned earlier in the thread.

Quoted the wrong person, fail.

If you order the 'magicshine' from extremedeals, are you likely to pay duty etc. n the UK?

Nope, especially if you use the EMS tracking system

Nope, especially if you use the EMS tracking system
Cheers for the info.

I love EMS. I've actually gotten away with buying all sorts from Asia, without duty issues. I always figured the local customs officers were too lazy to translate the asian script.

In that case I might risk getting them sent direct to me here in Norgeland.

YouTube - Weekend Project: Mini Bike Light

Probably a repost, almost certainly belongs in epic fail for the patronising intro. Might have a go at making a light though, gotta be cheaper than a 3-led Knog (frog?).

Why not just get some Knock-off knogs from DX? about 5 dorrah each.
I don't own these so can't vouch for their quality, but might get some.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.44266
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.44096

Cheers for the info.

I love EMS. I've actually gotten away with buying all sorts from Asia, without duty issues. I always figured the local customs officers were too lazy to translate the asian script.

In that case I might risk getting them sent direct to me here in Norgeland.

not sure exactly what EMS is, whole bunch of stuff i ordered from DX came this week and had an (english language) label affixed to the parcel outer, indicating contents and value - the values assigned on this were nominal and not representative of what I paid, presumably to avoid customs attention.

I didn't get any surcharge associated with payment of UK duty on it (but then hey, maybe I'll get a surprise next week...)

don't forget the administrative cost of collecting duty where for small postal packages the revenue may not cover the costs so it would be inefficient for the revenue to bother

http://www.parker-international.co.uk/5816/Electron-EHP217-Front-Nano-9-Bike-Light-LED.html?referrer=froogle&utm_source=google&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=pid5816

This robust and very bright front light lasted two years of near daily service. It got dropped and soaked many times and continued to provide excellent light...until yesterday. The batteries had leaked to such an extent that I had to pull the cylindrical battery chamber out with a lot of force (and swearing). Cleaned the contacts, put fresh batteries in but it's now dead. Still, for £14 delivered, it's an excellent light.

Happy Christmas to me.

http://www.four4th.co.uk/

They arrived this morning.

The international space station will see me coming.

Highly recommended.

I was deluding myself thinking I could wait and invest in some AYUP's or even those four4th (looked around the site, look good AW). But I have too many things on my need list, and waiting is'nt an option any more.

Of my current doulble front set-up, having bought numerous extra Li-ion batterys, replacement light units, replacement bulbs etc. I only have one functional light, and this likes to turn itself off just before dark roundabouts.

I've there ordered a new front from Dealextreme. Cost me around £45, whereas a local sports shop is selling them for around £145.

Hopefully I wont be throw good money after bad.

Register on the site, he mails you when the stock arrives so you you get first dibs.

I've there ordered a new front from Dealextreme. Cost me around £45, whereas a local sports shop is selling them for around £145.

Hopefully I wont be throw good money after bad.

I've got some - they are epic. God knows why people pay more. Get two and you can have daylight off-road. One is more than enough for off road. You can get an extension cable for the battery for $1.50 too, and a head/helmet mount.

If anyone's interested in Reelights, I can vouch for the 520SLs (flashing with power backup) being great little backup lights. Good side visibility and a bright flash so they're excellent for being seen. They continue flashing for 4 or 5 minutes after stopping which is more than enough. They're quite easy to set up, too. Don't notice any extra weight or resistance when pedalling (although you can feel it when you spin the wheel by hand)

Downsides are that they're fucking ugly. The little lights themselves aren't great but at least they're small. The coil and the wheel magnets and the cabling are disgusting and don't look right on my bike at all. But then again, it's a cheap winter hack so I guess I can't get too concerned with what it looks like. I won't be putting them on my pretty summer touring bike though.

No word on long-term reliability yet, but I've been using them since October and they're still working.

I should probably also mention that I got them for half price. I don't think I'd pay full price for them, I'd just get rechargeable battery LEDs.

Blah Blah...
Hopefully I wont be throw good money after bad.

I've got this exact one, after waiting a month for it to arrive I was astounded by how powerful it was, went of for a ride and cars were flashing me with it on full power. The battery screen is a great feature as well, you won't be disappointed