Posts Tagged ‘Cateye’

Cateye changes the designs of their lights every year so this review is of Cateye lights equivalent to the models listed above. I would consider all of these lights safety headlights as they do not provide enough illumination by themselves to safely ride by their light. I have had three models of Cateye lights now. As you have probably already deduced, I don’t still have three models.

My favorite of the three was the 135 equivalent. It was lightweight, long battery life, highly visibly and a good flash mode. The model I bought had a major design flaw though. The light had the on/off button on the back of the light but also dismounted in the forward direction. Thus, one day while riding to work I realized I had not turned the light on. I pressed the on button which dismounted the light and again (see previous reviews of Planet Bike Superflash), in true safety light fashion, hit the ground and rapidly disassembled into countless pieces. Normally, I would stop and gather the pieces to determine if it was reparable but since I was in heavy traffic all I heard were the remnants of the light being crushed by the undesirables behind me. See picture:

Cateye did improve on the mounting system in subsequent models by adding a latch-type locking mechanism. However, on my 220-style model, while dropping of a curb it dismounted for unknown reasons and again, in true safety light fashion, rapidly disassembled. This time I had a friend right behind me (in an undesirable vehicle) stop traffic while I gathered the pieces. I was able to reassemble the light with a little soldering from a friend at work and the light was operational. The mounting bracket on the light was slightly damaged however and I had to strap it to the handlebar with an old tube. The light met its demise another morning when I hit one of those moving lamp posts. While the light did not dismount (due to it being strapped on) the lens, which also holds the LEDs came out and disappeared off of the bridge. While the light still worked, I could no longer use it. See picture:

I am still using a 500-style model and haven’t had any problems yet. It is big and heavy (takes 4 AA batteries) but has remained steadfast to my handlebar, no strapping. I don’t like that it does not have a flash mode as it is inadequate for anything other than a safety light. The best feature of this light is a housing that is secured with a thumb screw to dissuade rapid disassembly. This is a feature I would include on any commute-worthy headlight or taillight. See picture:

None of the three Cateye models I have used was very water resistant and after a commute in heavy rain all had moisture inside the housing. The moisture, however, has never caused any of the lights to fail permanently.

Best Uses: Light commutes, safety lights.
Likes: Flash mode
Dislikes: Mounting mechanism, poor durability.

Rating: 3 Broken-Down Cars