These top of the line systems are made of anodized aluminum. They use the
same 12-watt low beam, which is bright enough to allow surprisingly brisk
riding. The difference in high beams is not so much in distance, but in
coverage. The S47 35-watt high beam is wider and therefore covers more area
than the S32's 20-watt high beam. All TurboCat dual beam systems allow you
to aim the lights independently - low beam in close, high beam further out -
for maximum benefit. Sleek, lightweight anodized aluminum housings and
cam-actuated CNC-machined quick release. Choose between Ni-Cad and Ni-MH
batteries for run time, weight, and price.
Retail prices range from $300 - $370.
Mtbr Bike Lights Shootout - over 50 bike lights reviewed, photographed and measured here.
Submitted by
Deserteagle99uzi
a Cross Country Rider
from st. louis, MO, USA
Date Reviewed: September 30, 2008
Strengths: Everything, durable, extremely bright right up untill the end of the battery life (which is longer than specified). Brights=daylight, excellent warranty and customer service
Weaknesses: NiCad battery is a bit heavy although there are alternatives which are lighter available.
Bottom Line:
having demoed and borrowed many lights I feel confident saying that not only are these lights excellent value, they are also the best lights in terms of just about anything on the market. Turbocat is a smaller in house operation and has been for 20 years. The engineering background is apparent in the construction as the filaments are simple halogen high output with no BS lifetimes listed on bulbs. Fixtures are bombproof and lightweight. Light output outdoes all but the best HID and has a much more natural hue than HID. Warranty issues are handles in house and in person during all business hours and warranty itself is rock solid.
I will never buy another brand for bicycle light products.
Submitted by
Steve
a Cross Country Rider
from St. Louis
Date Reviewed: November 25, 2007
Strengths: Very simple, durable, insta-on, should last forever since it has already lasted forever.
Weaknesses: Could use a smart charger since my memory to unplug the thing is questionable. Longer run times for the 12 and 24 hr races. Read on and you may just want to buy a second battery for the all-nighters.
Bottom Line:
First and foremost, thanks a ton to the crew at Turbocat. My battery shot craps and I had sent it in for a possible repair but most likely a replacement. Sure enough, I did need a new battery. I asked them to hold off on sending a new battery since a was leering some HID's. I took the bait and bought the above mentioned Nightriders. On accident Turbocat had delivered a new battery and instead of going through the hassel of sending them back they had me pay $80.00 vs $155.00. Thanks again for the wicked good customer service! NOW FOR THE BOTTOM LINE: So as I said I purchased some HID's and now I also have my old school Turbocat system(geeze, I'm guessing these must be darn near 8-10 yrs old). I did a side-by-side test of the old school vs new school and found the turbocats(on its high setting)are brighter than the HID's. I really was ready to be blown away with HID's but I was not. They are good don't get me wrong but for the price, ability to blaze the trail, and the fact that they are about 90% bomb-proof I would go with the old school set-up if I was asked to choose all over again. I am going to keep the HID and run it on the helmet as designed, but I am going to also go Turbocat all over the bars. The combonation of the HID bright white and the yellow of halogen compliment one another for a very good trail blazen set-up. Check out the light review write up put on by this site and look at how bright and wide the Turbocats are. That picture is what I am talking about.
Similar Products Used: Nightrider enduro lith. It's run time is also low at 2:15 hrs.
Bike Setup: Full squishy cross-country.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Tom
a Cross Country Rider
from Yucaipa
Date Reviewed: November 19, 2006
Strengths: Simple cnc aluminum construction, nice handlebar mount
Weaknesses: On-off switch is on the water bottle battery, my water bottle cage in on the down tube, it is a stretch to turn it on.
Bottom Line:
I've had this setup for about 10 years now, I have replace the battery once. It has always worked great, and the help I got when I called the manufacturer to get another battery was very professional. They seen like a small company that really pays attention to what they are doing....and how they treat their customers. The regular group of guys that I ride with have all gone through 2 to 3 Niterider systems, while I have only had to replace a battery...and their lites were not any brighter than mine. I decided to get a helmet light to help my aging eyes, so I will be getting a Turbocat Trailguide 15.
Strengths: Great quality. Extremely bright. On high beam they are more powerful than the stadium 3 that I also run.
Weaknesses: Battery bit the dust after less than a year of use. Perhaps that's reasonable. Luckily I bought two. I long for a heavy duty battery that can run the high beam for more than half an hour.
Bottom Line:
I was run over once at dawn. With a HID and these lights combined, I am trying to minimise the likelihood of such an event recurring. These are fantastic lights but given the high beam does not last long it is often the Cateye that brings me home. The low beam doesn't really cut it (or at least, by itself, would not grab the attention of drivers). If they sold a heavy duty battery that made it last 90 minutes I would be perfectly satisfied as they are great quality lights. At least if the globes go it won't cost me $300AUD like it did with the Cateye.
Purchased At: Woodcrest Bicycle Center, Riverside CA
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mitch J
a Weekend Warrior
from St.Louis,Mo.
Date Reviewed: March 29, 2005
Strengths: Very light NiMH battery, clean light and after 7+ years of heavy use-no problems. Have yet to burn out a bulb or run the battery dead(I primarily use 12w setting).
Weaknesses: Can only select 12w low or 32w blaze, would like to use 20w sometimes, this would increase burn time options. My one piece light head with QR's has trouble fitting on some rise bars, I think the new version is a two piece unit. A few times I've gone to charge the battery and forgotten to turn the swtich on. When this happens, no charge. The only way to be sure it's on is to plug the light in, turn it on, and unplug it.
Bottom Line:
If you're not ready for the complexity of HID, Turbo Cat is still dedicated to halogen and it works. The light is simple, clean and durable. I'm a fan of water bottle batteries, I use a Camelbak for my water. Many light level options and battery options.
Similar Products Used: Nightsun, Niterider(several), Vista Light, Turbo Cat helmet light(still have-10years old!)
Bike Setup: one gear
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Garth
a Cross Country Rider
from Canada
Date Reviewed: November 26, 2004
Strengths: I chose Turbocat after review on this site and after navigating their excellent, straightforeward website. The lights are fantastic and the service is impecible. Gimmick-free design, very user friendly quick release attachments, durable +++ (my reason for avoiding HID lights for now) and light that is phenomenal (obvious on MTBreview's recent light review where they are dramatically better than any other non-HID lights and as good as the HIDs from other manufacturers). I had a problem with a baterry and asked fop advice and the answer was "we'll send you a new one tomorrow and throw in a replacement bulb for your trouble". Brilliant.
Weaknesses: Retro lack of LEDs, smart chargers etc. which I don't think of as a true weakness but a lack of unessesary gimmicks that are more potential trouble than benefit.
Bottom Line:
superb. Any one riding through the cold dark winter will love them.
Since I posted the first review, now I think I should really tell you what I'm thinking of these lamps... Now I ran out of my spare bulbs and can't get them from Finland, so I contacted TurboCat. I also had one not so nice problem with the battery pack, there was a somekind of a loose connection in it, so the light went off every once in a while, dangerous, isn't it. (I have to blame myself, once I almost dropped the battery, and grabbed the cord). So next day I got an answer, and they told me how to open the battery pack, and offered to mail me replacement seals to get it back together. and of course how I could get replacement bulbs. Weird is that I was expecting answer like:"If your battery isn't working, you should buy a new one!" Battery still works fine, even though now it doesn't last as long as it used to. I definitely don´t regret the money I spent!
Strengths: The look ! The build ! The Quick Releases and of course it is bright as hell !! Ride intriguing !! Go out and ride and feel safe at night on bumpy road...
Weaknesses: None so far.. I bought my first S47 in year 2000, and my S25 in year 2002 and now another S47 in year 2003.
Bottom Line:
I now own two systems, S25 and S47. Both are absolutely great. "Night Riders", "Cat Riders", "Risky Riders" and my buddies felt awe when seeing this beautiful and bright "sunlight". I get a sense of security when out riding at night and when there is a nice and supportive Elayne who helped me and keep her customer happy all the time. The bottom line; ride at night with amusement.
Similar Products Used: CatEye, Cateye Bottle, others. But I sold them all and keeping one for emergency at home (when lights are out and you need to go to the bathroom)
Bike Setup: Used them on my 2003 GIANT, 2002 Tracer, 2003 Turner XCE..
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Luke T
a Cross Country Rider
from Laketown, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: September 9, 2002
Strengths: Extreme brightness Beautiful billet construction Attention to detail great battery superb mounting system no vibration simple charging system
Weaknesses: few distributors an auto charger would be nice.. ditto on the wall timer.
Bottom Line:
The best lighting system I have found for any price. Top quality construction, superb attention to detail, best mounting system, excellent factory support The 47 watt bulb is so bright you MUST dim for oncoming traffic or BLIND somebody!! Absolutely dominating in 24-hour races and adventure races. I won't race with anything else, nothing comes close. A good value, too.
Bike Setup: Whyte PRST-1 or on my road bike or on my commuter or on my head when I go caving.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Galilao Shinnosuke
a Cross Country Rider
from Escondido, CA USA
Date Reviewed: January 19, 2002
Strengths: Well made, durable, easy to attach and remove from handlebar. Bright, can adjust the elevation between the low beam and high beam. The burn time is about 100 minutes on the 12 watt low beam only. Adding the 35 watt high beam gives a run time of about 35 minutes at a continuous 47 watts total.
Weaknesses: Could have more run time at 47 watts. The switch must be on in order to charge the battery so a charge indicator would be useful, as occasionally, I didn't know that the switch was off and had the impression that the battery was charging when it wasn't. I use a wall plug timer to prevent overcharging.
Bottom Line:
An excellent light for the money, I'm glad I got it.
Similar Products Used: Nightrider Cyclops, still have it, also a good light.
Bike Setup: 2000 Santa Cruz Superlight with a 1999 Atom Bomb fork
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Jim
a Cross Country Rider
from central Washington state
Date Reviewed: January 18, 2002
Strengths: Nearly everything about the battery and lights is perfect
Weaknesses: The Way it charges is limited, and Extremely important to have connected correctly.
Bottom Line:
Lights are perfect and a great value for the construction quality. Nothing better only possibly equal(remotely possible I guess)
The weak link is the charger. If the charger was as good as the lights nobody else would be selling bike lights!
The Battery has an on off switch which must be "on" for the battey to charge. Way to many times I have walked away after plugging the battery into the charger and come back later to realize I did not have the swith on the battery "on"
There is no indication that the battery is being charged when plugged in, I don't know about the rest of you but for me that's a problem. Everything I have with rechargable batteries, Motorola radios, CD player, Digital camera, video camera eveything indicates the battery is charging but the Turbocat lights. So I'm not satisfied with that feature.
Now when you use the lights for 30 minutes on Monday night, 25 minutes on wed night, 1 hour 10 minutes on Friday night how do you keep track of what amount of time you should charge the battery? I want it full but I don't want to over charge the battery and cook it. Again a charger that shuts off when the charge is complete would be a great feature.
I know the timer is a good idea but how long to you leave it on if the battery is not completely dead VS half used or 1/4 used???? The charger is without question the missing link. They need a charger like a Dewalt cordless drill has. You can leave the battery on that charger for ever with no problem and it's ready to go all the time. If they had this system nobody else would be in the light businss! Turbocat would own the bike light market!
Bike Setup: Rocky Mountain Element, 2.4" Motoraptors, Cane creek AD12, Terry seat, Avid Mechanical disc brakes,
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
John Uno
a Weekend Warrior
from Vienna, Va
Date Reviewed: November 20, 2001
Strengths: EXTERMELY BRIGHT..Turns the darkest night into day. Easy to set up, looks gr8t. Quality of workmanship. Easy to switch from bike to bike.
Weaknesses: None so far. A little expensive. Like the other guy said, buy a light timer and you have a smart charger.
Bottom Line:
I never rode at night before, but with these lights, I can ride off road, on road, and the W&OD trail with confidence. I would recommend these lights to anyone who can afford them. My friends have to have them after seeing them. Can't give 5 chilis for value because of the price, but you do get what you pay for.
Submitted by
Kevin Lyons
a Cross Country Rider
from New York City
Date Reviewed: March 3, 2001
Strengths: The brightest Light I have ever seen, cars planes, zenon included. I purchased the s32 for it's simple design and no plastic parts. Elaine and Tom have best personalized service I can probably call 3am in the morning an she'll answer the phone like it's 12 noon.I needed an extension cable an Elaine mailed one to me for free. I charge over night and ride before the sun comes up. Then ride at night on the same charge.
Weaknesses: No quick charger or smart charge. I wounder how much charge is to much. I dont want to cook the nicmh battery so I plug it in before bed time.
Bottom Line:
I have never bought a product tha did so much more than you expect. CNC machined parts just like a custom car. people and passer by stare it the bike an ask me "How many watts is that 500?" I tell them only 12. I ride mostly in New York City and this light is so bright taxi drivers think an 18 wheeler is pulling up behind them. It's the respect you get from vehicles in traffic. Upper beam switch makes it easy to flash the brights without reaching down to battery switch. The look makes the bike, and the performance will save your life. I want to get the 20w bulb low beam and 40w high next, I want cars to give me the brights telling me down those high beams 5 flamin turds or what ever they are.
Strengths: its about as bright as five of those flaming things that i am gonna give this light. what the hell are those?
Weaknesses: if you are picky, its slightly bulky
Bottom Line:
brighter than the bat signal. thats a fact baby. i should write 50 words, but you probably get the picture even if it is hidden in the review. fish for it.
