Micro-halogen headlight offers 360-degrees of visibility to increase your safety on nighttime rides. Headlight's clear case captures normally wasted light and illuminates the entire lamp body, making you visible from all directions. Headlight uses exclusive micro-halogen bulb technology that conserves battery life while emitting a brighter beam. Features easy snap-in mount that can be placed on or below the handlebars. Runs up to 3-hours on 4 AA batteries.
Submitted by
Steven
a Weekend Warrior
from SF Bay Area Date Reviewed: September 22, 2006
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$20.00
Purchased At:
Performance
Strengths:
Strong bright light, inexpensive, easy to setup, light lasts long time
Weaknesses:
Battery cover can sometimes be difficult to remove
Similar Products Used:
Petzl headlamp
Bike Setup:
GF Zebrano
Bottom Line:
I am impressed with the brightness of this little halogen light. I ride by the SF Bay and it is quite dark out there if you have ever ridden by it. The light illuminates my bicycle path well. In fact, it is so bright, I worry about blinding people who are walking towards me.
I can get well over 1 hour before it starts to dim. However, I can still ride with the light dimmed but I don't like to. I haven't done it yet (kind of scared to try because you don't want to get stranded in the dark), but I'm guessing I could get at least 2 hours out of this thing. I use rechargeable Nimh's (2400mah Energizer) in my light.
I am a casual bike rider although I do most of my riding at night which necessitated a light. I do not understand all the negative reviews here. I think my light (although it does have a weird light pattern) is very bright and adequate for my needs. I've taken my light into pitch black areas and I can see fine. A brighter light would be nice, but it simply doesn't fit into my budget.
I also think if you are going to compare this light with another light, you should take cost into consideration. Cygo's start around $60 (triple the price) to well over $100. For triple the price I think you should get a better quality light. Don't compare apples to oranges. If you want to compare the Cat Eye to another light in the $20 range fine (good luck finding one). Don't compare a $20 light with a $100 light or even a $60 light. It's a fair or accurate comparison.
I give this light 4 flamin dogs overall instead of 5 because the light cover is hard to remove.
It should get a 5 for value since it so inexpensive, however the light pattern is weird making it slightly difficult to see out of one corner so it only gets a 4 here. Still overall a very good light.
I would recommend to a friend who does recreational riding, and takes good care of their gear, but if you bike every single night, you have to pay the price and get a higher quality setup.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Luca O
a Cross Country Rider
from Asia Date Reviewed: September 19, 2005
Favorite Trail:
All of them
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$20.00
Purchased At:
Cycle shop
Strengths:
Will rid the world of some fools
Weaknesses:
Worse than useless
Bike Setup:
SantaCruz Heckler
Bottom Line:
I have been using this light in the past year for lack of alternatives. I cannot believe I put up for almost a year with this rubbish.
This product is flimsy, heavy, eats batteries and throws a pitiful light. Its dismal quality is what saved me, as it literally fell apart while I was replacing the batteries. The bulb fell and broke, some of the bits I never recovered.
I realized what a fool I was to entrust my safety to this thing, and I invested in a proper light.
I am quite sure you can find better quality items in a cereal box.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Steve Smith
a Cross Country Rider
from San Francisco, CA USA Date Reviewed: April 14, 2005
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$20.00
Purchased At:
Supergo
Strengths:
cheap; very bright beam (for the first 30 minutes!)
Weaknesses:
extremely poor battery life
Bike Setup:
Specialized Sirrus hybrid
Bottom Line:
I was impressed with the high-intensity beam when I first put the batteries in (all FOUR of them!), but after only 30 minutes or so, it started to dim. Two hours later, no more light. If you commute at night (like me, 30 minutes each way), you'll find yourself burning through at least a dozen AA batteries a month. Save your battery $ and buy a better light.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Amie
a
from Austin, TX, USA Date Reviewed: October 20, 2003
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Strengths:
Cheap.
Weaknesses:
Eats batteries. Light dims quickly. Poor for seeing road. Flimsy constuction. Comes apart easily.
Bike Setup:
Giant
Bottom Line:
I commute at night so I need a decent light. This one barely fit the bill, but I was ok with it until it fell apart for no apparant reason. Unfortunately, it was too dark to find all of the components, so I had to buy a new light anyway. Overall, a bad product. Put your money toward something better.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Dave S
a Cross Country Rider
from Milwaukee, WI, USA Date Reviewed: March 8, 2003
Favorite Trail:
Langlade county fire lanes
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$20.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
A great AA battery holder for any other light on your bike.
Weaknesses:
Too many for so little space. More crap from cat. Weak light. Poorly designed bulb reflector that won't make contact. Lousy switch that won't turn off, burning out batteries, but you don't know it because the bulb isn't on.
Similar Products Used:
Planet Bike, and now Cygo Light with the dual 10 and 15 watt bulbs (awesome product).
Bike Setup:
Spec. FSR Comp XC. Xtr fd and rd, xtr pods, Kooka brake levers, thompson post, easton Mg60 stem and carbon bars, Ti brakes, Avid carbon pedals, Xt crank, and the beautiful King Classics laced to Valiant rims.
Bottom Line:
Elephant Dung. Burning sulpher (rotten eggs). Make a paper doll of your money and burn in effigy, would be better than burning it away on this piece of S%!T. Cats are a waste of resources. Both the furry kind and light company. I am the fool that bought this, the 3rd light from cat, and definately the last. You never know when the contacts will fail leaving it useless even as a back-up. Buy some duct tape and a mag light flashlight and get better results. One fart over rates this light.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Blake Johnson, M.D.
a Cross Country Rider
from Phoenix Date Reviewed: July 21, 2002
Favorite Trail:
National Trail
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$22.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
Price was right on. This bulb/reflector combo has a very white light. You want to run the beam high and shadow the immediate foreground to get proper performance.
Weaknesses:
None when considering the price.
Similar Products Used:
Previous Cateyes
Bike Setup:
'02 Giant NRS 2
Bottom Line:
Fantastic light for about 20 bucks. Run rechargable NiMH batteries for added value and burn time.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
jack
a Cross Country Rider
from detroit, mi Date Reviewed: May 20, 2002
Favorite Trail:
none
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$17.00
Purchased At:
bike store
Strengths:
None, except that the mount allows the light to swivel a few degrees - DON'T BUY THIS JUNK BIKE LIGHT
Weaknesses:
Easily stolen; cheap plastic; odd light pattern - don't know reason for it - very flimsy
Similar Products Used:
LIGHTMAN STROBE LIGHT - very bright, but eats batteries like crazy; also Lightman's plastic lens cracked when dropped; Lightman strobe light's clip-on can come off without warning; Lightman won't work with some rechargeable alkaline batteries; there are two "grades" of Lightman strobe - high power and medium power
Bike Setup:
Scooma folding bike
Bottom Line:
Wish I could return this product and get my money back
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Scott Cole
a Cross Country Rider
from Ashland, OR Date Reviewed: December 18, 2001
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$20.00
Purchased At:
Ye Olde Local shoppe
Strengths:
none
Weaknesses:
weak beam, poor pattern, very poorly constructed.
Bike Setup:
Bianchi road, Fisher Mtn.
Bottom Line:
AGGHHHH! Bike shop 1--humans 0. I can't believe I paid actual money for this piece of absolute junk. The beam--what there is of it--has a bizarre pattern. The unit was very difficult to even get the batteries in; it felt like it would break. I can't believe a company like Cateye could put out something this low. I think its main function is to simply destroy any trace of night vision. I really wish I had that $20 back... I'm only giving a rating of 1 because 0 is not available.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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