Pressing it again quickly cycles through either the high or low modes, while double clicking it turns on the flashing “Hyper” mode. Operation is simple with just one button on the back of the light. In attempt to keep weight (and cost) low, it’s still mostly plastic with a small metal heat sink at the top of the light for cooling. When mounted on a handlebar, the pattern is a bit narrow for great peripheral viewing, which would be needed for fast trail riding, but on a typical cyclocross course that’s more open and has less obstacles, it’s an effective beam to keep you riding fast and safely.Ĭonstruction is top-notch, typical of what you would expect a made-in-Japan product would be, and well-sealed to keep out the elements. #Catlight review plus#The beam pattern of the two LED CatEye Nano Shot Plus LED bike light. It’s a better shape than the typical round pattern found on many lights, especially one LED versions. The Nano Shot Plus’ beam is focused into a triangular shape, sort of like a squashed yield traffic sign, and the flat, cut-off top of the beam keeps you from wasting energy lighting up the sky and avoids blinding drivers, while it narrows a bit as you get closer to the bike. Finding the right light for your needs has a lot to do with beam pattern and how that light is focused. It’s plenty bright enough to be seen, to light up the road or trail in complete darkness, and highlight the area in front of you on a cyclocross course.Īs we emphasized in our cyclocross bike light buying tips, selecting a light is more that just looking at the advertised lumens. If you’re looking for a no-nonsense light to last for an hour-long cyclocross practice (and a little riding to and from practice), the Nano Shot Plus is quite a capable light. Our review on the Volt 1200 is coming shortly. The newer Volt 1200, compared to the older Nano Shot+, has double the rated light power (1200 versus 600 lumens), more than double the battery capacity (6200mAh vs 2800mAh), more steady and flashing modes, a much longer maximum burn time, and a micro USB charging port instead of a mini USB port. The company also recent released the Volt 300, a single LED light that can easily be helmet-mounted. Both lights are self-contained, Lithium Ion rechargeable lights with two LEDs, but there are plenty of differences between the two. Recently we’ve been testing two cyclocross- and trail-worthy lights from CatEye in the form of the new CatEye Volt 1200 headlight and the older Nano Shot+ headlight. The company has recently gone to battle Garmin in the GPS market, with its Stealth 500 GPS cycling computer that we recently reviewed in July, and even has a novel helmet-mounted Inou GPS-enabled camera that we first previewed at Interbike 2011.ĬatEye currently offers no less than 13 headlights, with its blinding three-beam 24-hour mountain bike race-worthy $325 Sumo 3 headlamp system that produces 5500 candlepower, down to its affordable Opticube light line that works on AA or AAA batteries. Between those milestones, the company also introduced its first cycle computer (“cyclocomputer”) in 1981, the iPhone-sized CC-1000 (seen here). Yes, CatEye built its name and bike shop presence with those types of items, and the company still has affordable computers and lights, but while you moved from friction-shifting to DoubleTap or STI levers, the Japanese company has evolved as well.ĬatEye has long been an innovator in bicycle electronics, having introduced the first flashing bike head lamp in 1964 (no, we don’t remember that), and the first bicycle white LED headlamp in 2001. If you’ve been around bikes for not just years but decades, you can be forgiven if you hear the name CatEye and think of small, affordable bike computers and alkaline battery halogen commuter lights hanging on your bike shop’s wall that can be had for $20 bucks. Charging cable, headlight and versatile mount included with the CatEye Nano Shot Plus LED bike light.
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