Review of

More Information

Bright light!!

On: 2010-09-16

Very bright, highly eye-catching light. The mode where all the LEDs flash together is amazing. I rode with this at dusk this evening. Very dangerous time to ride. Drivers eyes are getting adjusted to the rapidly approaching darkness, various headlights are popping on all around them, and then there is this Cateye on my bike. Apparantly the most noticeable light of them all, as I had two drivers (one neighbor and one stranger) slow down and ask me about the light... saying they noticed it from a good distance. Its like a camera flash going off every ½-second, but not bright enough to blind a driver. It just gets their attention so they dont run over you while fooling with their cellphone, GPS or passenger. I have always used Red flashing lights.. in fact I still have a Cateye TL-LD200 from way back in the early 90s, but I have been told those lights didnt draw attention until the driver was very close. This white light is the one. No question about it. Love the tooless screw clamp type mounting system. I only wish Cateye had made the strap a bit longer or provided a short and a long strap. Id love to mount one of these on front of bike on head or stem but it wont reach around far enough for the teeth to engage. Can do handlebars but they already have too much stuff on them. Ill just have to do something creative with some cable ties or velco strap and that Cateye bag mount. Thanks Cateye for making this great light!

Be seen from the FRONT, not just from the rear.

On: 2010-08-06

I got the 3-LED version of this light, and love it. In researching bike lights, I came across the seeing / being seen distinction, something a lot of riders seem unaware of. Flashlight / headlight units arent very attention-grabbing, and when driving the car, I have noticed how easy they are not to notice. Since I ride in a well-lighted city, I dont need a headlight, but I do need to be seen and noticed. And if I did need a headlight, Id have two lights, one to see, and another to be seen, since the two functions are quite distinct.
~ Another thing I noticed from driving: a light that has separate elements blinking non-simultaneously is a lot more noticeable than a single blinking light or a multi-light blinking as a unit, which could be mistaken for a steady light coming into and going out of view (many of the lights in a busy street come into and go out of view as cars maneuver around one another). Lights blinking "against" one another provide a kind of visual reference for one another that distinguishes them from the common flow of moving lights.
~ These white, separately-blinking lights are a major step up in front noticeability from the usual headlight units, whether the latter blink or not. If you need a light to illuminate your way, get a light suited to that purpose. (Planet Bikes 1-watt Blaze is a very cost-effective one.) But for being seen from the front, the white Cateye TL-LD150 or TL-LD130 (5 and 3 LEDs, respectively) are the best available candidates.
~ Sorry for the length, but I feel that the details are necesary to make the case for these lights. A headlight is not a substitute for one of these.

Great light!

On: 2009-09-20

very nice light with 3 separate options for lighting (steady on, all flash on, and it will step through the lights while flashing)
It does a great job of making people aware where I am at night, and Im very comfortable having it on.
there is the possibility that its a legal issue since technically a bike is a vehicle, and you should have red in the back.. but if I get pulled over for it Ill be amazed...
The light is very bright as well, Ive never tried but you could put it on your front handle bars and use it as a bike light.

Better than a flashlight

On: 2009-07-30

Have product with red lights and finding the white I hoped it could be better than flashlights. It is!

Great Headlamp

On: 2009-03-23

I use this as a headlamp attached to a bike helmet and it is very bright and visible. This is of course, a be seen light, not something you would use to light your way.

My other front light, which is attached to my handlebars, would occasionally not be seen by oncoming traffic if I was behind another car, so this solves that problem. It makes me very visible and I dont have to worry about attaching yet another item to my bike before I start the ride - it stays permanently attached to my helmet. You can see it from 180 degrees.

Note, to turn it off, hold the button on the left side (not visible in the photo) for about 2 seconds. That button also cycles through three patterns - all flash, chase flash, and stay on when pushed briefly.