I own a Flare RT. The Seemee 300 offers other advantage over the Flare RT that I appeal to me, including the USB-C, the under dome light and the mounting option from the seat rails. I like to do a lot of night riding and being well seen is a concern. I do have the Flare RT and I do like it. It appears that Magicshine not only took from the Flare's design but made many other improvements. I have multiply bikes and often go on rides with others. Having a second tail light for others is practical.
I got the 180 and it is perfect except for the small battery capacity and the Micro USB. Personally I only use the comet function which drains the most juice.i believe that constant illumimation with variable lumen output is the best way to see a cyclist and keep a safe distance from them, especially in low light conditions. Fast blinking ain't doing it for me. At least as a car driver I really prefer seeing the comet blink it helps me acquisit the location of the rider much faster and the longer shine of the mode makes it easier to calculate their distance and direction.
Glad to hear that. It's taken Magicshine awhile to catch up with USB-C charging ports on their Seemee tailights but it's finally here on the new model.
Received it and did not like it 😕 Very confusing with all those modes, and you never really understand which mode it is in. Way too complicated for a light and the downwards pulsing light is just annoying.
Sorry to hear that. Yes, there are still a few too many modes. I usually start counting from the constant modes to figure out which flash mode the light is in. The downward facing LED is cool for urban riding, but if you do more road cycling I think the Seemee 180 makes more sense, but it's still using the older micro USB charging port. @@mortenborg
I treat the Seemee 300 as a sort of super wide angle / wide area illum rear light. I have 2pcs of the 300 and mount them horizontally so that the opti-tracing LED faces sideways, one for left and one for right. Firing it towards the ground wastes lumens as it is inefficient. The light cut off for the opti-tracing bare LED matches the light cut-off of the wider angle TIR optic. I mount them on a horizontal bar that is below my saddle. Use some cable ties and small pieces of cardboard to stabilise the silicone strap and rear part of the mount so that if is nicely perpendicular. Either that or i can mount my 2pcs of RN120s if i so like it (I use the 120s on my kids and my helmet). I also have the wind&moon 40 / 80 lumen solid mode LED which is a lot more concentrated beam pattern (for just usd 7 it performs as well as the Flare RT) and i fire that one straight, for day light use only.
BTW I have devised a "hack" for getting more of the 300 lumens mode to be more visible than the very fast strobe in daylight. This can be manually enabled/selected, there is no need to be in the SMART mode + daylight conditions for the 300 lumens very brief strobe mode to be activated. Use a cable tie and a piece of PU foam and place the foam on the power button and under the cable tie. Tighten the cable tie so that the tie presses on the PU foam which in turn presses on the power button. What happens is that the power button can be held down continuously and the 300 lumen mode can either be continuous or flashing in a 50:50 fashion after 5 seconds. I would not recommend the continuous mode as it would be too power consuming, but 50:50 should be ok for the 1600mAh Lipo. I have tested it for 1 hour straight, no issue at all even at 28 deg C temps in the room with no wind cooling the aluminum casing, the casing is barely warm. Should not overheat the emitter or driver, or put too much stress on the Li-po which is capable of pretty high discharge rates and high current in the first place (lipos are by design capable of that). Else the 300 lumen day flash mode doing 35 hours is really not using the light in its fullest sense.
Great channel….I had bad luck with Seemee 200 as mine both died after three weeks of use.Just ordered a SeeShine icon 3 to replace them.Our local bike shop warned me that they were having a number of returns on the Magicshine products.
Sorry to hear about the issues with the Seemee 200s. Usually Magicshine has been really helpful with quick warranty replacements and we haven't had any issues with our lights for years now (one of our Seemee 60s broke a USB port years ago which was quickly replaced). It's funny that you mention See.Sense, their Beam headlight is a re-branded Magicshine Allty 1500 with some extra tech added to it.
I’ve had my SeeMee 200 and 100 single March of last year, consistently using it every other day. During the day or night, no matter the season, in the worst conditions (rain, flurries, hot, snow) they work perfectly.
BTW I have devised a "hack" for getting more of the 300 lumens mode to be more visible than the very fast strobe in daylight. This can be manually enabled/selected, there is no need to be in the SMART mode + daylight conditions for the 300 lumens very brief strobe mode to be activated. Use a cable tie and a piece of PU foam and place the foam on the power button and under the cable tie. Tighten the cable tie so that the tie presses on the PU foam which in turn presses on the power button. What happens is that the power button can be held down continuously and the 300 lumen mode can either be continuous or flashing in a 50:50 fashion after 5 seconds. Use a reusable type of cable tie, those that you can release the catch and re-use. I would not recommend the continuous mode as it would be too power consuming, but 50:50 should be ok for the 1600mAh Lipo. I have tested it for 1 hour straight, no issue at all even at 28 deg C temps in the room with no wind cooling the aluminum casing, the casing is barely warm. Should not overheat the emitter or driver, or put too much stress on the Li-po which is capable of pretty high discharge rates and high current in the first place (lipos are by design capable of that). Else the 300 lumen day flash mode doing 35 hours is really not using the light in its fullest sense.
Amazing Review! I actually bought one after seeing this. Just one doubt, the mount its not compatible with standard Garmin bases? I ask that because I have a seatpost garmin mount that i would like to use. Gives me more confidence than those silicone straps tipe ones...
No, the Magicshine lights used a miniaturized Garmin base. It's the same two tab design but a smaller diameter as the taillight is smaller than a normal computer. We haven't had issues with the rubber mounts and Magicshine sells replacements if you were to break the rubber straps overs time.
With 300 lumens, I think the Seemee 300 is more visible than the Flare RT. You would lose out on the Bluetooth connectivity features the Flare RT offers though (it can be connected to GPS computers or synced to the Commuter Pro RT headlight).
@@TheSweetCyclists the Seemee offers other advantage over the Flare RT that I will put to use, which includes the USB-C, the under dome light and the mounting option from the seat rails. I like to do a lot of night riding and being seen is a concern. I do have the Flare RT and I do like it. It appears that Magicshine not only copied the Flare's design but made many other improvements. I have multiply bikes and often go on rides with others. Having a second tail light for others is practical.
Hi, I just bought a seemee 300, a raveman tr350 and a cateye viz450. I have some question: with the seemee 300 there is no control of the downfacing led... so in the smart mode the light is always in night mode draining a lot of energy since the bottom led is on. This is useless and reduce the battery life. This is a great cons for me since I ride only on daytime!. Raveman tr350 is bulky and really ugly (old style) but has not the problem of the downfacing led draining energy during the daytime. .... but it seems to me that the brake sensor doesn't work so good ( but I only tried in my garage). What's your experince with the raveman tr350 brake sensor? Then I have also the viz450.... it seems to me a simple but effective light! Non sensors no so much modes but it's simple and has a good power! At the end which one you suggest best for road cycling in rural areas? I'd like to have the brake sensor function especially for trips with mates but the seemee is unusable due to the light sensor not working correctly.... the tr350 seems that has a brake functionality not ok..... so I am thinking to keep the simple but effective cateye viz450 ( also lighter). I like very much the seemee but I think is more for nightrider cause the downfacing led is always on! I hope you can help me to solve the seemee 300 issue or to suggest me which lamp is better to keep. Thanks
Great questions. Yes - you cannot disable the downward facing LED on the Seemee 300 so it does end up reducing battery life. The LED is always on in low light conditions. For that reason I think I still prefer the RAVEMEN TR350 / TR500 for rural riding. The RAVEMEN lights aren't pretty, but they are visible from long distances away and have great battery life.
For daytime riding, which do you think gets motorists attention best: SeeMee300 - Bontrager Flare RT - Moon 450? Assume cost is no issue with this safety item. Great channel, I just discovered you looking for a headlight for an upcoming gravel enduro - bought the RN 3000, hopefully it works out!
It's hard to say which one is most effective but the Moon Helix Sense 450 has been working well for me. You can see it from miles away. The Seemee 300's downward facing LED cannot be shut off so the runtimes tend to be lower (the light sensor is quite sensitive). Otherwise the Flare RT is always a good choice as it's compact and highly focused - but it's just not as bright as Magicshine / Moon.
Yes, 300 lumens is quite bright (we even have a 500 lumen Ravemen taillight review coming) but it's only a short burst. It's quite bright if you are riding right behind it, so the higher output modes are better for riding in traffic or rural roads.
I'm not sure I understand. If you have enough saddle post exposed under your saddle bag you can use the seatpost mount. Alternatively, you can use a saddlebag clip - magicshine.com/products/magicshine-tail-light-seat-pack-clip
Most taillights use a rubber strap design with a removable taillight component that has a twist on design (Garmin) or tab to attach it. Off the top of my head I think the Planet Bike Rojo is one of the few taillights I've seen that uses a bolt setup.
@@TheSweetCyclists Thx for answer. I see that the Niterider Vmax 150 is able to slide into the bracket. Maybe my question wasn’t clear. I meant to say that I like a tail light I can just slide into a holder. The holder itself can be a rubber strap. So not like Lezyne Strip Pro where you have to twist the rubber around the saddle post every time you need to bike. Keep on the great reviews. I’ve seen most of your videos now.
Thanks for the clarification, the Magicshine Seemee 300 and all the Seemee have that style two-piece design. It has a miniaturized Garmin style mount (your rotate it to lock it in place) so you can quickly remove the light while leaving the mount on the bike.
@@TheSweetCyclists yeah I’ve seen that. I don’t know where you are based. My guess is USA based in your videos. I am in Denmark and many of the tail lights you review I cannot find here in Denmark. I also want to support American and European companies so brand origin means a lot to me. Magicshine I can get but would love to find Niterider or Cygolite dealers in Europe. Just a tip. Maybe you can mention the brand history and country of origin in your reviews.
Really not a fan of this "lumen war" thing. The absolute best form factor is the Seemee 150, instead of adding more LEDs it just needs more focused main LED and separate COB/main modes. Garmin RTL series have 65 lumen and they are far more visible than any other lights.
While it's exciting to see brighter and brighter taillights, you're right that a highly focused LED is more efficient for long distance visibility. Even lights like the Light & Motion Vya Pro is visible as far as 2km away with only 100 lumen output.
Still no fast flash especially irregular flash pattern which is by far the most attention getting. Once again I’ll pass on this new light from them. They almost got it right. I’m a long time bike messenger in nyc and I’ve tested out every flash pattern there is and cars give you the most distance and slow the most down with fast irregular flash patterns like with the Super flash Turbo by Planet Bike. They have the perfect flash pattern and brightness. The worst flash patterns where cars go fast by you and extremely close to you are constant on and also slow pulse. Fast slash is good but not to fast where it just looks like it’s constant on basically, the best is irregular flash pattern though.
It would be great to know the proper name if there is one. As far as I can tell it's the same size as all the other Seemee taillights. There is a good chance it's compatible across brands as well, the simple tab design works really well.
Sorry to hear that. The lower leverl Seemee lights might be a better option for you then (Seemee 50 / 100 for example) as they have similar features but not nearly as bright.
The jacket looks black in the video, but it's actually the Ale Guscio Iridescent reflective jacket. It lights up when the light hits it at the right angle.
@@TheSweetCyclists I believe their point was that as a cyclist in traffic, you are dependent on drivers' peripheral vision since they're rarely looking right at you. Since peripheral vision tends to blend similar values together, to stand out, you need to be wearing bright colours. This is just as important if not more so during a sunny day, because as soon as you're in the shadow of a building or tree, you are basically invisible to drivers especially if their windshield isn't perfectly clean.
@@TheSweetCyclists Also: "when the light hits it at the right angle." That's the problem right there, because you're dependent on light hitting at just the right angle. What if you're not directly in their headlights? What if you're behind them? Or if they're making a turn and looking out a side window? What if their lights aren't even on? Wear bright fluorescent colours and stack the odds in your favour.
