Price: £89.99 / $99.99
Max Lumens: 1700
Weight: 153.4g
Battery Life: 2-11hrs
There has been one thing of a shift in the most effective bike lights lately. Previously it’s simply been a matter of mounting a giant battery tube to your bars with a lightweight on the entrance of it and controlling all the pieces with a button. In current seasons I’ve seen a rising variety of good lights, with added computerized options, and lights with distant controls.
I lately reviewed the Magicshine Ray 2600B, which got here with an on-bar distant management, and whereas it wasn’t excellent – in truth the person interface was annoying sufficient to be nearly deadly – with the ability to management the beam simply with out reaching beneath the stem was very useful at instances.
It’s not the one distant management gentle I’ve been utilizing this winter although: Enter the Magicshine Evo 1700SD, a lightweight that’s designed solely to mount beneath a motorcycle laptop’s out-front mount, and may be managed utilizing the auxiliary buttons on Shimano Ultegra, Dura-Ace, and GRX Di2 shifters.
I’ve been utilizing it mounted on the entrance of a Pinarello Dogma F for a sequence of gloomy, darkish winter rides way back to Christmas and typically I’ve been fairly impressed. It’s not a lightweight that’s going to work for many of you, given the groupset constraints for one factor, however for these it does work for, I believe it’s bought rather a lot going for it.
Design and aesthetics
The Magicshine Evo 1700SD is actually probably the most unusual-looking bike lights I’ve seen. If you’ve spent any time with dynamo lights the enormous, single bulb might be a little bit extra acquainted and is paying homage to the likes of the Son Edelux II lamp. It’s vaguely cubic in type, with a wedge-shaped higher face and a big orb-like perspex bulb on the entrance that makes the entire thing resemble a tiny classic tv.
Inside the enormous bulb, you possibly can simply make out the primary beam LED strip, and the excessive beam further lamp. Please don’t be tempted to show it on whereas staring into it although – you’ll have a nasty time.
The Magicshine Evo 1700SD can solely be mounted pendulously, i.e. hanging down beneath a motorcycle laptop mount. It makes use of a GoPro model three prongs adapter, and whereas it’s probably not what it’s designed for you can make it match wherever with an M5 bolt (rack mounts, fork bosses and so on.) with the considered utility of an extended sufficient bolt and a few spacer washers. In any case, it’s a comparatively secure wager that anybody working Di2 these days is more likely to have an out-of-front laptop mount, so it’s not an excessive amount of of an obstacle to mount it beneath. In a pinch, a primary GoPro handlebar mount may also help you mount it to spherical bars straightforward peasy.
It must go the wrong way up as a result of it’s a formed beam, with a really outlined cutoff. It’s not StVZO compliant (the German system for authorized bike lights), however successfully achieves the identical factor insofar because it’s designed to light up the street forward with out dazzling different street customers. You can mainly have it pointing instantly at your face and so long as your eyes are under the cutoff line you received’t get dazzled. In concept, that is safer for different street customers (as they will see) and for you (they will see you’re there, however aren’t so dazzled they merely flatten you accidentally).
The occasion trick for the Magicshine Evo 1700SD isn’t the formed beam, or the mounting although, however the truth that it eschews the distant management that comes with the ‘customary’ Evo 1700 and as a substitute makes use of the auxiliary controls on the Shimano Di2 shifter hoods. Once paired the Evo 1700SD can have its brightness modified with the left auxiliary button, and the excessive beam switched on/off with the precise auxiliary button. These may be configured within the Magicshine app, however on the time of writing there’s no solution to obtain the app so don’t fear about that for now.
Given it’s going to be subjected to a whole lot of spray above the entrance wheel (until you’re utilizing mudguards) it’s a very good factor it’s IPX6 waterproof, which means it may possibly resist water jets from any course.
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Performance
Normally with bike lights, there isn’t quite a lot of setup rigmarole to undergo, and the entire course of may be summarised in two phases: 1) connect to the handlebar, and a couple of) flip it on. With good lights, it’s a little bit extra complicated, however on this occasion, part one was comparatively easy. The included GoPro adapter simply mounts to the feminine bit that was already beneath my laptop mount and the lamp itself slides into and out of it, locking in place with the big bar-shaped button on the entrance. It is a little bit sticky at instances, nevertheless it’s very safe.
Pairing can also be comparatively easy. I’ve had expertise drive me up to now up the wall at this level that I start to contemplate changing into Amish, however you get up the Di2 with a press of any of the shift buttons, lengthy press the ability button to activate the Magicshine Evo 1700SD in pairing mode (it’ll flash blue), and maintain it subsequent to the rear derailleur. Press the auxiliary buttons to verify it labored – in my case, it did immediately – and away you go.
In a lot the identical method as with the Ray 2600B the controls utilizing the Di2 buttons will not be the identical as on the sunshine itself, which solely has a single button. You can cycle the modes on the sunshine utilizing the button in a pinch, with a single press to alter brightness and a double press to toggle the excessive beam, however with the shifters the left button cycles depth and the precise cycles excessive beam on/off. Double-tap the left button and also you additionally toggle the excessive beam, double-tap the precise and you’ll cycle the flashing modes. It is, on this case, mercifully easy.
The gentle beam makes good use of the 1700 lumens, and because it has such a harsh cutoff it’s brighter than you would possibly count on at full energy as there aren’t any wasted images spilling out into the periphery. It will nonetheless flip with the bars, so on sharp junctions you might lose sight of issues that had been beforehand forward of you whilst you flip.
I’ve no problem with the brightness or the setup, and in use, I actually loved with the ability to management the beam depth with out ever having to take my fingers off the bars. Slap on excessive beam for a descent, scale back the brightness if you undergo a well-lit space to preserve the battery, you possibly can even flash your beams to thank different street customers in the way in which vehicles do.
Where issues get difficult is that if, like me, you even have your Di2 system paired to your laptop. With the Wahoo Ace and Bolt pairing the pc with the groupset means that you can see on display screen which gear you’re in, a knowledge discipline I very very similar to having, in addition to battery life. It additionally mechanically assigns the shifter buttons to alter the information screens. If you then pair the Magicshine Evo 1700SD with the Di2 system, if you press the auxiliary shifter buttons you each change your information display screen AND change the sunshine settings, so you must both decide one or set up some further satellite tv for pc shifters into the system, which is a much less sensible prospect for many customers.
For the length of the take a look at, I switched my laptop controls off, however I miss them, and if push involves shove I’d reasonably have the pc controls, and with it the flexibility to manage my music by way of the shifters than my gentle. If you aren’t fussed about controlling your laptop then I believe it’s an excellent possibility, however for everybody else the cheaper possibility with the wi-fi distant might be the higher alternative.
Quoted runtimes differ between 2 hours on the highest depth and 11 hours on the lowest. I didn’t see any cause to doubt this. In extra real-world situations than a managed rundown, the benefit of fixing the modes means I often caught it within the lowest depth after which simply cycled up for the quick instances after I wanted extra. This makes the battery use way more environment friendly than it will be with a lightweight you simply change on and overlook about for the length and hope it lasts.
Lastly, it does depend on having shifters with the auxiliary buttons inbuilt. While the Magicshine website states that it’s suitable with 105 rear derailleurs, you’d want to put in satellite tv for pc shifters on this case as 105 hoods don’t have the additional buttons as of but.
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Value
Say what you want about Magicshine lights, however the model does properly on the worth entrance. Considering the beam shaping, and the combination of Di2 controls, in addition to a really first rate construct high quality, the RRP of £89.99 / $99.99 for the Magicshine Evo 1700SD is fairly cheap. It’s actually a extra specialist lamp, and received’t swimsuit everybody, however if you’d like a really neat setup and very good management over your lights with out ever having to take your fingers off the bars then I believe it makes an ideal account of itself.
Verdict
If you need to management your lights by way of your Di2 shifters, and also you don’t have your laptop paired along with your Di2 system, then the Magicshine Evo 1700SD is a superb possibility.
Sadly although I don’t truly suppose there are that many riders on the market who’ve a Di2 groupset and aren’t making use of the pc integration, which means that the cheaper ‘customary’ Evo 1700 is probably going the higher alternative if you’d like a remote-operated, neat, cutoff-beam bike gentle.
Design and aesthetics | A really neat design, and properly executed, however so particular a use case to the detriment of versatility. | 7/10 |
Light high quality | I am unable to fault it right here, I’m a giant fan of the cutoff beam, and the excessive beam modes are helpful on descents. | 8/10 |
Control Scheme | Really good and really intuitive, bot provided that you do not have already got your laptop paired along with your groupset. | 8/10 |
Battery life and charging | Decent, however not world beating. | 7/10 |
Value | If it suits your wants then I believe it is a good purchase, however should you simply need the identical model of sunshine with extra versatility then purchase the cheaper one with a standalone distant included. | 7/10 |
Overall | Row 5 – Cell 1 | 74% |