Magicshine offers cables for the four leading e-bike motor brands, and because it uses a modular (two-piece) cable, you can actually move this Magicshine MJ-906SE light from a Bosch to a Shimano system by just plugging in another cable with a different connector. And it gets better; you can also hook this light up to a conventional Li-ion battery and run it on an analogue bike if you prefer.

Compared to the Exposure Flex and Lupine SL-X the MJ-906SE has a slightly cheaper plastic construction, but it’s powerful, fantastic value and we have no hesitation in stating that it’s one of the best mountain bike lights available. It is also simple to set up and is the perfect starter e-bike light for riders on a budget – the fact that you can run it as a normal light is a bonus.

Magicshine MJ-906SE beam

Magicshine sells five different e-bike lights in the UK, and when we initially received the Magicshine MJ-906SE for test, it started displaying an error message. It turned out it was set in battery mode and needed a factory reset. Since then it has been working perfectly.

The lightweight head unit features twin Luminus SST-40 LEDs, which put out a whopping 4,500 lumens on full beam. There are secondary 2,500 and 1,800 lumen settings and some flashing modes, which you can access during set up.

To attach the lamp to the bar, Magicshine uses a sort of tension plastic band and several sizes are included in the box. It also twists free of the Garmin-style mount and, since it has a two-piece cable, it’s the only e-bike light you can unplug when not needed.

Routing the cable into our Bosch test bike was stress-free, and if you’ve pre-primed the Bosch software you can just plug-and-play. In fact, when testing, we didn’t bother routing the cable internally, we just snagged it to the frame with a couple of zip-ties.

Although the light doesn’t really have the 4,500 lumens claimed, it’s still powerful and bright. The beam quality is pretty good too; it has an even spread with plenty of light out wide and, although it’s a little yellow, the definition is pretty crisp.