Submitted by
Stuart Kinnear
a Racer
from Melbourne,Australia Date Reviewed: April 30, 2009
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$50.00
Purchased At:
ebay
Strengths:
Very bright light with variable settings.
Weaknesses:
Horizontal alignment only. Too bright when in peloton. Battery cap easily lost. Difficult to switch off.
Similar Products Used:
various
Bike Setup:
Racing bike for daily training.
Bottom Line:
Very bright and visible, easily seen by traffic, make sure it is adjusted so you don't blind your mates in a peloton. I am extremely annoyed when I lost my battery cap. When you change your batteries you can screw the cap on without proper engagement. Then after a period the cap pops off - then you might as well through away your expensive purchase as there are no spares available. It is suitable as purchase for night city riding, but use lithium rechargeable batteries and beware the end cap!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
shawnantaya
a Cross Country Rider
from Piedmont, CA Date Reviewed: November 11, 2008
Favorite Trail:
401 in Crested Butte CO
Duration Product Used:
2 Years
Price Paid:
$36.00
Purchased At:
REI
Strengths:
Bright, different blinking options, reliable.
Weaknesses:
Heavy, can't handle moisture well.
Bike Setup:
Xtracycle on Novara Safari 18" with disc brakes
Bottom Line:
The light is bright and reliable like other Cateye products I've used. The problem is two fold: first, the weight causes stress on the plastic structure that holds it to my bike, after 1+ years of commuting the plastic arm that holds it to my bike frame broke when I hit a pothole, luckily I recovered it before a car ran it over. Second, it works fine in the rain but the next day the light acts up. It will have dim lights, blink erratically or totally not work, it is not due to dead batteries. It always happens after rain, I think moisture affects the electronics. I simply wait a day and it works fine again. I've had better success with the smaller Cateye lights like TL-LD130.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Pyroreb
a Weekend Warrior
from Cleveland, Ohio USA Date Reviewed: September 16, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Chapin Forest
Duration Product Used:
More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$40.00
Purchased At:
REI.com
Strengths:
Incredible eye-catching patterns in "hyper mode"
Weaknesses:
A bit heavy
Similar Products Used:
My first and only tail light purchase
Bike Setup:
2003 Giant Rainier
Bottom Line:
I love the TL-LD1000. It's been at $40.00 for years for a reason. Since the two layers of LED's are controlled separately, this allows for a variety of flash and steady settings for increased visibility. I've tested many different models in stores (before and after) and this one seems to be the "Cadillac" of AA type lights. There is no way traffic can miss you when you are running both layers on "hyper" mode - It's incredibly eye-catching. Side note: Try two lithium batteries for less weight, increased run time, and most importantly to help the environment.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
epola
a Cross Country Rider
from Barcelona Date Reviewed: September 2, 2008
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$28.00
Purchased At:
Probike
Strengths:
Well built and solid feel. 10 leds, 4 side leds and 6 facing the rear. 2 AAs last forever. Like the previous reviewer said, it's very bright. Side visibility is excellent.
Weaknesses:
-Can't make all 10 leds blink together.
-Not that much more visible at the distances that matter for riding in traffic.
Similar Products Used:
several planet bike blinkies, other no-brand blinkies.
Bike Setup:
commuter
Bottom Line:
Atlhough it does cast a ton more light that your typical blinkie, the difference is negligible at real-world distances of about 50 yds (i've compared with my planet bike blinkie side by side).
The independent controls mean that the two rows of leds CAN NOT blink unison, and end up 'cancelling' each other in all the flashing modes. this seems to me to negate the visibility I was after.
This is nitpicking, but the double button arrangement means double the number of clicks to navigate through modes, and there being five of them (including off), that's quite a lot of clicks.
In reality it's two 5-led lights that share the same casing. I'm not sure it's worth it. Buy if you plan to use on solid mode most of the time, or as a backup.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
the haro master
a Weekend Warrior
from tucson az Date Reviewed: August 2, 2008
Favorite Trail:
fantasy island
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$30.00
Purchased At:
ebay
Strengths:
CRAZY BRIGHT!!!
Weaknesses:
NONE
Bike Setup:
Haro Escape 08 pertty much stock but working on it.
Bottom Line:
This is the best of the best if you want to be seen this is the light for you. When I first got I but the battery's in and turned it on to see the thing work and WOW my eyes weren't rite for like 10min like I said CRAZY BRIGHT!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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