Bike Lore

oops there my dyslexia kicked in again/

The mj808E makes for an excellent head light. that with a MJ872 with an extended battery would be a very good combination. But the MJ808E is a good all rounder also so don't under estimate it. If you got it from me then there should be a helmet mount and a head band. i suggest using it. I use a upgraded MJ816 for my handle bar mounted light and a MJ808E for a helmet light.

I agree with you WW. 2 lights is better than one. and a head light is a must. The MJ872 is a nice light and has a lot of flood. And it generate much more light than the MJ808E but i think the MJ816 is a better option.

not sure how you want to use the last photo for proof. It proofs that the shape of the center spot is large vs small. beam pattern photos are just that: pattern photos. To understand the picture you need to realize that the concentration of light in a very small spot could be a lot brighter than the other. the camera saturates in that area . for example if you have a very strong laser the spot will be extremely bright but small. I would not use the photo for anything other than that. I find it interesting that the facts get so much criticism. Opinion are wonderful and good to have but if you need to make a choice you need facts. Fact 1. MJ872 use a lot more energy. = larger battery or shorter run time. Fact 2. MJ872 use less efficient LED's = more power is wasted in to heat. (this is a fact not made up by me as stated by the manufacturer on there website.) therefore larger batter or shorter run time. Fact 3 MJ872 has a much larger center spot = result shorter beam reach and more side spill. if that is what you want then gr8. but it is a fact, my opinion on this is that it is not the best idea and that the MJ808E makes better use of the light it has. But if you like to shine light near you then gr8. Let me stat what i like about the MJ872 1. 2 buttons Up and Down for light intensity 2. Turn on in the low or high mode holding the corresponding button. 3. Not having flash mode. actuality the flash is very usefully if you use it for self defense or commuting but i also think it is useless in this application 4. the size is right but that is true for the MJ808E also. If there where things i could change on the MJ872 it would be the mounting, then the low level could be lower and there could be less levels between high and low. max 3 but this is only my opinion and is also true for the MJ808E The purposes of this review was to make it clear what the differences are between the MJ872 and the MJ808E. And I do believe that is what it highlights. PS. if traveling at 45km/h down a jeep track you cover 100m in 8s and 30m in 2.4s. that seems fast but where i life it happens easily, braking your momentum on loos gravel and only having 2s is crazy. but that is my requirement.

if you have any info on the battery then i could help. Size, Voltage, Capacity. Required circuitry etc

It is imposable that the MJ870 out runs the MJ-808E. I am not saying that the MJ870 is not brighter than the MJ808. it is but it eats more power. Except if there using larger batteries which there not. "XLamp XM-L LEDs offer the unique combination of very high efficacy at very high drive currents, providing a 20% efficiency gain over the XLamp XP-G LED at the same current. With this available efficacy, XM-L can lower total system cost by reducing the number of LEDs and optics in the system." http://www.cree.com/products/xlamp_xml.asp

Hi andrè traut The MJ870/2 are from the same brand as the MJ808 not sure how i am brand specific as you say. Sure I am in love with the MJ808E due to the better price point, better beam patter and higher efficacy but that is facts. I thought the photos are clear. And that is why I sell it. If i liked i could have imported the MJ872 all so. But i will not, but tomorrow there are new lights and then things look different. Let me repeat what is sated before. MJ872 = 1261 Lumen and 1631 lumen @112min MJ808E = 780 Lumen and a 870 Lumen @ run time 180h

Ok just adding this. ALL THE SETTINGS OF THE CAMERA ARE THE SAME!!!!! SO DON"T ASK.. have a nice day

I hope this helps MJ872 VS MJ808E Did you know....

This review has been pending for some time. I got the MJ-872 a few weeks ago and my first impression was mixed but positive. Last night I and my wife went riding and I swapped out her old MJ808 with the NEW Mj-872 from Magicshine.... after the ride she politely asked for the other one next time. .... So that prompted me to do some digging. Before we start let me repeat some key issues when it comes to lights. also read Lights Lumens and what not 1. More Lumen is not necessarily better 2. Price is not indicator for performance. 3. And there is no magic in lighting. What I mean to say is that things are a lot more simplistic than marketing would like us to think. Energy in = energy out. There are 5 factors in lights that you need to conceder: 1 Lumen generated, not the same as Lumen claimed 2 beam pattern, what is done with the light generated. 3 Runtime or power consumption 4 Weight. 5 added features. Is it waterproof, protections, robustness.... Right so, here is some info on the MJ-872 The light uses 4 Cree XP-G LEDS these LED’s are driven very hard. The light drains about 2.13 A from the battery. That is about 16W. And each LED is driven at 4Watt. From here on I am using my best guess I do not know what BIN LEDs are used but it is between R2 ,R3, R4 or R5 At 4 watt the output of the LED is as follows R2 = 315 lumen R5=408 lumen So the light will produce between 1261Lume and 1631 lumen. I am guessing it is about 1450 lumen It is about the same size as the MJ808E and not much heavier. And mounts the same. It has 2 buttons on the back Up and down. Turning on the light all you do is hold one of the buttons. I like the fact that you can choose in which mode it turns on. Holding the up it turns on in high. I must say I am impressed with the fact that the claimed output and the actual lumen out are very close. I have not tested if it has thermal protection so can’t really say anything about that. Short comings of this light: It is important to know that energy in = energy out. No fancy electronics or wow LED can make energy. So there are only 2 ways on getting more light out. The first is using more power. Therefore more light. Second is using an more efficient LED. The Cree XP-G is about 2 years old and the CREE-XM-L about 20% more efficient than this one. So there pumping Watts down this baby. There putting about 1.60x more power in which shortens your run time considerably!!!! But the major drawback of this light is the beam pattern. It has none. Jip got that, none! It is a flood light. Everything near you is happily bright. But about 30m away it is dark. Short summery of the MJ808E 1 There are two version on the market. with a drive current on the LED of 2.4A(780Lumen) and a 2.8A(870 Lumen) 2 uses 8W-10 watts 3 makes use of one XM-L from Cree The one that i have used is a 2.4A version so only 780 lumen... So here are some pictures of the light in action MJ872 vs Mj808E Ok that look good but note that the drum in the picture is 60 meter away. not seeing the drum on the right???? look closer it is there... Just to highlight the difference between the two see how the MJ808E on the right illuminate all the way to 100 meter and up. but on the left the MJ872 is very bright in the trees next to you but nothing further than 60m. What can i say. there is light everywhere. Most of the MJ808E light are concentrated in the spot. which is what you want. note the light on the back of the MJ872 and the MJ808E... this just after 10min of use the MJ872 are blue... In short the new MJ872 has more light than the MJ808e but it is being wasted and in the worst possible way. i fully agree with Magiclight review Its not just about the lumens... Hope this is useful.

Cool!!! if it cam out 6 month before it would have been amazing. The Cree XP-G is about a year old but the more LED's you have that share the load the better. LED's tend to get very inefficient driven at high currents. Looks like a solid light. Let me make some assumptions regarding this light output and the other magic shines. it is clear that the battery are the same therefore the runtimes are a good induction of how much power is used by each light. based on that this should be true MJ808 650 lumen @ 180min MJ816 900 Lumen @ 160min MJ808E 910 lumen @ 170min MJ870 1100 lumen @ 150min (+-10% Estimation) MJ872 1500 lumen @ 120min (+-10% Estimation) Note that this is based on the stated runtime on the site. and that i have adjusted the Mj816 to be closer to the true run time that i have measured before.

The X was a limited edition. Only the E is available now. having multiple products is not really cost effective

There are a new Magic shine/light out. The MJ-808e or MS1000. It has a very narrow spot light and a wide flood so it reaches very far and fill in the gaps. I really would not look much further than that. If you buy it form MagicLight.co.za you will get a 3 year warranty . Or you can buy it from other gray importers on the hub and get 3 months warranty. Just a warning there are people advertising light that runs for very long and pump out huge number for the same price as the magic shine. They are blatantly exaggerating with a factor of x3 on the light output.

Hi Cassie. I do not want to down play the danger of charging Li-Ion battery unattended. Yes they are volatile and can cause a fire if handled incorrectly. Never charge a Li-Ion near flammable material. That includes Laptops. cell phones and any other device that uses it. That said. I believe all care are being taken to insure that these battery are save. There are 4 levels of protection in any Magic Shine charging system. 1. the charge rate is reduced. it charges the battery pack at C/4 that is 4 times less than what the cells can safely handle. That means that the battery does not heat up. 2. the charger has an upper cutoff that prevent the battery of being over charged. Over charge is the main cause of ignition 3. the battery it self has build in protection to prevent over charge and over current. 4 the battery monitor each cell and prevent over chairing of them. For the cell to be at risk you will need failure of two independent systems. yes this is possible but very, very unlikely. Also some thing to remember is that the main mode of failure is not catastrophic explosion but rather open circuit which result in a lost of capacity of the battery. The second mode is short circuit which will prevent the battery pack from being charged and lastly it is catastrophic explosion. Again I do not want to down play the danger but I do not believe Geomon was concerned with safety as much as trying to force magic shine to up the reliability of the battery. in most cases the battery fails and can not accept or hold charge. Geomon then needs to replace them which cuts in to there bottom line. but that is just my speculation. I hope that will put your fears at rest. If not I suggest you should contact the other suppliers to ask them if any of there battery ever explodes.

Hi Slowbeen please read: How to prolong lithium-based batteries from www.BatteryUniversity.com "Similar to a mechanical device that wears out faster with heavy use, so also does the depth of discharge (DoD) determine the cycle count. The smaller the depth of discharge, the longer the battery will last. If at all possible, avoid frequent full discharges and charge more often between uses. If full discharges cannot be avoided, try utilizing a larger battery. Partial discharge on Li-ion is fine; there is no memory and the battery does not need periodic full discharge cycles other than to calibrate the fuel gauge on a smart battery. In short charget it after use. If you know you will stor it for long the best will be to have it at about 75%-40%. if you have one of the mj816 or the new MJ808 then the light should be blue. I have tested the MJ808X and they run for 2h40 +-5min, on a charge. and 7h15 on low.

good point. i don't think there is a camera developed that could make the sigma look good. but here is the photos xml data. these photos should not be used to compar other lights that are not mentioned. also ignore the date.stamp. i have not set it correctly.

I had some questions regarding the camera. I would just like to make it clear that the camera was set to manual. the ISO/ aperture / exposure / white balance where the same between the comparing photos.

Here is a beam shot caparison between the new MJ808X and the MJ816. Note that the road is 75meter long and then there is a turn. Is should be clear that the MJ808X has a further reach and whiter light than the MJ816. it is also smaller and lighter. As well as the added protection for over heating makes the MJ808X a very appealing choice. The MJ816 does have more light near but the MJ808X does not stand back much.

Hi Grumpy. I hear what you are saying. There is really so many factors involved in a light that it is very hard to make a choice without comparing them yourself to see if it meets your needs. Lumen is one part of the complete package, an important part but just 1. Like you said it is about what you do with the light that makes the difference. Removing the optics will make a very bright light very useless. Same lumen out but lighting the sky is really a wast. if you do road riding a sharp far reaching beam is very impotent like you have stated and side spill is not as much. But if you do trails you don't need to see more than 50m but you really need to see every details possible to pick your line between where you are and where the track turns. Personally i think the MJ808 is a good balance. Having a bright spot that reaches very far +100m and more than enough side spill to help you see where your front wheel should go. What I prefer is a sharp beam on my head and a bright wide light on my handle bar. I do mostly trails and having a lot of light is a must! The head light helps me follow the switchbacks, see over the shadows of trees stumps, roots and rocks caused by my handle bar light and see far down the trail. The handle bar fills the details in and give stability. So it all depends on what your needs are. I use the MJ-808X on my head and modified,mmm not really modified but completely gutted and rebuild, Princeton Tec Switchback 3 generating 1900 lumen. Some thing that is very understated but still important is light color. When i chose a light i want to know what emitter is used and what bin. I prefer to stay below 5000k, that is the temperature of the light, 4300K is perfect for ones eye but LEDs need to do some development to really come to the party in this aria, They lose a lot of efficiency when they go down to a warmer color. That is what makes this Cree XM-L so exiting for me. it is a clear daylight light. Ok a bit cold still but it is going in the right direction. If money is not a object then you can always go for top end lights. And they are better but some times price does not always show value. For me lights are like a new bike and safety equipment. If you have no light you may just as well not have a bike in the winter. If you have a weak light then it is very dangerous to move at any speed never mind ripping up the trail. So when I bought my first light I equated it to new bike and helmet. And i don't skimp on thous. My love affair with lights has been coming on for years. I started with a DIY light and then I gave up and got my self the Princeton Tec Switchback 3 which cost me R3500 in 2007. It was a pathetic light generating 270 Lumen and having a very wide beam. It weighed 1kg. A few months later the MJ-808 came out and it was 2.5 times brighter and 1/5 the price and a 3de the weight. You can imagine the disappointment. I see they still sell the Switchback 3 in the shops. That really scary..... Some LBS have no conscience The fact that one can now buy a very decent light for under R1000 is opening up night riding to so many people and that is what makes the Magicshine a hero to me. Regarding comparing it to high end lights? Well personally if you want to spend more money and have a better light I say go for it there are better lights out there and at premium but remember the MJ808 is based in the Lupine Tesla which it self is a high end light. The new MJ-808 with the Cree XM-L are superior to the old Tesla and more affordable .

Well the MJ-808X cost R1300, I am not going to put pen on paper for the MJ-808E yet. I have made this mistake before.

Well I am amped to announce that I will get my hands on some valuable merchandise very soon, next week I hope. The New MJ-808X Aka Xtreme(ETA 23 March 201) and MJ-808E Aka Economy (ETA April) as soon as I have them I hand I will place an advert in the classifieds. But I have got my hands on some samples of the MJ-808X. Some Background info The magic shine MJ-808 caused a stir in the cycling community over the last few years. This light offered top end light output in a stunning beam pattern but at a faction of the cost of the high end lights. The Old magic shine used the Seoul Semiconductor P7 power LED and had an efficiency of about 70 lumen per watt. Both these new light make use of the new Cree XM-L LED that can pump out +40% more light for the same input power at a clear white light (5000K) that is 100 lumen per watt for the t6 bin. What the difference between the two new models? The difference between the two lights is manly the driver circuit and what goes with it, Thermal path etc. I also suspect that the LED is of a lower bin T5 for the MJ-808E and T6 for the MJ-808X but that is just speculation at this time. The higher the bin the more efficient but also the more expensive. not sure what bin is? follow this link in summery the LED after they are manufactured get tested and sorted in to a BIN the better ones get labeled T6 and the not so good ones get labeled T5. In most cases there is more T5 then T6 hence the price difference. In short the the MJ-808E is designed for economy. Where the MJ-808X is for brute light output. Review MJ-808X (R1300) This baby pumps out very close to 1000 lumen with its 3 Amp driver. Its runtime is 160min(2h40 min) using the standard battery. I have taken some beam shots comparing the Old MJ-808 and the New MJ-808X Speculation about the MJ-808E (T.B.A) It seems that economy what the aim for this light. The driver current has been reduced from 2.6Amp to 2.4Amps. But the result is that this unit puts out 770 lumen vs the old light that did 650 lumen but the MJ-808E runs for 210min on HIGH vs the questionable 180 min on the old MJ-808 Here is a beam shot caparison between the new MJ808X and the MJ816. Note that the road is 75meter long and then there is a turn. Is should be clear that the MJ808X has a further reach and whiter light than the MJ816. it is also smaller and light. As well as the added protection for over heating The MJ816 does have more light near but the MJ808X does not stand back much.

but really what do you do? no helmet, no shoos on a clip on bike. heading away from a race area.

oops heh, how do you edit the subject?

Right so you are cycling to Jonkershoek on a Saturday morning and a very dodgy character heads your way. He is cycling a full carbon hard tail with a race number. He is wearing a worn t-shirt, slops and pants that has not seen a wash since the previous owner gave him the pants. {Edited by a Mod - coz we's pedantic likes that. }

NO Steven69 don't do it!!! the krypton inside will disrupt your metichlorine... just believe.... and send me you money T&C apply, faith sold separately form just believe pty inc