cateye bike and bicycle lights

CatEye was founded in Japan in the 1940s, they are now one of the worlds leading manufacturer of cycle computers, bicycle lights, and reflectors to cyclists in the world. In their history, the had many firsts in the bicycle light development, in 1964, CatEye produced the first flashing lights for bicycles, followed by their first battery headlamp in 1982, and recently the very first bike headlight using white LEDs in 2001. The company's flagship Opticube lens and reflectors work in conjunction with LED to make the brightest and most efficient bike LED headlights.

There are several factors needing to be taken into account when selecting a good pair of cycle lights.

• Light Output - no point in buying a bicycle light if they produce feeble light
  
• Battery Like - unless you are choosing a dynamo setup, your lights with run from batteries
• Attachment mechanism - Secure when cycling, easy to remove
• Light Focus - is the light in a wide beam spread or narrow spread
• Light Functions - continuous light or flashing
  

Light Output

There are several measure for light output used, watts, lumens, candlepower.

Watt is a measure of energy used, the higher the watt, the more drain on the battery. You were able to use this measurement when most lights were halogen, as a higher watt meant better light output. However, with the modern led lights this is not the case as many factors such as white led used, battery, drive electronics.

Lumens measures the amount of light produced. Consequently this give a good figure to compare light output, but this is not all of the story as it gives us no figure of merit on the efficiency of the bike light in converting the battery electricity into light.

Candlepower even though an old unit of measurement, it measures the usable projected light.

This Cateye cycling front and back light system combines a three bike led white light front light with a three led red rear light. The Cateye EL-135 front light is powered by two AA batteries and runs for 80 hours in full beam mode and in flashing mode up to 320 hours. Weight is 91g, the bracket has a diameter of ø22-32mm. The candlepower at the centre beam at 10 m is 80, with a total candlepower of the light is 1200. Powered by two AAA batteries, the tail light runs up to 150 hours. The tail light also has a clothing clip.

Ideal for the occasional night ride commute home, from its 3AAA batteries it provides a total candlepower of 4000, with a candlepower of 400 at 10m away. The usage time for the batteries are up to 30hr on full beam, up to 60hr on flashing and on the low beam setting. The light weights 91g and attaches to the bicycle with a ø16-32mm adjustable bracket. If you ever opened you bag and found that you bike light accidentally switched on and is now flat will love this feature in the Cateye HL-EL450. It has an integrated lockable switch to eliminate accidental switch-on/off.

Which came first the uno Led bicycle light or the name. As the name suggests, this light has only one AA battery and one bike LED. Integrated into this product is cateye OptiCube TM lens technology. In full beam mode the light output life is 15hr but in flashing mode up to 60hr. The total candle power is 2800 with a candle power of 400 at the beam centre 10m away.