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Magicshine Evo 1700 Underneath Mounted Bike Light
216g £79.99
The Magicshine Evo 1700 Underneath Mounted Bike Light is a commuter model aimed at road audiences. One capable of a retina tickling 1700 lumens while consuming minimal bar space. I’ve been impressed with its compact size, features, comprehensive accessories and build quality-especially given the asking price. For all its charms, it shares the limitations common to this genre and a couple that struck me as unnecessary cost cutting.
Pros: Very compact, comprehensive kit, remote switch as standard, sensible spread of modes.
Cons: Limited run times in highest settings, relatively long charge times, no auto kickdown, remote mount merits minor revisions, road centric beam pattern may limit the appeal.
Specification
As I said in my opening paragraph, this is impressive. Not so long ago, lights with this sort of output meant a large external battery pack either tethered beneath the top tube or hogging a bottle cage. The main light measures 42x46x53mm and meets IPX6 for weatherproofing and is made primarily from anodised aluminium alloy (the rear section is made from composite), which is not only rugged but serves as a heat sink, ensuring diode, battery and switchgear long and productive lives.
Ours was black but there’s also white, should you prefer. Talking of switchgear, on one side of the body sits the power and mode switch, the other a USB C charge port. There are three categories of mode, working to the low and high beam principle employed by car and motorcycles. Night and day flash being the third.
Low beam is 200 (11hours), 400 (5hrs 30) and 800 lumens (3hrs). High beam is 400 (6hrs), 800 (3hrs) and 1700 lumens (2hrs). Finally, we have two flashing-0-1700lumens depending on conditions (5hrs) and a night flash 400-1700lumens (3 hrs 30). A sensible spread that should cater for most contexts. This is projected through a polycarbonate lens. This also employs double layer light calibration technology, which ensures an even spread of light, in both high and low beam.
In common with other high power lighting systems, the EVO1700 employs a thermal cut out. This means the circuit will automatically drop the power, should the temperature reach a certain point. Beyond this and the unit will automatically shut down.
The integral 4000mAh lithium-ion battery is fit n’ forget so the unit bin fodder once the battery is spent. With sensible charging and basic care, it should last a good few seasons and certainly won’t owe you anything.
Switches
The main switch is suitably positive, so accidental power ups and mode changes are a moot point. It also employs a charge/battery life indicator- useful when refuelling from your desk but of little use in the saddle, given the light’s positioned beneath the bars.
Thankfully, there’s the remote, which tethers via Velcro and a rubberised foot to the bars, or indeed lever hoods, to suit. This is wireless for added convenience and fuelled by a CR2032 cell- easily bought pretty much anywhere. Before you get carried away, it will need pairing. Not an ordeal but best done when you’re not in any rush. Switch on the lamp, and press the remote’s buttons for 10 seconds, or until the indicator alternately flashes blue. Place light and remote close until both indicators turn constant blue for two seconds.
I’m not convinced this also meets, IPX6 but it feels solid and is hoisted safely away from grot. A quick lick of silicone grease, or squirt of water displacer now and then should keep the elements at bay. Sensibly sized buttons (which are also illuminated and loosely communicate battery charge in the traditional green/red code) are easily operated in full finger gloves. Toggling between beam strength and output is similarly reliable. Better still it will also switch the light on/off and from a good six feet!
The mount is certainly better than many I’ve seen at this end of the market and indeed, dearer too. It’s composite, Go-Pro type and places the light a good distance from the bars, although could well still collide with bigger bar bags.
The lamp itself attaches via a 3mm stainless steel bolt pre-treated with Thread lock and an end nut. This only requires a 3mm key, so no issues should you need to nip it tight by the roadside. Continuing the tidy narrative, there’s a Garmin platform up top for your GPS/computer. The lamp is easily removed for charging, or to prevent theft by pressing the centre panel and pulling backwards. Re-fitting is equally simple, and the bracket is reassuringly limpet-like. Straightforward but again, give this a few dry runs before you need to lock up in the street etc.
There are three sizes of shim (25, 28 and 35mm) to securely grip different standard bar diameters but some fine tuning may be needed should you have an unusual diameter, or pattern. In my experience mounting to the bars’ widest diameter and against the stem is most secure (and arguably neatest).
This uses a 3mm Allen key, a common staple on multi tools. I was a little concerned the composite mount might prove a bit whippy and vulnerable to low level vibration. This proved unfounded, even along gravel roads.
Output 3.25/5
In a nutshell, good but not great and this is something I attribute to the road centric beam pattern, rather than output per se. I would’ve preferred something more traditional, which would’ve allowed better prowess off road and along pitch black lanes given the high/low beam function. Unleashing the full 1700 lumens I’ve managed a respectable 22mph or so with a decent view of conditions ahead, but the flood and anti-glare cut off meant it in some contexts, it was harder to get a broad sweep of conditions ahead.
This was particularly palpable at bigger junctions, tackling bridlepath and similar. Contexts where models such as Ravemen LR1600 were noticeably superior, both at full power and indeed, medium.
In common with the Ravemen LR 1600, the Magicshine EVO 1700 is very bright, and acquaintances reckoned they could spot me from 200 metres.
Staying with unlit county roads, I have tended to drop to 800 lumens on the climbs, since (a) I’m grinding along between 10 and 15mph, (b) depending on the incline, won’t want to dazzle folks coming down the other side and (c) doing so saves a bit of juice into the bargain. 800 lumens are a little underpowered for the back of beyond, although still provided sufficient navigational clout for a steady 15mph, closer to 20mph in semi-rural contexts.
It’s still very bright, yet just the right side of assertive if you’ve forgotten to nudge down to the 400 lumens. All things being equal, 400 has just enough oomph for tackling semi-rural sections, at least on clearer nights to around 17mph. In low beam, its assertive through the suburbs, albeit possibly overkill on clear nights, where being conspicuous to other road users is key.
Anecdotally, other traffic seemed to respond at 150 metres, although night flash is the way forward if you’re really wanting to hold everyone’s attention-including HGVs and similarly big vehicles at larger roundabouts. I say flashing, but rather it’s a hybrid of 400 lumen steady and a sensor that will measure ambient light and produce up to 1700lumens of flash.
Other road users seemed to clock me at 200 metres, 125 or so around town, given the competing illumination. It’s also great for those contexts where you’ve been out longer than intended and need to conserve battery.
Not a limp home by any means, but a potential godsend, nonetheless. The daylight flash is another sensor led mode, which just flashes to suit conditions and arguably a good default for overcast winter days. As for the 200, well that’s bright enough for generic town, suburban and shared path contexts. Both flashing modes are very assertive. Some riders reckoned they could spot me at 550 metres plus and the odd trucker I chatted with talked in similar terms.
Run/Charge Times 3/5
These are faithful to those cited, give a minute or so here and there- at least tested between 20 and 10 degrees, although I’d expect a slight dip when temperatures tumble to single, or minus figures. I should also point out you can personalise output via their downloadable app, which is a welcome touch.
Familiarise yourself with the charge indicators or run the risk of being plunged into darkness. It’s not the easiest to keep an eye on mid-ride, either. Green denotes full to 21% charge, red down to 10% whereupon it starts flashing red and I’ve had ours shut down, where an auto kickdown to flashing, for example, is a missed opportunity. Zero to fully charged has been 5 hours from the OEM cable and PC port, bargain on 4.5 hours from the mains. Again, broadly in keeping with Magicshine’s claims.
Durability/Care 3.25/5
I’ve not hesitated to leave ours in situ when giving bikes a good sudsy bucket clean. Heavy rains haven’t made any impression, and the port cover prevents ingress. I’ve heard the odd small stone ping off when tackling unmade tracks- no calling cards. Not surprising, the EVO 1700 is very well made. Other than periodically checking the remote’s CR2032 cells for leakage and similar, it's a matter of keeping the integral lithium-ion cell charged and keep full discharges to a minimum.
Now, about the remote mount. I managed to lose the rubberised “foot” that when strapped down with the Velcro, braces it snug against the bars, or hoods. This happened mid ride but thankfully, the Velcro was tight enough that I didn’t lose the remote. My solution was to find another rubberised shim, trim it down and tether everything tight with a sturdy zip-tie.
Value 3.5/5
Niggles and limitations aside, the specification and build quality are talking points for less than £90 (presently discounted to £79.99). Like for like, you’re going to be comparing it with other brands from the Far East. Gaciron are another Chinese brand, which have some impressive models in their range. Their Raptor 1800 delivers 1800 lumens, meets IPX6 for weatherproofing includes a remote, reversible (up or under) bracket, low and high beam controls, and a much bigger battery for £157.60 (reduced to £63.03 at the time of review).
I remain a firm fan of the Ravemen LR1600 (in case it wasn’t obvious). Optical quality and beam pattern are markedly better, meaning I can click down to the 800-lumen mode and extend run times. I can also pop in a power bank and buy some more time. The remote is similarly pleasant to use and run times are still very faithful to those quoted a couple of years down the line. However, at £114.95, it’s also a bit dearer. Blackburn Day Blazer 1500 is £89.99. It produces 1500 lumens, meets IPX67 for weatherproofing and has a lifetime warrantee. However, there’s no remote and the “watch strap” type mount isn’t nearly so secure.
Moon Rigel Max is £89.99 another six-mode model producing a maximum of 1500 lumens. At 48x92x27mm is more compact than the LR1600 and features an intelligent brightness mode (so you can tune the light’s modes to suit your needs/riding contexts) and stop/start sensors. It also meets IPX7 for weatherproofing and a Garmin type mount may also curry favours. However, there’s no remote and the anti-dazzling lens lacks the performance of others.
Summary
The Magicshine EVO1700 is a generally solid and wallet friendly choice. One best suited to riders commuting, or training in the suburbs looking to let rip along the backroads now and then. In common with others of this genre, the highest 1700lumen setting does nasty things to run times. This is compounded by a lack of “limp home” auto kick down, so those primarily doing long steady miles along unlit roads should look elsewhere.
Verdict: 3.25/5 Good value compact light for road biased commuting and training but auto kick down and more secure switch mount would be welcomed.
Michael Stenning
Magicshine UK official powerful bike lights and Torches. - Magic Shine UK
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2024
