@@overbikedrandonneuring yeah, I ride through traffic at night. I constantly want a flash feature that doesn't require going through all the settings. Teslas and big trucks seem to be the worst offenders. The button thing was what made me consider
@@pip119 I completely agree. I've had drivers notice my light is brighter than their headlights. I aim it more towards the ground. But it's good to know people can see me on intersections and expect me to be a car and not a cyclist
@@alexibarra4675 try waving your hand across the front of your main headlight (causing it to blink in the eyes of the viewer)…seems to work a large majority of the time for me when an oncoming vehicle has its brights on - guess the driver gets the hint.
I have the same light, it's amazing! The app is clutch. Even 35% is crazy bright in the city. It's great to be seen. I put the remote next to my shift lever and can quickly change to high beam going through dark, no street light areas. Fantastic light.
Can you do a little experiment for me... lay the light outside of your car on the ground and take the remote inside the car and see if it still works. I'm thinking of buying this as a light for lighting the ground when rockcrawling a 4x4, but I need it to be controlled form inside the car.
I commute daily with this light in the morning and its really good. the balance point is good so it doesnt really move around at all. Might be the best light i own for the money
Glad to hear you enjoy it as much as I do. I'd be curious to put it up against the $200+ lights in a similar class. I wouldn't be surprised of the EVO beam pattern was at or near the top in quality.
Really helpful to see the beam comparisons. There is clearly some "magic" going on with the beam direction/focus. I actually have the magicshine RN3000, and the lowest (rated 300L) mode isn't sufficient for anything at speed. That being said, it has a solid 750L mode rated for 13+ hours, allowing one to ride through the entire night (and more) on a single charge. I would definitely recommend the RN3000 to other randonneurs who have longer night requirements. I bought two for less than the price of the Exposure Strada (which I found performed worse on a battery test). As a bonus it can be used as a battery pack to charge your headunit/phone.
The RN3000 looks beastly! There is a significant advantage in efficiency and perceived brightness when the beam has even intensity across its area versus a spotlight effect. The hot spot in the middle of a spotlight make the dimmer areas seem unlit. Better anti-glare protection for oncoming traffic too. I would love if they paired the lens of the EVO series with a larger battery and stronger LED like the RN3000 or Ray2100. The form factors of those lights is probably preferable to many users too.
Love it I will keep this in mind for my 2024 season. I love it comes with a Garmin/wahoo mount freeing up that valuable handlebar space. What aero extensions do you have on in the video that looks like just what I’m looking for her much the same in profile to what I’m use it on my tribike
@bricenoh it does work, but should only be done when absolutely needed. Thru charging can affect long term battery health even on devices that support the function. Based on my limited knowledge of how it works, lower power settings would be ideal.
If I encountered their website outside of this review, I would have chalked up many of the claims to marketing hype. But your review sealed the deal, and I ordered one. Thank you for taking the time to do the video.
@jimmccorison cheers, thank you for watching. Glad you got to use the discount code too. I was interested in the light when reviews for it first came out, but it was unclear at the time if it supported pass thru charging so i moved along. Glad that feature was eventually confirmed.
I'll have to check that one out, specifically for my recumbent and use of that remote. I've been using an Outbound Lighting setup for years (their previous lights with separate battery) and they are simply amazing. The bummer for the recumbent is, as you've noted, the button is out by your feet; not something to toggle on/off at a whim. Their beam pattern is so nice, and has a soft fade out all the way to the side. Your Magicshine seems to be a bit bright right in front of you and a fairly hard cutoff to the sides, but that could also be camera issues not too noticeable IRL.
Cheers, it should work well for a recumbent. Just be sure to get a long enough mount to give space for clipping it in and out. There is very little interference with pedal shadows with how it's mounted on my Orca. The Outbound can always be moved to another bike. I like their design a lot, but with shipping, the exchange rate, and import duties it would cost me an absolute fortune. The side cutoff is sharp and accurately represented in the video footage, which is both a pro and a con in some ways. The beam intensity at long distances at high and low beam, and the sharpness of the horizontal cutoff was underrepresented in by video though.
I got the same one and I thought the mount was defective. I dropped it on rumble strips out on the road while speeding down and it dropped and bounced a lot of times. The light was still good and realized the mount wasn’t snapped in. Sure there are dings on the edges of the light but it still functions flawlessly and it’s all good now…
I have this light. Agreed it has a great beam, but main drawback is it doesn’t really last very long - about 2 hours on full or 4 on lower power - not really enough for Audax events. Other thing about it is that mount is a real bugger to remove the light for charging once you have a bit of road dirt splattered into it. RN3000 will last the quoted 50+ hours on a bright enough setting to see potholes but beam shape not so great.
Is that on high setting + high beam? I had great results using the app to set low beam to 35%. High setting low beam also more or less meets claimed run time, but is too short for audax events.
Thanks for showing the comparison with the Lumintop flashlight. The Lumintop doesn't have the best light quality but it looks worlds better compared to the EVO. The color rendering is better and it looks more natural, while the EVO looks blue, low contrast, the edges have a green-yellow halo due to projector hosing and there's an ugly blue spot in the middle. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. The Lumintop also has a standard replaceable battery that you can change on the go while the EVO has who knows what and it's not replaceable. I really wanted the EVO, but the Lumintop looks like a better buy. Especially if you consider that you can use it as a handheld flashlight and the LED can be changed for a better one.
The Lumintop color warmth is quite nice on the eyes for sure. My old B&M Ixon IQ Premium is really cool toned and almost blue. The Evo 1700 is slightly cool. I prefer warmth for eye comfort, but I do feel a slight improvement in overall visibility from neutral/slightly cool LEDs. I'd love to see Lumintop do a more powerful light with a similar shaped reflectors. A dual 21700 battery package would be awesome. I actually have a dual 18650 battery powered light coming in for review soon. It uses a simple diffuser for optics, but has high/low beams from 2 LEDs. I'm quite curious how it will perform.
@overbikedrandonneuring Sounds cool, I'll check it out. I'm into flashlights and once you see a beam from a quality flashlight all these biking lights look bad, even many expensive ones. I wish they would spend a few bucks more to get quality LEDs. Besides the beam shape and quality, there's the color temperature, tint and color rendering index. You can check the temperature on a pice of white paper to see if the beam is blue, green, purple etc. and CRI by shining the light on something red. Low quality LEDs won't even show red. For instance, a pigeon on the street that has been hit will not be bloody and you might see it as a brown spot that looks like dirt. You might think that you don't need to brake since it's just a bit of dirt and then you get blood over your bike and yourself 😂 The EVO looks cool because it has even light across output, which gives the perception of more light but if you look at the Lumintop it has a brighter spot in the middle, like on cars, so you can see in the distance. There's also more spill closer to the rider so you can see things right on front of you. I hope that in future models of the EVO they at least update the LEDs because the form factor and the hi beam future seems cool. I'm afraid that the Lumintop will slide around since I'm looking to buy it for a mountain bike. One more thing, while they all brag with high lumens, 90% don't have the claimed output and all of them drop the output after a few minutes. In that form factor around 500 lumens is the maximum sustainable output.
@@westsenkovec Thanks for the input. What are some lights under 300 grams you would describe as having high quality LEDs that meet those characteristics you described? The Lumintop mount is not exactly confidence inspiring for MTB haha
I can vouch for magicshine! I have the monteer 4500 taillights: seemee 30(red/white)v1, seemee 180 and seemee 300. Imight get the monteer 12000 next year. 😊
I first heard of them over 10 years ago on a forum. Many forum members loved the quality and power of their ultra bright MTB style lights. Really glad Magicshine moved into the road light space and is now offering lights with proper cutoffs and shaped beams. It's a big step up from spotlight torches with inadequate anti-glare ridges on the lens. The Monteer 12000 looks like an absolute unit! 2500 lumens of road-safe beam would be quite nice.
I noticed it's "underslung" is it practical or possible to have it "top mounted" so the mount is on the bottom and the light on top or is it to heavy and will tip down? Thanks for the video!
Cheers! With any shaped beam, light is thrown such that the top of the beam is wider and more intense to function better at a distance. These lights must always be oriented properly. Go Pro mounting helps give the EVO1700 flexibility in mounting, but a light like the Lumintop BO1 has even more versatile options since it can be rotated within its mount.
Did you consider the RN1500? Upsides relative to the EVO1700 seem to be, bigger battery (5000mah using a 21700), can be mounted on a helmet and the fact that you can use it as a powerbank to charge other things. As an adventurer cyclist and baby-randonneur, I really like having things that can play double-duty and also some built-in redundancy across devices. Downsides: 20g heavier, less of an extreme aspherical (cutoff) beam pattern and specific to me, not really made to be mounted upside down.
I have historically ignored lights with conical reflectors due to their odd light intensity distribution and questionable cutoffs. They require more power to approach the effectiveness of shaped beams for on-road riding. I rarely ride off road, where their qualities shine. I have enjoyed the Lumintop BO1 which is similar to the RN1500, but with a shaped beam. I recently got a traditionally designed light for review though (Gaciron Raptor 1800), and it has a soft cutoff and diffuser lens that are rather effective. It uses 2 18650 batteries and can mount above or below the bars. It overperformed expectations, but needs some programming tweaks to reach its full potential. Still, it greatly improved my opinion on what can be done with basic optics solutions.
@ have you tried the Towild Dlite 1800? Might be a nice middle ground: 5000mah, two optics (flood and spot), power bank functionality and can be mounted both ways (the mount is removable and the mount track is symmetric).
this is great! thanks for this. on the hunt for a better rear light, especially for nighttime long-distance riding. would love to see your recs on that.
Thanks! I have tried many different rear lights and never been happy haha. I keep mine on constant mode all day and night, which isn't supported well. I use 3 rear lights and cycle through which is on and which is charging. I'll look into it more.
I was given a used garmin varia that I don’t use with Bluetooth to keep it lasting long (ride with a glasses mirror which I just like better). Light works pretty well on most rides, don’t know an exact lifespan but it feels pretty long
Enjoyed the video. It would be great to see a video on how to use lights correctly in the various situations such as higher beam when descending, or low beam when riding through a well lit area. Bike lights have come along way since I first did Randonneur riding in the 80's, but they also have a long way to go. Again enjoyed the video.
Thank you! Good idea to show it more in use on the road. I will try to include that in future light reviews. I agree with light development. I was a bit sad that my IQ Premium light was so outclassed that I edited out it's beam footage from the video. It really is irrelevant now. But that means progress has occurred! I hope it continues, but I think the current limit is battery technology. One thing I noticed in research and testing is that lumens-hours of output per watt-hour of battery capacity is about the same across light models. What separates the best lights from the rest is they use that battery power efficiently by distributing their lumens evenly and with well designed beams like the EVO1700.
Got one. £45. Works well but can drop off power fairly quickly on flash. Buy the model CBL1600. It's still MagicShine just a different code. Beware the front press button. Mine did a roadside bounce test and survived! App is good and adaptable. Remote dip control is a bit temperamental. You will not regret buying this light.
Thanks for the comment! I believe that flash mode uses lots of power. I emailed Magicshine and they confirmed the CBL1600 and EVO1700 are the same model with a different name. The EVO has a higher listed spec on high beam by 100 lumens, but they didn't imply it was actually stronger. I've found the mount has a tactile click when installed, but it does sometimes feel in place before the click confirms that. Glad it survived the bounce test. I'm sure I'll bugger up the installation sooner or later.
I have it on my handlebars, and like it but i have a basket that i also use from time to time and it blocks the light when i do use the basket...i have to have a light above my handlebars... For the daytime use low dim and the high beam to be more useful...
I like the remote switch for the hi/lo beam, but the fact that there's no removable battery and it uses an app kills it for me. I'll stick with my Fenix BC26R!!
The app is totally optional. The only real use of it is to customize the light settings which is basically set and forget. And I'm using the powerbank to extend the battery so it doesn't need to be removable in many scenarios ;)
I also prefer removable batteries. The performance of the EVO1700 overpowers that preference though. There are some weight and packaging advantages to using the packet type Li-Ion battery. For what it's worth, I didn't even install the app until a few months of use. If you do a lot of road riding, I strongly recommend a light with a shaped beam and proper cutoff rather than a spotlight type light.
Do you do any MTB? Think this would be bright enough for pitch black forest? Running full strength highbeam will not be an issue, as night rides are 1 hour max.
I don't do MTB, so I can't really comment on those needs. Most MTB lights illuminate the ground and the environment though, so I think the cutoff of the EVO 1700 even on high beam would be too restrictive for MTB use. Needing to light up more area, good MTB lights would need more lumens than road lights, and benefit from flood beams. I would look into the Magicshine Monteer or MJ series. They have lots of power, appropriate beams, and they mount the battery separate from the light body. This should prevent the light from jostling during hard hits. My discount code still works on those too. Cheers!
@overbikedrandonneuring thanks man, I got the Monteer 3500 to replace a broken MJ906, but I'm not happy with the spread on it. The MJ was much better in that regard. On MTB you want a flood on the bars, and a spot on your head. The Monteer is too spotty.
@@toth.42 Checking the specs, I see the Monteer have a 21/32 degree angle, while the MJ was just 32 degrees. Makes sense that the Monteer is a bit more spotty. Wish I could be more helpful for you. I'd be curious what you find as a good value replacement for the MJ. Aside from MagicShine, brands that focus on value seem to have a limited appetite for building any lights for 'advanced' performance. Prices double or triple for European equivalents.
Does the app allow you to lower the intensity of the day flash? My current light, the Sigma Buster 1100 has a day flash that lasts like 50 hours (really. a 10 hour ride loses like 20% of the battery.) Also: is there a battery indicator on the light, or is it one of those guessing game deals?
@louisrafaelcom yes the app allows choosing high beam, low beam, and flash modes, as well as intensity. There are battery indicator lights on the power button and a more specific reading in the app.
I got the Lumintop B01 from one of your reviews last year. Would you say that the Evo would be a good upgrade? Or would you say I should just wait until the B01 dies on me and afterwards just grab the Magicshine. Nice video!
Thank you! I would call that a budget choice. The EVO is an upgrade for sure, but the BO1 on high is still quite nice and has the option to quick swap a battery.
thanks for the review! that thing is awesome! too bad i always have the gopro on the mount and otherwise i have aero handlebars (canyon) so mounting it (again...) will be very difficult :-(
@@outandaboutwithMAMO Ooph, tough scenario for you. Would a light with a mount like the Lumintop B01 work for you? I was contacted by a brand that makes lights using the choice of a similar mount to the B01 or a Go Pro mount for over or under the bars. I can get one of their powerful high battery capacity models in for review.
@KathB-b5y yes, the power button is on the side opposite the charge port. Double tap to change from low to high beam and back. You can pair the remote control once the light is on by following the instructions
I would love to compare the 1100, 1300, and 1700. I don't have budget to buy them at the moment, but if Magicshine wanted to send some out I would do a comparison. Battery size for my riding context is the biggest worry for the smaller lights though. Otherwise they look great. I would have to splurge if they put this lens on a chassis with a 8000 or 10000 mah battery.
@overbikedrandonneuring yes. It's a focused beam of light. Just like a flashlight. The magicshine has a much wider spread but the output is nowhere near as much as the ion pro.
@KaushikNSanji I've never had the light fall off, and my roads have lots of speed bumps and rough surface sections. I also use 33mm tires and a Vecnum stem though.
Magicshines new evo 1100 video someone asked if it can be running and charging at same time they replied "yes but it will damage the battery so we do not advise this" guessing the same with the 1700 not worth damaging an expensive light even though is cheaper it's still not Cheap!
Yes, pass thru charging is best avoided even when devices (like power banks) advertise support for the function. It is still a critical option to have available when ultra distance cycling though. That's one reason high performance at my 8 hour run time target is important for any front light I use.
I can't solve one problem: can't see an indicator when I turn on the light unintentional during daylight. Had a bad situation at 300 km BRM when my magicshine went low on battery in a dark time because it turned on earlier. I couldn't wait for charging because here in Ukraine we have a marshal law and limited time to ride at night (until 00 -00).
Sorry to hear about that experience. The indicator on this model is on the power button and is hard to see from a typical mounted position. I haven't used other Magicshine front lights, but this one seems unlikely to accidentally get turned on in the daytime. It does support pass-thru charging using a battery bank, which can help.
It is not ant+ compatible, so you can't see battery life on a Garmin. Currently, there is only ant+ standard for lightning, no Bluetooth standard. It is compatible with GoPro mounts though
Can you (or anyone) tell me if a single remote will switch on 2 of those lights?, need 2 for a cargobike Great video! I searched a while and this is exactly what i need for my Cargo bike that has not included Lighting from the Ebike battery!
does it actually lasts for as long as they advertise it "okay" temperature of about 17-20C? I have lezyne macro drive, which has huge battery, but it does not as long as they say it on the packaging
The ANSI test is at 25C but allows the light to reach a mere 10% of it's original brightness. There is also a bit of variation I've noticed when testing run times. My indoors tests typically surpass the ANSI test, but real life use tends to be about the same in normal weather, and about 10% short in the cold.
Lumintop B01 in Medium mode is slightly below 250 lumens and on High around 450 lumens, dont know where did you took the numbers from but they are incorrect. There are tons of review sites which measured this (budgetlightforum for example has plenty) Also i dont understand why are you giving battery run time on Lumintop if we dont even know what battery are you using, you could be using 18650 with 4000mAh capacity or 21700 with 5000mAh capacity and there will be big difference.
Thanks for the feedback. 320 lumens was from the Lumintop claim on their website, but I was mistaken with 600 lumens on high. Their claim is 520. Sorry for the mistake; I'll try to overwrite that text if RUclips facilitates that and will otherwise add that to the video description. In general, I aim to take manufacturer claims at face value, and try to ensure those claims can be proven or disproven with direct, indirect, or comparative measurements. Here, even if I correctly posted the 520 lumen claim, a low performing outcome is evident in the beam test. Though now that I think of it, I do have a lux meter and color detector on my phone, and proper Lux meters are not too expensive. I know it is possible to use an 18650 in the BO1, but the current website only mentions and tests with a 21700, which was also included in my package when I purchased the light. Additionally, the 18650 battery has no place in the BO1 for the use case my channel focuses on, long distance cycling. Thanks again for the feedback. I always appreciate criticism that helps me improve content.
One downside, the app doesn't work with Android 15 currently. Also the app has an overall 1 star rating with over 200 reviews which is impressive, but not in a good way. Apparently mainly because it's extremely aggressive with the permissions it requires.
You may want to have a look at the EVO1300 then. It uses a similar beam and similar LED, but a Garmin style underneath mount. Unfortunately it has a 20% smaller battery too. I would jump on a version like that if they used a bigger battery. magicshine.com/products/evo-1300-bike-light?ref=overbiked I've seen the posts about the tab breaking, and I suspect it is user error. However, the design invites user error in a few ways. Overtightening the Go Pro bolt can damage the plastic tab. I have been using an aluminum go pro mount off AliExpress which is more stiff than the provided plastic mount, and may prevent damage to the tab better. The clip to unclip the light from the tab needs some tactile feedback to let the user know it is actually unclipped. Otherwise it is easy to pull on the light when still attached to the tab, which can stress it. Lastly, trying to adjust the light angle while riding puts lots of pressure on the tab. It is important to stop, loosen the bolt, adjust, then retighten. While I've had mine for 8 months with no issues, an aluminum tab would be welcome.
Pass thru charging is best avoided even when devices (like power banks) advertise support for the function. It is still a critical option to have available when ultra distance cycling though. That's one reason high performance at my 8 hour run time target is important for any front light I use.
A downside for sure, but there are some weight and form factor advantages to using permanent batteries. I assume there are packet type batteries in there. The superior performance vs. my BO1 overrides that the BO1 has replaceable batteries.
Instead repeating your fear of offending oncoming traffic for the umpteenth time, it would have been nice if you could have told us how long each high beam setting lasts on battery...
6, 3, and 2 hours according to Magicshine documentation. I consider it irrelevant to the context of road cycling though as it should only be used temporarily when descending. There are a few values I hope to passionately advocate for long distance cyclists with my channel. Using high quality, considerate lighting is one of them. Don't blind oncoming traffic or other cyclists on the bike path, and don't set rear lights to blinking patterns. I'll be on my soapbox about blinking rear lights once I find a rear light good enough to share. Low gearing, data based pacing, insulation from vibration, eating lots, and avoiding sleep deprivation are also topics of passion for me, if you are interested in the channel.
@overbikedrandonneuring ooh I am very interested to see how blinking lights trigger you! Seems like the whole point of a rear facing visibility led is to draw attention
Ok, but thats not a Magicshine Evo 1700. Looks like fake product from china. Magicshine has "Evo 1700" on left side. Cheap fake lights from aliexpress has "CBL1600" - like yours.
@goldrent3217 the name cbl 1600 was used in Asian markets when the light came out. And guess what? I live in Korea! Amazing how these things work. Also, please explain why it works with the magic shine app.
@@tomasztomaszewski9275 As seen in the video, mine is labeled CBL1600. I emailed Magicshine and they said, "CBL1600 and EVO 1700 are actually the same product, just with different name and high beam max lumen rating... There are no meaningful differences."
Do you have a link? I'm always looking for the best equipment and good deals. For road riding though, I demand an effective cutoff to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic for my own safety. An even intensity of beam instead of a spot light hot spot beam is also just more effective use of battery and nicer on my eyes. If you haven't experienced that in a light before, maybe reconsider calling the EVO a POS.
@@overbikedrandonneuring I BUILD MY OWN lights from any light pod or e bike lights, just get a water proof connector for the switch, super simple, I get 2000 lumens for under 50 bucks. Even the wuben tac lights that go on sale for 17 bucks, and a go pro and gamrin bar mount would be better than this magishine, another thing is the magishine battery is not removable or standard so you are just promoting e waste.. Id rather have the emmiter and lense with a simple 18650 holder strapped to the frame
@ca5ualm3dia you should post a video of how to make the light. Looks like an interesting project. There are a few ideas I've toyed with where a DIY light with remote battery might make a lot of sense.
@@overbikedrandonneuring THE magishine lens looks cool , but really anyone can order a light pod from amazon, they range from 15 bucks to 150, I just get a 12v battery with a protection chip. most of them are 12v thats the only real issue. One guy has already made 4 videos with different systems, you can choose from a wide range of beam patterns. He used power tool batteries ( they are more expensive than diy lithium packs and I try to aim for 44ah to 6 ah , 8 would be great too! If I had 50 to 75 bucks for a light I wouldn't want one that has internal battery ever, I rather have a 18650 or 2700 water proof cell holder.
I hope it serves you well. You can stay awake riding through the whole night, so you will really test the battery capacity. We should get some 90 degree USB-C cables for better aerodynamics with in-line charging.
Bold of you to assume I don’t want to blind on coming traffic. Tesla’s are about to feel my Wrath
The high beam button on the remote functions surprisingly well at letting cars know their brights are on.
@@overbikedrandonneuring yeah, I ride through traffic at night. I constantly want a flash feature that doesn't require going through all the settings. Teslas and big trucks seem to be the worst offenders. The button thing was what made me consider
The only purpose of traffic at night is to ruin your night vision. Honestly 😅
@@pip119 I completely agree. I've had drivers notice my light is brighter than their headlights. I aim it more towards the ground. But it's good to know people can see me on intersections and expect me to be a car and not a cyclist
@@alexibarra4675 try waving your hand across the front of your main headlight (causing it to blink in the eyes of the viewer)…seems to work a large majority of the time for me when an oncoming vehicle has its brights on - guess the driver gets the hint.
I have the same light, it's amazing! The app is clutch. Even 35% is crazy bright in the city. It's great to be seen. I put the remote next to my shift lever and can quickly change to high beam going through dark, no street light areas. Fantastic light.
Can you do a little experiment for me... lay the light outside of your car on the ground and take the remote inside the car and see if it still works. I'm thinking of buying this as a light for lighting the ground when rockcrawling a 4x4, but I need it to be controlled form inside the car.
-- *Thank you Overbiked Randonneuring!*
I commute daily with this light in the morning and its really good. the balance point is good so it doesnt really move around at all. Might be the best light i own for the money
Glad to hear you enjoy it as much as I do. I'd be curious to put it up against the $200+ lights in a similar class. I wouldn't be surprised of the EVO beam pattern was at or near the top in quality.
I now have two of these amazing headlight. They are awesome. Good company backing them too.
Really helpful to see the beam comparisons. There is clearly some "magic" going on with the beam direction/focus. I actually have the magicshine RN3000, and the lowest (rated 300L) mode isn't sufficient for anything at speed. That being said, it has a solid 750L mode rated for 13+ hours, allowing one to ride through the entire night (and more) on a single charge. I would definitely recommend the RN3000 to other randonneurs who have longer night requirements. I bought two for less than the price of the Exposure Strada (which I found performed worse on a battery test). As a bonus it can be used as a battery pack to charge your headunit/phone.
The RN3000 looks beastly! There is a significant advantage in efficiency and perceived brightness when the beam has even intensity across its area versus a spotlight effect. The hot spot in the middle of a spotlight make the dimmer areas seem unlit. Better anti-glare protection for oncoming traffic too. I would love if they paired the lens of the EVO series with a larger battery and stronger LED like the RN3000 or Ray2100. The form factors of those lights is probably preferable to many users too.
Love it I will keep this in mind for my 2024 season. I love it comes with a Garmin/wahoo mount freeing up that valuable handlebar space. What aero extensions do you have on in the video that looks like just what I’m looking for her much the same in profile to what I’m use it on my tribike
The Evo 1700 works while charging if i understand correctly; do you know up to what setting or lumens?
@bricenoh it does work, but should only be done when absolutely needed. Thru charging can affect long term battery health even on devices that support the function. Based on my limited knowledge of how it works, lower power settings would be ideal.
If I encountered their website outside of this review, I would have chalked up many of the claims to marketing hype. But your review sealed the deal, and I ordered one. Thank you for taking the time to do the video.
@jimmccorison cheers, thank you for watching. Glad you got to use the discount code too. I was interested in the light when reviews for it first came out, but it was unclear at the time if it supported pass thru charging so i moved along. Glad that feature was eventually confirmed.
I'll have to check that one out, specifically for my recumbent and use of that remote. I've been using an Outbound Lighting setup for years (their previous lights with separate battery) and they are simply amazing. The bummer for the recumbent is, as you've noted, the button is out by your feet; not something to toggle on/off at a whim. Their beam pattern is so nice, and has a soft fade out all the way to the side. Your Magicshine seems to be a bit bright right in front of you and a fairly hard cutoff to the sides, but that could also be camera issues not too noticeable IRL.
Cheers, it should work well for a recumbent. Just be sure to get a long enough mount to give space for clipping it in and out. There is very little interference with pedal shadows with how it's mounted on my Orca. The Outbound can always be moved to another bike. I like their design a lot, but with shipping, the exchange rate, and import duties it would cost me an absolute fortune.
The side cutoff is sharp and accurately represented in the video footage, which is both a pro and a con in some ways. The beam intensity at long distances at high and low beam, and the sharpness of the horizontal cutoff was underrepresented in by video though.
That’s one of the best beam patterns I’ve seen on a bike light. Great review!
The current price on Amazon for the EVO 1700 is $183.55 😕.
@@monkeyrc7541 I paid £45 for my CBL1600 by Magicshine which is the same model. Had it 6 months. That's about $50USD. Choice was black or white body.
I think the king kong 6 series ray 1500 has a better beam over this though for even less $
I got the same one and I thought the mount was defective. I dropped it on rumble strips out on the road while speeding down and it dropped and bounced a lot of times. The light was still good and realized the mount wasn’t snapped in. Sure there are dings on the edges of the light but it still functions flawlessly and it’s all good now…
I have this light. Agreed it has a great beam, but main drawback is it doesn’t really last very long - about 2 hours on full or 4 on lower power - not really enough for Audax events. Other thing about it is that mount is a real bugger to remove the light for charging once you have a bit of road dirt splattered into it. RN3000 will last the quoted 50+ hours on a bright enough setting to see potholes but beam shape not so great.
Is that on high setting + high beam? I had great results using the app to set low beam to 35%. High setting low beam also more or less meets claimed run time, but is too short for audax events.
Thanks for showing the comparison with the Lumintop flashlight. The Lumintop doesn't have the best light quality but it looks worlds better compared to the EVO. The color rendering is better and it looks more natural, while the EVO looks blue, low contrast, the edges have a green-yellow halo due to projector hosing and there's an ugly blue spot in the middle.
Once you see it, you can't unsee it. The Lumintop also has a standard replaceable battery that you can change on the go while the EVO has who knows what and it's not replaceable. I really wanted the EVO, but the Lumintop looks like a better buy. Especially if you consider that you can use it as a handheld flashlight and the LED can be changed for a better one.
The Lumintop color warmth is quite nice on the eyes for sure. My old B&M Ixon IQ Premium is really cool toned and almost blue. The Evo 1700 is slightly cool. I prefer warmth for eye comfort, but I do feel a slight improvement in overall visibility from neutral/slightly cool LEDs. I'd love to see Lumintop do a more powerful light with a similar shaped reflectors. A dual 21700 battery package would be awesome. I actually have a dual 18650 battery powered light coming in for review soon. It uses a simple diffuser for optics, but has high/low beams from 2 LEDs. I'm quite curious how it will perform.
@overbikedrandonneuring Sounds cool, I'll check it out. I'm into flashlights and once you see a beam from a quality flashlight all these biking lights look bad, even many expensive ones. I wish they would spend a few bucks more to get quality LEDs. Besides the beam shape and quality, there's the color temperature, tint and color rendering index. You can check the temperature on a pice of white paper to see if the beam is blue, green, purple etc. and CRI by shining the light on something red. Low quality LEDs won't even show red. For instance, a pigeon on the street that has been hit will not be bloody and you might see it as a brown spot that looks like dirt. You might think that you don't need to brake since it's just a bit of dirt and then you get blood over your bike and yourself 😂 The EVO looks cool because it has even light across output, which gives the perception of more light but if you look at the Lumintop it has a brighter spot in the middle, like on cars, so you can see in the distance. There's also more spill closer to the rider so you can see things right on front of you. I hope that in future models of the EVO they at least update the LEDs because the form factor and the hi beam future seems cool. I'm afraid that the Lumintop will slide around since I'm looking to buy it for a mountain bike. One more thing, while they all brag with high lumens, 90% don't have the claimed output and all of them drop the output after a few minutes. In that form factor around 500 lumens is the maximum sustainable output.
@@westsenkovec Thanks for the input. What are some lights under 300 grams you would describe as having high quality LEDs that meet those characteristics you described?
The Lumintop mount is not exactly confidence inspiring for MTB haha
04:00 - to adjust the light you can stand in front of a wall (or whatever vertical flat surface) and adjust it.
For sure. I do that any time the light gets moved from bike to bike, but I get it wrong every time haha.
I can vouch for magicshine! I have the monteer 4500 taillights: seemee 30(red/white)v1, seemee 180 and seemee 300. Imight get the monteer 12000 next year. 😊
I first heard of them over 10 years ago on a forum. Many forum members loved the quality and power of their ultra bright MTB style lights. Really glad Magicshine moved into the road light space and is now offering lights with proper cutoffs and shaped beams. It's a big step up from spotlight torches with inadequate anti-glare ridges on the lens. The Monteer 12000 looks like an absolute unit! 2500 lumens of road-safe beam would be quite nice.
I noticed it's "underslung" is it practical or possible to have it "top mounted" so the mount is on the bottom and the light on top or is it to heavy and will tip down? Thanks for the video!
Cheers! With any shaped beam, light is thrown such that the top of the beam is wider and more intense to function better at a distance. These lights must always be oriented properly. Go Pro mounting helps give the EVO1700 flexibility in mounting, but a light like the Lumintop BO1 has even more versatile options since it can be rotated within its mount.
Did you consider the RN1500?
Upsides relative to the EVO1700 seem to be, bigger battery (5000mah using a 21700), can be mounted on a helmet and the fact that you can use it as a powerbank to charge other things. As an adventurer cyclist and baby-randonneur, I really like having things that can play double-duty and also some built-in redundancy across devices.
Downsides: 20g heavier, less of an extreme aspherical (cutoff) beam pattern and specific to me, not really made to be mounted upside down.
I have historically ignored lights with conical reflectors due to their odd light intensity distribution and questionable cutoffs. They require more power to approach the effectiveness of shaped beams for on-road riding. I rarely ride off road, where their qualities shine. I have enjoyed the Lumintop BO1 which is similar to the RN1500, but with a shaped beam.
I recently got a traditionally designed light for review though (Gaciron Raptor 1800), and it has a soft cutoff and diffuser lens that are rather effective. It uses 2 18650 batteries and can mount above or below the bars. It overperformed expectations, but needs some programming tweaks to reach its full potential. Still, it greatly improved my opinion on what can be done with basic optics solutions.
@ have you tried the Towild Dlite 1800? Might be a nice middle ground: 5000mah, two optics (flood and spot), power bank functionality and can be mounted both ways (the mount is removable and the mount track is symmetric).
this is great! thanks for this. on the hunt for a better rear light, especially for nighttime long-distance riding. would love to see your recs on that.
Thanks! I have tried many different rear lights and never been happy haha. I keep mine on constant mode all day and night, which isn't supported well. I use 3 rear lights and cycle through which is on and which is charging. I'll look into it more.
I was given a used garmin varia that I don’t use with Bluetooth to keep it lasting long (ride with a glasses mirror which I just like better). Light works pretty well on most rides, don’t know an exact lifespan but it feels pretty long
Enjoyed the video. It would be great to see a video on how to use lights correctly in the various situations such as higher beam when descending, or low beam when riding through a well lit area. Bike lights have come along way since I first did Randonneur riding in the 80's, but they also have a long way to go.
Again enjoyed the video.
Thank you! Good idea to show it more in use on the road. I will try to include that in future light reviews.
I agree with light development. I was a bit sad that my IQ Premium light was so outclassed that I edited out it's beam footage from the video. It really is irrelevant now. But that means progress has occurred! I hope it continues, but I think the current limit is battery technology. One thing I noticed in research and testing is that lumens-hours of output per watt-hour of battery capacity is about the same across light models. What separates the best lights from the rest is they use that battery power efficiently by distributing their lumens evenly and with well designed beams like the EVO1700.
Got one. £45. Works well but can drop off power fairly quickly on flash. Buy the model CBL1600. It's still MagicShine just a different code. Beware the front press button. Mine did a roadside bounce test and survived! App is good and adaptable. Remote dip control is a bit temperamental. You will not regret buying this light.
Thanks for the comment! I believe that flash mode uses lots of power. I emailed Magicshine and they confirmed the CBL1600 and EVO1700 are the same model with a different name. The EVO has a higher listed spec on high beam by 100 lumens, but they didn't imply it was actually stronger. I've found the mount has a tactile click when installed, but it does sometimes feel in place before the click confirms that. Glad it survived the bounce test. I'm sure I'll bugger up the installation sooner or later.
I have it on my handlebars, and like it but i have a basket that i also use from time to time and it blocks the light when i do use the basket...i have to have a light above my handlebars...
For the daytime use low dim and the high beam to be more useful...
A must buy if yellow is your favorite color.
I like the remote switch for the hi/lo beam, but the fact that there's no removable battery and it uses an app kills it for me. I'll stick with my Fenix BC26R!!
The app is totally optional. The only real use of it is to customize the light settings which is basically set and forget. And I'm using the powerbank to extend the battery so it doesn't need to be removable in many scenarios ;)
I also prefer removable batteries. The performance of the EVO1700 overpowers that preference though. There are some weight and packaging advantages to using the packet type Li-Ion battery.
For what it's worth, I didn't even install the app until a few months of use. If you do a lot of road riding, I strongly recommend a light with a shaped beam and proper cutoff rather than a spotlight type light.
Do you do any MTB? Think this would be bright enough for pitch black forest? Running full strength highbeam will not be an issue, as night rides are 1 hour max.
I don't do MTB, so I can't really comment on those needs. Most MTB lights illuminate the ground and the environment though, so I think the cutoff of the EVO 1700 even on high beam would be too restrictive for MTB use. Needing to light up more area, good MTB lights would need more lumens than road lights, and benefit from flood beams.
I would look into the Magicshine Monteer or MJ series. They have lots of power, appropriate beams, and they mount the battery separate from the light body. This should prevent the light from jostling during hard hits. My discount code still works on those too. Cheers!
@overbikedrandonneuring thanks man, I got the Monteer 3500 to replace a broken MJ906, but I'm not happy with the spread on it. The MJ was much better in that regard.
On MTB you want a flood on the bars, and a spot on your head. The Monteer is too spotty.
@@toth.42 Checking the specs, I see the Monteer have a 21/32 degree angle, while the MJ was just 32 degrees. Makes sense that the Monteer is a bit more spotty. Wish I could be more helpful for you. I'd be curious what you find as a good value replacement for the MJ. Aside from MagicShine, brands that focus on value seem to have a limited appetite for building any lights for 'advanced' performance. Prices double or triple for European equivalents.
Interested in the 3000 lum mj902se magicshine
Does the app allow you to lower the intensity of the day flash?
My current light, the Sigma Buster 1100 has a day flash that lasts like 50 hours (really. a 10 hour ride loses like 20% of the battery.)
Also: is there a battery indicator on the light, or is it one of those guessing game deals?
@louisrafaelcom yes the app allows choosing high beam, low beam, and flash modes, as well as intensity. There are battery indicator lights on the power button and a more specific reading in the app.
My Magicshine rear light stopped charging within 6 months.
I got the Lumintop B01 from one of your reviews last year. Would you say that the Evo would be a good upgrade? Or would you say I should just wait until the B01 dies on me and afterwards just grab the Magicshine. Nice video!
Thank you! I would call that a budget choice. The EVO is an upgrade for sure, but the BO1 on high is still quite nice and has the option to quick swap a battery.
thanks for the review!
that thing is awesome!
too bad i always have the gopro on the mount and otherwise i have aero handlebars (canyon) so mounting it (again...) will be very difficult :-(
Do you have to use lights with flexible straps for mounting?
@@overbikedrandonneuring yes at the moment i'm driving light with rubber bands...
@@outandaboutwithMAMO Ooph, tough scenario for you. Would a light with a mount like the Lumintop B01 work for you? I was contacted by a brand that makes lights using the choice of a similar mount to the B01 or a Go Pro mount for over or under the bars. I can get one of their powerful high battery capacity models in for review.
Is there a power switch on the light itself??, just bought one, Instructions are of little use and the remote doesn't turn it on
@KathB-b5y yes, the power button is on the side opposite the charge port. Double tap to change from low to high beam and back. You can pair the remote control once the light is on by following the instructions
@overbikedrandonneuring thank you
Can you maybe try do a comparison with the evo 1100 and evo 1700 please?
I would love to compare the 1100, 1300, and 1700. I don't have budget to buy them at the moment, but if Magicshine wanted to send some out I would do a comparison. Battery size for my riding context is the biggest worry for the smaller lights though. Otherwise they look great. I would have to splurge if they put this lens on a chassis with a 8000 or 10000 mah battery.
Nice video though, how do you change the battery in remote control 🤔
@889811 thanks! It uses a watch battery and is easily swappable
I bought it to try and don't like it at all. The bontrager ion pro rt that I had been using for years throws a much more usable light imo.
Thanks for your input. Are there any specific things you prefer about the Ion RT? Perhaps more intensity over a smaller area?
@overbikedrandonneuring yes. It's a focused beam of light. Just like a flashlight. The magicshine has a much wider spread but the output is nowhere near as much as the ion pro.
Heard that the light unit can fall off when not riding on smooth roads like potholed roads and trails. Does it happen that way with this light?
@KaushikNSanji I've never had the light fall off, and my roads have lots of speed bumps and rough surface sections. I also use 33mm tires and a Vecnum stem though.
@@overbikedrandonneuring Good to know. Thank you for the nice review again!
Magicshines new evo 1100 video someone asked if it can be running and charging at same time they replied "yes but it will damage the battery so we do not advise this" guessing the same with the 1700 not worth damaging an expensive light even though is cheaper it's still not Cheap!
Yes, pass thru charging is best avoided even when devices (like power banks) advertise support for the function. It is still a critical option to have available when ultra distance cycling though. That's one reason high performance at my 8 hour run time target is important for any front light I use.
I can't solve one problem: can't see an indicator when I turn on the light unintentional during daylight. Had a bad situation at 300 km BRM when my magicshine went low on battery in a dark time because it turned on earlier. I couldn't wait for charging because here in Ukraine we have a marshal law and limited time to ride at night (until 00 -00).
Sorry to hear about that experience. The indicator on this model is on the power button and is hard to see from a typical mounted position. I haven't used other Magicshine front lights, but this one seems unlikely to accidentally get turned on in the daytime. It does support pass-thru charging using a battery bank, which can help.
Perfect timing for us Europeans
Does it pair up to a Garmin Edge computer? It would be nice to monitor the battery level on the screen.
Magic shine 1700SD has garmin compatability
@@mikecoffee Thanks! I was unsure about that.
It is not ant+ compatible, so you can't see battery life on a Garmin. Currently, there is only ant+ standard for lightning, no Bluetooth standard. It is compatible with GoPro mounts though
Can you (or anyone) tell me if a single remote will switch on 2 of those lights?, need 2 for a cargobike
Great video! I searched a while and this is exactly what i need for my Cargo bike that has not included Lighting from the Ebike battery!
It is unlikely that a single remote can control both lights, but email Magicshine for confirmation. Thank you for the kind words!
does it actually lasts for as long as they advertise it "okay" temperature of about 17-20C? I have lezyne macro drive, which has huge battery, but it does not as long as they say it on the packaging
The ANSI test is at 25C but allows the light to reach a mere 10% of it's original brightness. There is also a bit of variation I've noticed when testing run times. My indoors tests typically surpass the ANSI test, but real life use tends to be about the same in normal weather, and about 10% short in the cold.
Lumintop B01 in Medium mode is slightly below 250 lumens and on High around 450 lumens, dont know where did you took the numbers from but they are incorrect. There are tons of review sites which measured this (budgetlightforum for example has plenty)
Also i dont understand why are you giving battery run time on Lumintop if we dont even know what battery are you using, you could be using 18650 with 4000mAh capacity or 21700 with 5000mAh capacity and there will be big difference.
Thanks for the feedback. 320 lumens was from the Lumintop claim on their website, but I was mistaken with 600 lumens on high. Their claim is 520. Sorry for the mistake; I'll try to overwrite that text if RUclips facilitates that and will otherwise add that to the video description.
In general, I aim to take manufacturer claims at face value, and try to ensure those claims can be proven or disproven with direct, indirect, or comparative measurements. Here, even if I correctly posted the 520 lumen claim, a low performing outcome is evident in the beam test. Though now that I think of it, I do have a lux meter and color detector on my phone, and proper Lux meters are not too expensive.
I know it is possible to use an 18650 in the BO1, but the current website only mentions and tests with a 21700, which was also included in my package when I purchased the light. Additionally, the 18650 battery has no place in the BO1 for the use case my channel focuses on, long distance cycling. Thanks again for the feedback. I always appreciate criticism that helps me improve content.
Is the battery replaceable?
No, it's a permanent battery, but does support pass thru charging. I do not think it is serviceable.
One downside, the app doesn't work with Android 15 currently. Also the app has an overall 1 star rating with over 200 reviews which is impressive, but not in a good way. Apparently mainly because it's extremely aggressive with the permissions it requires.
the fact that the bracket is known to break on these make it a no deal for me. seems perfect otherwise which is unfortunate.
You may want to have a look at the EVO1300 then. It uses a similar beam and similar LED, but a Garmin style underneath mount. Unfortunately it has a 20% smaller battery too. I would jump on a version like that if they used a bigger battery. magicshine.com/products/evo-1300-bike-light?ref=overbiked
I've seen the posts about the tab breaking, and I suspect it is user error. However, the design invites user error in a few ways.
Overtightening the Go Pro bolt can damage the plastic tab. I have been using an aluminum go pro mount off AliExpress which is more stiff than the provided plastic mount, and may prevent damage to the tab better.
The clip to unclip the light from the tab needs some tactile feedback to let the user know it is actually unclipped. Otherwise it is easy to pull on the light when still attached to the tab, which can stress it.
Lastly, trying to adjust the light angle while riding puts lots of pressure on the tab. It is important to stop, loosen the bolt, adjust, then retighten.
While I've had mine for 8 months with no issues, an aluminum tab would be welcome.
Apparently it has a weak bracket and the app is meh....I think I will give this a miss.
Magicshine say inline charging will damage the battery don't run it like this.
Pass thru charging is best avoided even when devices (like power banks) advertise support for the function. It is still a critical option to have available when ultra distance cycling though. That's one reason high performance at my 8 hour run time target is important for any front light I use.
This light seems almost optimal; I wish it had a replaceable battery.
A downside for sure, but there are some weight and form factor advantages to using permanent batteries. I assume there are packet type batteries in there. The superior performance vs. my BO1 overrides that the BO1 has replaceable batteries.
Instead repeating your fear of offending oncoming traffic for the umpteenth time, it would have been nice if you could have told us how long each high beam setting lasts on battery...
6, 3, and 2 hours according to Magicshine documentation. I consider it irrelevant to the context of road cycling though as it should only be used temporarily when descending.
There are a few values I hope to passionately advocate for long distance cyclists with my channel. Using high quality, considerate lighting is one of them. Don't blind oncoming traffic or other cyclists on the bike path, and don't set rear lights to blinking patterns. I'll be on my soapbox about blinking rear lights once I find a rear light good enough to share.
Low gearing, data based pacing, insulation from vibration, eating lots, and avoiding sleep deprivation are also topics of passion for me, if you are interested in the channel.
@overbikedrandonneuring ooh I am very interested to see how blinking lights trigger you! Seems like the whole point of a rear facing visibility led is to draw attention
Ok, but thats not a Magicshine Evo 1700. Looks like fake product from china. Magicshine has "Evo 1700" on left side. Cheap fake lights from aliexpress has "CBL1600" - like yours.
@goldrent3217 the name cbl 1600 was used in Asian markets when the light came out. And guess what? I live in Korea! Amazing how these things work. Also, please explain why it works with the magic shine app.
@@overbikedrandonneuringdo you have CBL 1600 or Evo 1700?
@@tomasztomaszewski9275 As seen in the video, mine is labeled CBL1600. I emailed Magicshine and they said, "CBL1600 and EVO 1700 are actually the same product, just with different name and high beam max lumen rating... There are no meaningful differences."
its an over priced POS, you will do better with a 30 dollar light pod set and an external battery packl!
Do you have a link? I'm always looking for the best equipment and good deals. For road riding though, I demand an effective cutoff to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic for my own safety. An even intensity of beam instead of a spot light hot spot beam is also just more effective use of battery and nicer on my eyes. If you haven't experienced that in a light before, maybe reconsider calling the EVO a POS.
@@overbikedrandonneuring I BUILD MY OWN lights from any light pod or e bike lights, just get a water proof connector for the switch, super simple, I get 2000 lumens for under 50 bucks.
Even the wuben tac lights that go on sale for 17 bucks, and a go pro and gamrin bar mount would be better than this magishine, another thing is the magishine battery is not removable or standard so you are just promoting e waste..
Id rather have the emmiter and lense with a simple 18650 holder strapped to the frame
@ca5ualm3dia you should post a video of how to make the light. Looks like an interesting project. There are a few ideas I've toyed with where a DIY light with remote battery might make a lot of sense.
@@overbikedrandonneuring THE magishine lens looks cool , but really anyone can order a light pod from amazon, they range from 15 bucks to 150, I just get a 12v battery with a protection chip.
most of them are 12v thats the only real issue.
One guy has already made 4 videos with different systems, you can choose from a wide range of beam patterns. He used power tool batteries ( they are more expensive than diy lithium packs and I try to aim for 44ah to 6 ah , 8 would be great too!
If I had 50 to 75 bucks for a light I wouldn't want one that has internal battery ever, I rather have a 18650 or 2700 water proof cell holder.
Time to throw my old light made by Giant into a trash can. This looks pretty good to use for my future long distance ride! 🎉
I hope it serves you well. You can stay awake riding through the whole night, so you will really test the battery capacity. We should get some 90 degree USB-C cables for better aerodynamics with in-line charging.
@@overbikedrandonneuring Oh 90 degree USB-C is a good point to know. On my way to get it as well. Can't wait to see and meet you again for KORA BRM! 😛
@@kwon8483 Winter will be long. Looking forward to sharing the road again!