Cateye surprised us last year in the Bike LIghts Shootout. They sent a tiny 250 lumen light called the Nano Shot and it blew us away with its form factor, quality, brightness and price. It kind of reminded us that Cateye is a Japanese company that makes quality stuff. The feel of their products is different and all the mounts and design elements are well thought out. Check our review of the Nano Shot here: https://reviews.mtbr.com/cateye-nano-shot-2012-mtbr-lights-shootout
We asked them about their materials and manufacturing and they shared with us this video about how they test their products.
This year at Interbike, they showed us two products that left us with a very good first impression.
First is the Nano Shot Plus. It's the big brother of the 250 lumen Nano Shot as the Plus variety sports 600 lumens. That means that this is enough light for real trail riding. The Nano Shot on the helmet is a great complement to this one. MSRP is $120. We were impressed with last year's $100, 250 lumen light so this $120, 600 lumen light seems pretty exciting.
Description:
2 super-bright, ultra-efficient LED's fire up 600 lumens in a lightweight design and rechargeable via any USB port. High mode for 1.5hrs, Low mode for 4hrs, or Hyper-Constant mode for 12hrs. 160 g.
The other cool product is the Cateye Stealth 10 and Stealth 50 Bike Computer. Cateye is known for its bike computers so they have a ton of experience with materials, mounts and sensors. Well, they bumped up a couple of notches and made a high-quality computer that includes a GPS and ANT+ compatibility. So you know what that means... we can use this for Strava shenanigans. Most of our peers use the Garmin 500 for $250 since it is small and low-cost. But they've proven less than reliable with a weak mounting system and bad wet weather reliability.
Cateye seems to have stepped in here with a well thought-out product for $150 for the Stealth 50. If you don't need ANT+, you can get the Stealth 10 for $120. Now $120 for a Japanese manufactured GPS computer is certainly good news for budget-conscious consumer who does not want to give up quality.
And finally, we saw some cool, bright lights that mount into the Fizik saddles with integrated lighting. The Fizik concept is sound but the available lights were just too weak to be seen in daylight and foggy conditons. Cateye is offering a good solution here.
We asked them about their materials and manufacturing and they shared with us this video about how they test their products.
This year at Interbike, they showed us two products that left us with a very good first impression.
First is the Nano Shot Plus. It's the big brother of the 250 lumen Nano Shot as the Plus variety sports 600 lumens. That means that this is enough light for real trail riding. The Nano Shot on the helmet is a great complement to this one. MSRP is $120. We were impressed with last year's $100, 250 lumen light so this $120, 600 lumen light seems pretty exciting.
Description:
2 super-bright, ultra-efficient LED's fire up 600 lumens in a lightweight design and rechargeable via any USB port. High mode for 1.5hrs, Low mode for 4hrs, or Hyper-Constant mode for 12hrs. 160 g.
Dimension: | 96.4 X 58.6 X 35.6mm | |||||||||
Weight: | 160 grams (light unit and battery) | |||||||||
Light source: | High intensity white LED X2 | |||||||||
Light output: | 600lm / 5000cd | |||||||||
Run time: |
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Battery: | Li-Ion rechargeable battery (3.7V-2800mAh) | |||||||||
Recharge time: | approx 8hrs (USB2.0 recharge) 80% full recharge in 5hrs. | |||||||||
Recharge/discharge number of times: | about 300 times(until the rated capacity drops to 70%) | |||||||||
Other: | Low battery indicator, lighting mode memory function |
The other cool product is the Cateye Stealth 10 and Stealth 50 Bike Computer. Cateye is known for its bike computers so they have a ton of experience with materials, mounts and sensors. Well, they bumped up a couple of notches and made a high-quality computer that includes a GPS and ANT+ compatibility. So you know what that means... we can use this for Strava shenanigans. Most of our peers use the Garmin 500 for $250 since it is small and low-cost. But they've proven less than reliable with a weak mounting system and bad wet weather reliability.
Cateye seems to have stepped in here with a well thought-out product for $150 for the Stealth 50. If you don't need ANT+, you can get the Stealth 10 for $120. Now $120 for a Japanese manufactured GPS computer is certainly good news for budget-conscious consumer who does not want to give up quality.
And finally, we saw some cool, bright lights that mount into the Fizik saddles with integrated lighting. The Fizik concept is sound but the available lights were just too weak to be seen in daylight and foggy conditons. Cateye is offering a good solution here.