#CATLIGHT REVIEW FULL#
#CATLIGHT REVIEW PLUS#

#CATLIGHT REVIEW FULL#

If you’re in anything but full-power (dynamic) mode, a double-click of the button switches the light to full power. The ‘hyper constant’ strobe setting – which has a motorist-aggravating 800-lumen peak – should run for 7 hours, the firm claims, and the 100-lumen flash mode for 50 hours. (Ah, those happy days, leaning forward in the Karmann Ghia, peering through the windscreen in the hope of catching a glimpse of the road surface.) Cateye claims 2 hours of battery life in this ‘dynamic’ mode, 3.5 hours at the 300-lumen ‘normal’ setting and 10 hours at the 100-lumen ‘all night’ setting (by which time the sun is probably coming up). I swear I’ve owned cars with dimmer headlights.

On full power, the light output is staggering.

Repeated pressing of the button cycles you through the modes.

#CATLIGHT REVIEW PLUS#

This model has three light levels, the highest being an insane 700 lumens, plus strobing and flashing modes. On full power, the light could still be quite dazzling for an oncoming motorist. There’s also a weaker but still usefully bright penumbra that casts light quite widely, giving you enough illumination to see the sides of the road, improving situational awareness. Adjusted to hit the ground at around 10m in front of the bike, this pretty much fills the width of a car lane, which is good. The light uses its power well: there’s a hot spot within which the light is evenly distributed. In flashing mode, you should get 30 hours of use, says Cateye. Once the light is on, a double click of the button puts it into flashing mode (there’s no strobe option) and another single click returns it to steady mode. Claimed battery life is 2 hours on full, 6 hours on dimmed. There are two steady settings – full power (200 lumens) and low power (50 lumens) and you toggle between them with a single click of the button. It’s made of plastic and doesn’t exactly exude quality, but neither does it feel cheap, so in terms of build quality I’d classify this as a … meh! This model is very small and lightweight (at 58 grams, less than half the weight of the 700). The mount seems to stay put, although I’m not yet confident that it won’t rotate around the bar after you’ve prodded the light button enough times. The light then clips in & out very easily. The mount is identical in each case: a small knurled wheel lets you tighten a belt around the handlebars. In both cases, too, the lens and case design leaks light to the sides, providing conspicuity abeam the bike. And you could also use an external battery pack for greater range.īoth lights use the convention of pressing and holding the button for a couple of seconds to switch on and off – a way of preventing the device from being switched on accidentally if it gets bumped inside your handbag or manbag. That gives us the option of running them from our e-bikes’ main batteries. So we bought Cateye Volt front lights – the 200 and 700 models.Įach light has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that you charge via a micro-USB socket. And extra lights are a bit boost to conspicuity both at night and during the day. Call me old fashioned but at night I really like to see where I’m going. While our bikes came with lights already mounted, I felt they needed more.

Catlight review