Welcome to our Magicshine MJ-816 Review. Here in the UK we’ve been hammered recently by the weather; for the last few weeks Scotland in particular has resembled an Arctic landscape, with blizzards, white-outs, and motorways frozen closed for days – any bike riding that’s been done has been in the garage on the rollers, or spinning down the at the gym.
The last few days however, have seen a significant rise in temperature and the resultant thaw has us getting the overshoes looked out again, and the lights back on the bike, ready for recommencing the daily commute, training, and some off-road night riding too.
Before the Ice-Age took hold, we managed to get our hands on a Chinese made Magicshine MJ-816 Front Light Set [£96.46 from Magicshineuk.co.uk], and I’ve have been using them during my night-time rides to and from work, and in the local forest trails with pals – here’s how it’s gone.
In the box
The packaging the lights come in is well-made, solid.
If I’m honest, for a cost of less than £100 I was expecting a product built to the price point, but this is a surprise – the lid closure is magnetised, and the box itself is robust.
Inside, the various components are slotted into the deep protective foam padding; the Li-ion battery pack, charger, mounting rings, and the light head, with it’s separate control button.
The battery pack is unusual – weighing around 330 grams, it’s basically a weatherproof sealed metal canister which provides protection to the battery (and aids safety) as the battery is fully enclosed inside. The battery is rated IP64, but exceeds this rating due to being enclosed in the cannister.
As well as offering further waterproofing, the neoprene bag doubles as the battery carrier on the bike, as it has a long, flexible Velcro strap which allows it to fix very securely to the bike in a number of different ways.
The 8.4v battery charger is a straightforward device as you’d expect, but it still manages a small surprise of it’s own: it’s capable of charging an exhausted battery in a little over three hours.
The small light on the lower front displays red during battery charging and changes to green when the battery is fully charged. The unit has an overcharge protection circuit, but nevertheless the advice from Magicshine UK is to not leave the light charging for over 24 hours continuously.
The light head itself is an odd looking thing. Much smaller than you think it ought to be for the claimed power – the larger main emitter lens is barely bigger than a 50 pence piece.
No wonder the lights have acquired the nickname of “the Mickey Mouse lights”, the twin CREE XP-E side bulbs are mounted either side of the main SSC-P7 bulb, giving a unique appearance.
All three housings are solidly made in 6061-T6 Aircraft aluminium alloy, hard-anodized to ensure a non-abrasive finish.
There’s a separate control button which allows you to change the running mode between the three standard modes available, and which also displays battery charge remaining – a great feature if you’re prone to staying out on the trails longer than you thought you could, and limping home in the darkness.
Fitting the Lights
There are three parts to fit, the light head, it’s separate but linked control button, and the battery – and it’s all very easy and very quick.
The light head and control button are both affixed using whichever of the three supplied silica gel ‘O’ rings fits the ‘bar best, and it takes just seconds to get them in place.
The cable length supplied with the light head is more than enough for mounting the battery in an under-saddle bag, or on the frame. If you want to carry the battery in your rear jersey pocket you may find that the one metre extension cable, available as an extra accessory (around £6.00), is useful so that you don’t feel so closely tied to the bike.
I prefer to hang the battery on the bike frame, close to the front end, so that it reduces the cable run length and makes it very quick and easy to remove the lights when leaving the bike parked at work, and the elasticated Velcro strap on the battery’s neoprene outer cover makes this a doddle; a quick couple of loops around the frame and it’s not going anywhere unless I want it to.
Last thing to do; plug in the light cable to the battery cable, which takes a reassuringly firm push to click them together.
Using the Lights
As soon as the lights are connected to the battery, the amount of charge in the battery is displayed by the control button colour; green means you have at least two and a half hours on full power to use.
Unlike other lights we’ve used, the lights don’t come on as soon as they’re connected to the battery, potentially unexpectedly blinding you or your cat – they are ready to use, but they’re in the “Off” mode.
Switching Modes
Mode i) To switch on the lights just press once on the control button, and the twin CREE XP-E LED side bulbs come on. These short range diffused lights have a really dazzling, very high kelvin, bright neon-white light, and are great for being seen in the town by other road users – or when off-road for showing up the near-path, acting like the side-lights on your car.
I found a big difference immediately between these lights and the HID lights I’ve been using in winters past – with these LEDs, there’s no warm-up time whilst the unit gets up to temperature; just switch on and Bang, you’re illuminated.
The side bulbs are near-focus, but when used to light up the verges at the side of the road and the sides of the path around eight to ten feet away, they’re ideal. Aimed a little higher when in town, the lights are diffused and create a great presence awareness.
Sometimes drivers still pull out on me of course – after all, “sorry mate I didn’t see you” isn’t an excuse but an admission – but I’ve found that when they are aware just how bright the lights are, they realise they should have seen me, and sometimes even apologise!
Mode ii) Press the control button again, and the side lights go off whilst the centre SSC-P7 LED bulb comes on.
This is a long-focus beam which illuminates a good 20-30 metres ahead of you, with a noticeably different light from the side bulbs, it’s much more yellowy.
In fact, it’s a deliberately chosen warmer tint so as to give better colour rendition – this has the effect of improving shadowing and depth on the road and trails, which really helps with speed/distance perception.
Mode iii) For the full effect, a third press of the control button brings the twin side bulbs on to join the main beam, and this is where the incredible figure of 1400 lumen is quoted from.
I’ve heard said that it’s not actually a full 1400 lumen, more like something around 1200-1350, and there may well be some diff