Real Magicshine on a Real Bike
Sorry for the lateness of this, I wanted to give the issue some time to pan out. I have discussed my ideas with a few people (most of them Magicshine owners) and none of them think their light is dangerous.
Okay it’s time to start discussing this in more detail. I have a few reservations about everyone getting all whipped up about these lights being “recalled” when in fact they haven’t been recalled as of yet. In the interest of disclosure I must admit I work for a shop that sells Magicshine lights. We do not directly compete with Geomangear.com but some people will think we are trying to kick a man while he is down. I believe Geoman has done well by and for the mountain bike community as a whole and wish him all the luck and success. I also feel that healthy competition will drive the market towards even better and more cost-effective product.
Lets explore this “recall’ a little further. First off I have searched CSPC’s website for recalls and could not find any info on this. I was able to find a recall from Easton, Seattle Bicycle Supply (Redline), The Hive etc, but nothing for Magicshine from geomangear.com.
So here is my main problem with this whole thing: Geomangear.com has sold thousands of these things. It’s very apparent by the amount green lit controls you see on the trails these days. But why would you recall every single battery pack when you supposedly have only three incidents? I understand they seem to have been serious problems, but there has been no documentation as to what the actual problem has been.
It has been brought to my attention that even three incidents is unacceptable. I truly believe that as well. What I can’t stomach is that fact that so much alarm has been raised with people expecting these things to blow up, catch fire, melt skin etc. I honestly can say that we need to weigh the facts here.
1: A CSPC recall has not actually been issued: This to me says that by US Consumer Safety standards that these lights have a low enough failure rate to be considered safe. We all know the CSPC takes its job of protecting American consumers very seriously.
2: Geomans website refers to having three incidents, with minor property damage reported: Not knowing the circumstances around the failures it’s hard for us as consumers to form an opinion for ourselves. Property damage can mean several things. In our litigious society one might consider property damage a stained garage floor (think the mark a firework might leave…and it doesn’t have to be explosive) What I’m getting at here is do we know if any of the issues arise from user error? Or did these three people use the product exactly as stated and instructed by Geoman? This is where I give Geoman the benefit of the doubt. It’s not his fault if some Fred decides to leave his battery on the charger for 2 days, or worse wants to try to test his run time without actually riding…air flow keeps these systems as a whole from over heating.
3: I have been in contact with the Magicshine factory in China and they claim Geoman wants brand name batteries spec’d, and they have no notice from the CSPC as to their product being dangerous.
(1) Well the CSPC needs time to evaluate the problems. BULLSHIT! If houses, bikes and people were burning, dying or whatever other associated ills with this the CSPC would be all over it. We all know we live in a sensationalized media driven society, do you think that if anyone caught news of houses burning down it would only be reported on MTBR.com and geomangear.com?
(2) But Geomangear is recalling these himself, why would he want to give up all the sales and let everyone think these are not safe? The answer for some may not be cut and dry, but if you think about the fact that these have had run time issues, and you are trying to get the factory to spec better batteries (that your engineers developed) you have a lot at stake in this. Why not make everyone that has one of these think they will melt your face or worse; melt your bike or home.
(3) How do we know the factory in China isn’t lying? Well we don’t but it’s fair to consider both sides of the story. It’s not far-fetched to me anyways, that a company may try to force their hand on an issue like this. It may be a way to get people thinking any other person selling a Magicshine light is immoral, or worse intentionally trying to harm consumers. That’s simply not the case.
There have been many theories tossed around with this whole issue and I for one do not believe that in most cases there is an imminent danger to person or property with Magicshine lights. That’s not to say there will never be an issue with them, or any other item that uses rechargeable batteries. Let’s just keep this whole thing in perspective, these lights are from China and cost less than a $100 (808) and less than $125 (816).
On this scale and price point you are not going to get the latest in battery matching technology or battery charging. In the cycling industry consumers have always wanted the best of both worlds, they want cheap and they want the best. I can’t always work that way. I think Magicshine has come very close to striking that balance between value and performance. They are great lights and no matter where yours came from use it and have some fun night riding.
*Action*
So the first thing I noticed was the really tall A-C. My 29er wheel fit with this no problem and plenty of room to spare. The second thing which sticks out to me is this Steel frame doesn’t use a 27.2mm seat post. I think it’s a 30.6mm but don’t know for certain.
The overall look is very clean the paint is a great color with it’s mild metal flake in it. The charcoalish color with the crimson and gold graphics give it a nice classic look.
The fork on this thing really makes the overall look of the bike come together. The crown with the Bee graphic looks killer. All though Haro surprised me again with the fork not having a drastic taper to the dropouts like other rigid steel forks do. I think the overall theme of this particular bike design is tough and rugged while maintaining a refined and classic look at the same time.
People have been questioning the need and validity of a bike that’s not a 26″ or 29″ wheeled design. Well I do have high hopes for this being a very fun bike to ride. Whether or not we “need” another wheel size in the US is not a relevant question for me. Ride what you have and ride what you like, and don’t worry about change. In the bike industry it’s good. Remember when people were asking why we needed suspension? In my case I don’t but I still like checking out other ideas and designs when I can!
