Many will already know that I’m not adverse to a bit of night riding, be that using my eMTB or my analogue MTB and from looking at my stats from last year, I spent just over 200hrs riding after daylight hours. Not a bad achievement for what is just a bit of evening fun, and I would guess that the figure in hours to be pretty much the same for the two previous years as well.
Up until September 2017 my light of choice has been a Fenix BT20, which had a modified battery pack fitted, utilising 6x18650 cells, over the Fenix OE 2 cell pack. Two cells are probably fine for on road riding where a low power setting can be utilised, but the OE 2cell pack never met my off-road requirements, and let me down on more than one occasion. The light has served me well though, but after four years of abuse and an incident involving the front wheel, I had reluctantly been using a cheapo Ebay light which was far from ideal as the available beam was not been wide enough, and there have been several other aspects about it which I have not liked, and as a result my off-road night riding fun has been spoilt. Don’t be fooled by claims on forums that state “the best light” etc, as these cheap Chinese lights are not a good substitute for a quality branded light.
Bringing things up to date… Since its release I have had a hankering for a Magicshine Eagle F3, as it meets several requirements that are lacking in other lights.
Whilst lights secured by a rubber band might serve their purpose for many, this hasn’t always been my findings, and the Magicshine Eagle F3 has to my mind, possibly one of the best mounting system currently available from any cycle torch manufacturer. Being mounted rigidly and centrally to the handlebar, fixing to either side of the stem, it is in the optimum possible position. The fact that the light can be clipped into place in seconds, and removed in seconds whilst the mount remains, was another draw for me.
The next major appeal is the battery pack itself and its mounting system. The pack uses an ingenious mount, that can be either secured directly to a bottle cage mount, or held in place in a more traditional way using two Velcro straps which are passed through the mount, then attached around the cycle frame. The battery pack itself is separate to the mount and simply clips into place. It might only be a minor inconvenience, but I find it a chore having to unstrap and remove a battery pack after a wet and muddy night ride before washing down the bike. With a clip-in system for both the light unit, and the battery pack, post ride bike cleaning when freezing cold and wet, might just become easier.
Whilst I have found 6x 18650 battery packs just about okay for the average night ride of between two to three hours long, the Magicshine Eagle has 8x 1650 cells, which would allow more of a range of power settings to be used.
Having a remote switch may be of benefit, but that wasn't high on my list of priorities.
Something that is high on my list of priorities is the range of settings and spread of beam. For my riding, I don’t necessarily require an intense spot beam, preferring instead to have a wider field of vision. The Magicshine Eagle F3 doesn’t disappoint with its vast range of available settings, so there is certainty in finding exactly the right lighting mode for any given situation.
Online reviews have been very favourable, and with the decision made, and daylight hours rapidly diminishing, time had come to take things further. Bonita from Magicshine UK has been exceedingly accommodating to my many questions, and to this end, I now look forward to not only taking delivery of a Magicshine Eagle F3 now that they are back in stock, but also being given the chance to
provide a long-term review of the torch. Winter riding is just about to become a much brighter prospect.
Long term use…
I have now been using this light approximately three nights a week, and I can really only say that I am totally impressed by it.
Fitting was as expected, an effortless affair, and Magicshine were kind enough to also give me a second mount, so that I could quickly and easily change from bike to bike. Analogue to eMTB.
Sadly, there isn’t an option to purchase an extended power lead, as for my eMTB use, the seat post bottle cage position does not allow for permanent mounting system to be used, as the OE battery lead is not long enough. For normal down tube mounting, this is not an issue.
The light mounting bracket has really impressed me, with just how well that it grips around the handlebars, and with several different length restraint straps being supplied, there is never going to be a mounting issue. Once the bracket has been set up and adjusted, there is no need or requirement to touch it again. It also takes just seconds to clip the light onto or remove, and in operation there is no shake or unwanted movement. Onto a major complaint though. The light recently fell from the bike, and hit the ground at about 25mph. I had first thought that this was because I hadn’t clipped the light in place properly. This wasn’t the case at all, as when I stopped and looked, the clip that should have been attached to the light, was actually still attached to the mount. What had actually happened was that the factory installed fitting that goes directly onto the light had come unscrewed and separated itself from the light. Luckily despite hitting a road at speed, the light wasn’t broken but did suffer major scratches. I can’t say that I was overly amused though, as this should not have happened.
The light is clearly quite a size, but I don’t see that as any concern or issue. I’d more than likely have been disappointed, if it had of been.
In use, I quickly found a couple of aspects of the light that I didn’t like though. It has a distracting and pointless orange glow of light on either side, and the green battery indicator lights, are rather bright. Fitting tape over both, quickly sorted that one out, but it is something that Magicshine should address.
I wasn’t so sure that I would really use the remote switch, given that it takes little effort just to use the control buttons on the light unit itself. In fact, I was very wrong about that, and just being able to switch between modes without removing the hand from the handlebar, has proved a brilliant and safe option, and the unit just falls naturally to hand. I’d rather that it was mounted between the grip and shifter position, but the rubber band is too long for that option, and padding it out, didn’t work very effectively. A bolt on remote would be better. Actually, a lot better, as I used the light on a different bike a week ago and lost it! The grip on the bike hadn’t been wide enough, and the rubber attachment clearly not tight enough.
Initially with so many mode and power options, the light is slightly daunting to use, but once you have worked out what works best for any given situation, you just leave it alone and just run through the power settings, be this for brightness or battery saving.
I cannot really find bad thing to say about this light, and I have really tried to think of something. I can go out, put the best part of three to four hours of riding time in, and still only have to recharge the battery pack after every other ride. The sheer brightness of beam, and beam pattern, mean that running the light at full beam, just becomes a luxury, rather than a necessity. I have also never used a light that picks out so much fine detail whilst offering such superb beam distance.
Crunch time though, is whether I would buy an identical light should this one ever fail. Answering truthfully, I would probably look at one of the smaller sized lights from the range, but would have no hesitation in sticking with the Magicshine brand.
Up until September 2017 my light of choice has been a Fenix BT20, which had a modified battery pack fitted, utilising 6x18650 cells, over the Fenix OE 2 cell pack. Two cells are probably fine for on road riding where a low power setting can be utilised, but the OE 2cell pack never met my off-road requirements, and let me down on more than one occasion. The light has served me well though, but after four years of abuse and an incident involving the front wheel, I had reluctantly been using a cheapo Ebay light which was far from ideal as the available beam was not been wide enough, and there have been several other aspects about it which I have not liked, and as a result my off-road night riding fun has been spoilt. Don’t be fooled by claims on forums that state “the best light” etc, as these cheap Chinese lights are not a good substitute for a quality branded light.
Bringing things up to date… Since its release I have had a hankering for a Magicshine Eagle F3, as it meets several requirements that are lacking in other lights.
Whilst lights secured by a rubber band might serve their purpose for many, this hasn’t always been my findings, and the Magicshine Eagle F3 has to my mind, possibly one of the best mounting system currently available from any cycle torch manufacturer. Being mounted rigidly and centrally to the handlebar, fixing to either side of the stem, it is in the optimum possible position. The fact that the light can be clipped into place in seconds, and removed in seconds whilst the mount remains, was another draw for me.
The next major appeal is the battery pack itself and its mounting system. The pack uses an ingenious mount, that can be either secured directly to a bottle cage mount, or held in place in a more traditional way using two Velcro straps which are passed through the mount, then attached around the cycle frame. The battery pack itself is separate to the mount and simply clips into place. It might only be a minor inconvenience, but I find it a chore having to unstrap and remove a battery pack after a wet and muddy night ride before washing down the bike. With a clip-in system for both the light unit, and the battery pack, post ride bike cleaning when freezing cold and wet, might just become easier.
Whilst I have found 6x 18650 battery packs just about okay for the average night ride of between two to three hours long, the Magicshine Eagle has 8x 1650 cells, which would allow more of a range of power settings to be used.
Having a remote switch may be of benefit, but that wasn't high on my list of priorities.
Something that is high on my list of priorities is the range of settings and spread of beam. For my riding, I don’t necessarily require an intense spot beam, preferring instead to have a wider field of vision. The Magicshine Eagle F3 doesn’t disappoint with its vast range of available settings, so there is certainty in finding exactly the right lighting mode for any given situation.
Online reviews have been very favourable, and with the decision made, and daylight hours rapidly diminishing, time had come to take things further. Bonita from Magicshine UK has been exceedingly accommodating to my many questions, and to this end, I now look forward to not only taking delivery of a Magicshine Eagle F3 now that they are back in stock, but also being given the chance to
provide a long-term review of the torch. Winter riding is just about to become a much brighter prospect.
Long term use…
I have now been using this light approximately three nights a week, and I can really only say that I am totally impressed by it.
Fitting was as expected, an effortless affair, and Magicshine were kind enough to also give me a second mount, so that I could quickly and easily change from bike to bike. Analogue to eMTB.
Sadly, there isn’t an option to purchase an extended power lead, as for my eMTB use, the seat post bottle cage position does not allow for permanent mounting system to be used, as the OE battery lead is not long enough. For normal down tube mounting, this is not an issue.
The light mounting bracket has really impressed me, with just how well that it grips around the handlebars, and with several different length restraint straps being supplied, there is never going to be a mounting issue. Once the bracket has been set up and adjusted, there is no need or requirement to touch it again. It also takes just seconds to clip the light onto or remove, and in operation there is no shake or unwanted movement. Onto a major complaint though. The light recently fell from the bike, and hit the ground at about 25mph. I had first thought that this was because I hadn’t clipped the light in place properly. This wasn’t the case at all, as when I stopped and looked, the clip that should have been attached to the light, was actually still attached to the mount. What had actually happened was that the factory installed fitting that goes directly onto the light had come unscrewed and separated itself from the light. Luckily despite hitting a road at speed, the light wasn’t broken but did suffer major scratches. I can’t say that I was overly amused though, as this should not have happened.
The light is clearly quite a size, but I don’t see that as any concern or issue. I’d more than likely have been disappointed, if it had of been.
In use, I quickly found a couple of aspects of the light that I didn’t like though. It has a distracting and pointless orange glow of light on either side, and the green battery indicator lights, are rather bright. Fitting tape over both, quickly sorted that one out, but it is something that Magicshine should address.
I wasn’t so sure that I would really use the remote switch, given that it takes little effort just to use the control buttons on the light unit itself. In fact, I was very wrong about that, and just being able to switch between modes without removing the hand from the handlebar, has proved a brilliant and safe option, and the unit just falls naturally to hand. I’d rather that it was mounted between the grip and shifter position, but the rubber band is too long for that option, and padding it out, didn’t work very effectively. A bolt on remote would be better. Actually, a lot better, as I used the light on a different bike a week ago and lost it! The grip on the bike hadn’t been wide enough, and the rubber attachment clearly not tight enough.
Initially with so many mode and power options, the light is slightly daunting to use, but once you have worked out what works best for any given situation, you just leave it alone and just run through the power settings, be this for brightness or battery saving.
I cannot really find bad thing to say about this light, and I have really tried to think of something. I can go out, put the best part of three to four hours of riding time in, and still only have to recharge the battery pack after every other ride. The sheer brightness of beam, and beam pattern, mean that running the light at full beam, just becomes a luxury, rather than a necessity. I have also never used a light that picks out so much fine detail whilst offering such superb beam distance.
Crunch time though, is whether I would buy an identical light should this one ever fail. Answering truthfully, I would probably look at one of the smaller sized lights from the range, but would have no hesitation in sticking with the Magicshine brand.
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