Another rear light to add to my collection! I have a 'thing' about quality rear lights, and I like to have them on display on a shelf at home. I grab whichever one I fancy when I go out for rip. Nice review!
Thanks for another fine review. Your often review products that may not be well known, therefore providing a service to the biking community as well as the manufactures.👍
Been a flashaholic for many years. I figured that this light would be more useful if you were to cross pedestrian crossings or cross traffic junctions due to it's wider angle beam spread. From the stats and youtube videos on the local accident channel i have seen, this is where accidents happen the vast majority of the time, vehicles don't really rear end cyclists the majority of time vs the sides, as vehciles approaching straight from the rear in the same lane has much more time to ID the cyclists vs at cross traffic junctions or zebra crossings. I was torn between the Cygolite 350 but i think it is way more important to have visibility by vehicles that are much closer to you + at angle of say 45 to 60 deg off-axis to your side vs vehicles 200-300m away that are 5 deg off to the side. Vehicles that are closest to you are really what matters, unless if you cycle on the freeway/highway, which is of course illegal in the vast majority of countries . So that much high lux (not high lumens) narrow beamwidth of the Cygolite Hypershot 350 is not going to matter in most cases except maybe if the driver is right behind you and both cyclist and driver are staring right into the rising or setting sun. Heck, just get 2 of this if you want even more visibility in such scenarios. 2pcs of the Cygolite angled a bit to the sides for each one still would not give enough side coverage from what i see from the hotspots in other videos. I'm really talking about serious side coverage with sufficient output even during daytime or under those especially powerful LED streetlamps in my city centre, if not just a 2pcs of $5 tailights mounted sideways would do the job, which i have plenty of those but they do not really cut it from what i see on the lux meter.
A very thorough review. Well done. Out of all the lights you showed at the end of your video I'd still go with the Cygolite Hypershot 350 lumen bike light.
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.
I just bought one of these lights and I'm here to tell you that it is so complicated but also unbelievably bright. It is so bright that I cannot look at it to see what power mode it is in. Brightness - great, complications - poor!
Sweet review thanks! Is the Garmin "mini twist" compatible with the Magicshine Seemee? I.e., has there been some standardisation in Garmin mini mount specifications?
I'm not aware of a mini Garmin standard. Interestingly, the Moon Helix taillights are compatible with Magicshine Seemee mounts so it's a fair bet that companies are using a similar supplier.
Lumen output on solid is 20 lumens less than that of the Moon Nebula 🤔 Try some lights like the Exposure Blaze or Cygolite Hypershot. They have insect lenses that make them visible from a kilometre away.
Yes. Great timing, I have the both lights here and the mounts are interchangeable. It seems like Magicshine and Moon Sports both use the same diameter miniaturized Garmin mounts.
I have not experienced any battery drain issues with the Helix Sense taillights. If you're still in the warranty period you could probably get your Nebula replaced.
I don't believe the Helix Lite has the brake sensing or auto-off feature that comes with it. You would have to purchase one of the Helix Sense variations instead.
I need to buy four tail lights, and four headlights. What would you recommend a halfway decent price but a great light not sure what to get. The ridding we do is road and some gravel family stuff very concerned for our safety though i’ve been watching your videos for sometime like your contact thanks god bless
Thanks! We haven't used the Cygolite taillights but based on the specs it is similar. The design is a bit more dated though compared to the Moon Sport taillights which have USB-C / Brake Sensor / Variable Lumen System.
I see that it has a Garmin type support but obviously smaller. My question is, can the support that comes with the Magicshine lights be used? I mean the one that goes on the saddle rails🤔 I hope you can help me with this question
Yes, surprisingly the Moon Helix taillights are compatible with the Magicshine mounts. The Helix taillights come with saddle rail mounts right out of the box though, you don't need to buy them separately.
Moon Helix line is interesting, currently using 2 pairs of Helix Lite so far only Lite and Max Version available here in Singapore Quality stuff and all my lights charging to USB-C with magic shine RN400's Really like the Steady Flash Mode on Helix Lite and daytime which gets complaints easily for being too bright 🤣
@@TheSweetCyclists if the pricing matches lezyne alert series will be great, another moon light that has brake sensor is Sirius Pro that a real bright one in the shop Helix feels like replacement for Nebula with the larger versions
Does the quarter turn work well with the elastic mount? Looks like it required some force to remove, which is good, but seems like it would flex the elastic part around the seatpost and make it annoying to remove with one hand
We haven't had any issues with the seatpost mount. As with other rubber designs, they may flex slightly as you rotate the light off but it isn't cumbersome.
Its currently showing "out of stock" on their US site, but they have quite a few dealers in the US. See www.moonsportusa.com/find-a-dealer to find one near you.
I wonder if you can have it work in the lower output light mode, until you start to slow down or stop, than it automatically switch to the highest light output automatically, (than of course when you ride have it go back to the lower light output mode?) in other words, wanting to extend the battery life, should not mean also having to sacrifice maximum safety on a sudden stop if called for,
That is how the light is setup - the "brake alert" mode always has the same high power output regardless of your current mode. The light always switches between current and alert mode if you enable the brake sensor mode.
These tail lights are way too bright for night-time use, maybe even for day-time use. Probably will get blinded riding behind other cyclists with such bright tail lights. I'm still using my 0.5W Planet Bike Superflash and Portland Design Works Danger Zone tail lights. I think they're pretty noticeable from their flash patterns w/o blinding other road users.
You can set the brightness, it is possible. But the problem is the accessibility in shops. In Europe, I am able to buy only HELIX Lite from the HELIX line. I would like to buy a HELIX MAX or SENSE 300/450, but shipping will cost more than the light.
Sorry to hear that. Perhaps the rubber cover on the USB port wasn't fully seated? I'd recommend reaching out to Magicshine, they are pretty good about replacing products or could offer a discounted replacement.
@@TheSweetCyclists thanks for the answer, in my country i could find helix max 250. Do you thonk that charging on the go applies on that model too? Any idea?
@@taklayagelensermest I don't have a Helix Max to confirm, but I would assume it would also support charging-on-the-go. You could email Moon Sport customer support to confirm.
No, I believe the "Helix Pro" uses the same body as the Sense 450 but has lower output and no brake sensor. The Helix Lite seems to be even smaller than the Sense 300, and again lacks the brake sensor and has lower output. They still haven't updated the moon sport USA website, but the Sense 450 / 300 are listed on their main website (moon-sport.com).
@@jasinter9251 No problem. Moon Sport seems to be pretty slow at product releases, but hopefully it'll get released soon. It's an amazingly bright taillight you can see from miles away.
It's funny you should mention the "side-to-side" KITT mode. We actually have a Knight Rider replica car and the new Knog Frog lights which have the same KITT mode. Stay tuned for that in the next few weeks.
I don't know the specifics but it does feel like some sort of plastic construction. The taillight itself is pretty lightweight but feels durable with no exposed hardware.
We actually asked them about this, apparently they are having issues with US site. You can buy it from their main website ($4 shipping to US) - moon-sport.com/. It's a great taillight for cycling on busy roads.
Good question. I haven't ridden with the Lezyne model (we do hope to start reviewing their products soon) but the specs look quite similar. The Lezyne appears to have too many modes (11!) and still uses micro-USB which is why I'd still go with the Helix. The Helix also has a brake sensor and the VLS system to let you customize the output per mode.
@@TheSweetCyclists The Helix seems far superior software wise and with the usb-c port, unfortunately I can't find them available in north america so I'm still trying to figure if the Lezyne is a better option over other lights I've found available such as the Seemee 200V2 or the Bullet 200
