Cateye has cool products and top notch marketing. Some lights like the TL-LD610 5 LED rears are really bright and good. However seriously cateye needs to make better mounting brackets, some are either too loose or cant be tightened enough. They break eventually, I mean everything does but for the price they should be much more hardy. Cateye lights are easily at the upper end in terms of pricing, I own UNO and TL-LD610, both lights are good but fails to give a good secure mount.
@tannerkoh Marketing is one thing, product design is another. Aesthetically I like the products but I'm just saying they need to be longer lasting. They're not cheap.
is that a cateye uno, the first one on the left? i was looking to purchase the uno and was wondering your opinion on that specific one for the purpose of intermediate level night riding. thanks, and great video!
Certainly didn't mean to be talking down to you. We assumed you wanted to inject some humor in your test. Sorry we misunderstood. Also I just pointing out that the reason the lights were failing in your test. Other issues you point out are certainly valid and we continually work to improve everything down to our mounting system. We also strive for compatibility on our mounting. Knog sell some interesting product but they don't make anything.
Schlemmsy....I was in a meeting with the Pres. of CatEye Japan Nov 2009 when we happened across your video & got a good laugh over the testing methods.
We agree that lights need to be robust. You would be surprised at the amount of vibration, etc, testing that goes into our lights. We don't design them to be banged on a table though. What you are doing is knocking the battery out of place so it turns off.
What is very unique about CatEye is that we make all our own products in our factory.
@CatEyeUSA Happy to cheer you and the Pres. of CatEye Japan up but please don't talk down to me. Clearly I'm not testing the lights. These aren't lab conditions. And I would hope that you guys do a reasonable amount of testing. It's part of the job.
I'm simply demonstrating what has happened the lights I've purchased over the years. I can't do this whilst on my bike. This is an illustration that the contacts fail over time and the light switches off whilst I'm riding.
@schlemmsy, thank you very much for your enlightening video. I'm from São Paulo / Brazil and i've been having some issues with those kind of rear lights. I need to put them on and take them off all the time to avoid be stolen. Also, I've lost 2 rear lights due to the shaking because of the very bad street conditions. Now I know that those Cateyes rear lights will not solve my problem.
@Drninjaguy I quite like Knog because they're hard wearing but the smaller ones (don't know if that's the Beetle) don't give off enough light. At least not in London.
the cateyes i've had/have are the best for their purpose and price. these aren't heavy duty light that can take a beating... but those cost and weight more
the lights are robust enough as they are in general bike lights don't tend to get dropped unless you have butter fingers or they aren't fitted on to the bracket properly and its highly unlikely that the lights are going to develop the same faults as they are when for example dropped from 4ft that is unless you fall off the bike and the bike takes an hard fall can you say that you have ever developed a fault from a cat eye light when its been subject to everyday bke riding without being dropped
@WIKTOR75 I live in London. In London, if you leave your lights on your bike they are stolen. Therefore taking them on and off the bike happens all the time. Therefore there are ample opportunities to drop them. The shakes have yet to set in and I'm not particularly clumsy.
My front light would chew through batteries in winter while my rear one was fine. The said front light is now not working either as it did not clip in properly and when i tried to change from constant to flashing it slid out and fell on the road. It almost got run over by a car, the bus behind the car got it though. :/
Although not perfect (I have had an issue with one of the Cateye lights I have owned), most of their products have functioned as advertised for me. And it's not because I baby them - I ride in all sorts of weather from hot summer days to torrential downpours, with the associated road grime, as wel as rather rough as I'm a clydesdale rider who likes to jump on and off the footpath.
I think that either you are exceptionally rough on your materials, or have had exceptionally bad luck.
We've bought many CatEye lights over the years, partly because of the number of bikes in the family, and partly to upgrade as LED technology improved. We don't drop them so we don't have the resulting problems, but some have become intermittent because the metal strips inside make contact only by pressure, and I have fixed them by soldring, which you must do very quickly (1-2 seconds max,) with a very hot iron so there's not time for the heat to get into the plastic and melt everything.
I'm not especially clumsy and although the table strikes sound alarming that's mostly to do with my rudimentary audio set up.
I've dropped mobile phones from 4ft and they've continued to work. A bike is an outdoor tool, city commuter roads have potholes and the lights need really should be designed to take more.
If it was 1 or 2 then I'd put it down to 'stuff happens'. But this happens too often.
Not meaning to be rude, but stop dropping them!. Cat-eye are the best in the business. You cant go hitting them on tables like that, because they will break! so will all other bike lights, they are made to withstand small minor bumps, not 4ft drops, or slams onto a tables.
Cateye has cool products and top notch marketing. Some lights like the TL-LD610 5 LED rears are really bright and good. However seriously cateye needs to make better mounting brackets, some are either too loose or cant be tightened enough. They break eventually, I mean everything does but for the price they should be much more hardy. Cateye lights are easily at the upper end in terms of pricing, I own UNO and TL-LD610, both lights are good but fails to give a good secure mount.
tannerkoh 3 months ago
@tannerkoh Marketing is one thing, product design is another. Aesthetically I like the products but I'm just saying they need to be longer lasting. They're not cheap.
schlemmsy 3 months ago
If you ever had problems with Cateye lights, why do you keep buying?
caixadopedro 3 months ago
@caixadopedro I like the look of them and I'm shallow.
schlemmsy 3 months ago
is that a cateye uno, the first one on the left? i was looking to purchase the uno and was wondering your opinion on that specific one for the purpose of intermediate level night riding. thanks, and great video!
Drninjaguy 6 months ago
@Drninjaguy Can't remember I'm afraid.
schlemmsy 3 months ago
why do you broke them so much?
lennartkns 1 year ago
Certainly didn't mean to be talking down to you. We assumed you wanted to inject some humor in your test. Sorry we misunderstood. Also I just pointing out that the reason the lights were failing in your test. Other issues you point out are certainly valid and we continually work to improve everything down to our mounting system. We also strive for compatibility on our mounting. Knog sell some interesting product but they don't make anything.
CatEyeUSA 1 year ago
@CatEyeUSA It just didn't take much to dislodge the connection which is a pain.
schlemmsy 3 months ago
Schlemmsy....I was in a meeting with the Pres. of CatEye Japan Nov 2009 when we happened across your video & got a good laugh over the testing methods.
We agree that lights need to be robust. You would be surprised at the amount of vibration, etc, testing that goes into our lights. We don't design them to be banged on a table though. What you are doing is knocking the battery out of place so it turns off.
What is very unique about CatEye is that we make all our own products in our factory.
CatEyeUSA 1 year ago
@CatEyeUSA Happy to cheer you and the Pres. of CatEye Japan up but please don't talk down to me. Clearly I'm not testing the lights. These aren't lab conditions. And I would hope that you guys do a reasonable amount of testing. It's part of the job.
I'm simply demonstrating what has happened the lights I've purchased over the years. I can't do this whilst on my bike. This is an illustration that the contacts fail over time and the light switches off whilst I'm riding.
Now I buy Knog.
schlemmsy 1 year ago
@schlemmsy, thank you very much for your enlightening video. I'm from São Paulo / Brazil and i've been having some issues with those kind of rear lights. I need to put them on and take them off all the time to avoid be stolen. Also, I've lost 2 rear lights due to the shaking because of the very bad street conditions. Now I know that those Cateyes rear lights will not solve my problem.
teomarcus2 1 year ago
@schlemmsy whats your opinion on the knog beetle?
Drninjaguy 6 months ago
@Drninjaguy I quite like Knog because they're hard wearing but the smaller ones (don't know if that's the Beetle) don't give off enough light. At least not in London.
schlemmsy 3 months ago
the cateyes i've had/have are the best for their purpose and price. these aren't heavy duty light that can take a beating... but those cost and weight more
ucandoit245 1 year ago
@ucandoit245 I do think they give off a good light (the longer, 4 light back light is great). They just don't stay the course.
schlemmsy 1 year ago
the lights are robust enough as they are in general bike lights don't tend to get dropped unless you have butter fingers or they aren't fitted on to the bracket properly and its highly unlikely that the lights are going to develop the same faults as they are when for example dropped from 4ft that is unless you fall off the bike and the bike takes an hard fall can you say that you have ever developed a fault from a cat eye light when its been subject to everyday bke riding without being dropped
WIKTOR75 1 year ago
@WIKTOR75 I live in London. In London, if you leave your lights on your bike they are stolen. Therefore taking them on and off the bike happens all the time. Therefore there are ample opportunities to drop them. The shakes have yet to set in and I'm not particularly clumsy.
Thanks for the comment.
schlemmsy 1 year ago
@WIKTOR75 yes.
My front light would chew through batteries in winter while my rear one was fine. The said front light is now not working either as it did not clip in properly and when i tried to change from constant to flashing it slid out and fell on the road. It almost got run over by a car, the bus behind the car got it though. :/
koko56 1 year ago
Although not perfect (I have had an issue with one of the Cateye lights I have owned), most of their products have functioned as advertised for me. And it's not because I baby them - I ride in all sorts of weather from hot summer days to torrential downpours, with the associated road grime, as wel as rather rough as I'm a clydesdale rider who likes to jump on and off the footpath.
I think that either you are exceptionally rough on your materials, or have had exceptionally bad luck.
BigTwitchy 1 year ago
@BigTwitchy Must be exceptionally bad luck. Thanks for the comment.
schlemmsy 1 year ago
We've bought many CatEye lights over the years, partly because of the number of bikes in the family, and partly to upgrade as LED technology improved. We don't drop them so we don't have the resulting problems, but some have become intermittent because the metal strips inside make contact only by pressure, and I have fixed them by soldring, which you must do very quickly (1-2 seconds max,) with a very hot iron so there's not time for the heat to get into the plastic and melt everything.
GarthW2 1 year ago
@GarthW2 I don't have a soldering iron. Things get dropped if you're constantly putting them on and taking them off your bike.
schlemmsy 1 year ago
@ciderrulz994 Thanks for the comment.
I'm not especially clumsy and although the table strikes sound alarming that's mostly to do with my rudimentary audio set up.
I've dropped mobile phones from 4ft and they've continued to work. A bike is an outdoor tool, city commuter roads have potholes and the lights need really should be designed to take more.
If it was 1 or 2 then I'd put it down to 'stuff happens'. But this happens too often.
schlemmsy 2 years ago
hi schlemmsy,
Not meaning to be rude, but stop dropping them!. Cat-eye are the best in the business. You cant go hitting them on tables like that, because they will break! so will all other bike lights, they are made to withstand small minor bumps, not 4ft drops, or slams onto a tables.
ciderrulz994 2 years ago