Cateye Volt 1200 Review — Bicycle Headlight for Endurance Cycling or Off-roading

Velocrush India

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5 min read

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Aug 4, 2018

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Bicycle headlight plays an integral part when it comes to cycling under the moon light. In a country like India where the roads are pitch dark, cycling can become a challenge. And don’t forget the potholes and nasty truck drivers who most of the times are not in their senses.

A good bicycle headlight will not only cast light on the road ahead but will make others aware of your presence from far. Hence, having a good bicycle headlight is a must. If you are into endurance cycling or off-roading, you know how difficult it could get.

While you are sleep deprived and still want to cover distance, a good headlight like the cat eye 1200 will give you confidence. We just happened to get in touch with the official distributors of Cateye (Longshine Global Enterprise) in India to bring you more insights on one of the best bicycle headlight in the market, the cat eye volt 1200.

Cateye Volt 1200 Review- Pros:

• Very bright
• Multiple modes
• Easy to use
• Simple tool-free mounting

Cateye Volt 1200 Review- Cons:

• Long charging time
• Slightly overpriced
• Gets hot on dynamic mode

The Cateye volt 1200 is a perfect example of a bicycle headlight that helps you see with.The Cateye volt bicycle headlight comes with a Cateye rechargeable bike light, a USB cord to charge the battery and a mount (cateye flextight handlebar mount).

The light is very well made with an alloy/nylon body that’s proved to be more than a match for the elements.

When you turn the cateye volt 1200 bicycle headlight around, you will see a socket where the Mount slides in. Just above the mount there is a socket to attach the USB cable to charge.

A big advantage of the strap bar mount is that, it can be easily screwed with your fingers on a handlebar of any size. Moreover, the strap bar mount ensures to keep the cateye volt stable and secure in use.

The cateye Volt 1200 comes with two super bright LEDs built into the front that pump out all the lumens.

Cateye Volt 1200 Review: The lumens are available in five different modes:

• High (1200 lumens)
• Medium (450 lumens)
• Low (150 lumens)
• Flash (150 lumens on and off) and
• Hyper constant (150 lumens with 1200 lumen pulses).

The modes are as Dynamic, Normal, All-Night, Hyper Constant and Flashing.

High Beam: Dynamic Mode

When we mounted the light and took the bike for a spin on the highest beam, the sharply focused beam lightens the road a long way ahead. This makes it easier to spot any potential danger beforehand and gives you enough time to take precautions. This beam is extremely helpful if you’re riding on pitch dark roads.

However, the peripheral coverage could have been better. At The Cateye Volt 1200 is so bright that it’s ideal to take for the odd off-road ride/run in the woods if that’s what you enjoy.

With this mode, the battery will last for just two hours.

Normal Mode:

If you’re not riding on country roads, the 450 lumens mode will suffice your requirements. Using the 1200 mode could be a bad idea as it is so bright that it could blind the cars coming from the opposite direction. Hence, switch to a lower mode. This will also keep your cateye reachable battery run for a longer time duration.

With this mode, the battery will last you for a good five hours.

All night mode:

The All-Night setting offers plenty of light to navigate by in the darkness. It also uses less amount of battery as compared to the high beam. However, if you are screaming down a hill, we advise you to switch to high mode.

Low Beam:

The low beam can be ideal for city riding. This mode is suitable for those looking to commute as well. However, there might be times when you might be switching between low and medium. For most riders this should be enough to get through a week of commutes.

Flash:

The sharp flashing mode beam is so strong that if barely gives you an idea of the terrain or what’s happening ahead. Moreover, it’s very irritating to the eye.

Recharge time: The 6200 mAh battery does take a good while to charge. The time can be somewhere around 14 hours if you are charging it from your laptop USB port.

Other features: Cateye Volt 1200 Review

The volt 1200 comes with a button that glows in the dark. This makes it easy to switch between the 5 modes while riding.

The button itself is also a battery indicator that lets you know, that it’s time to recharge!

While the most of you might feel this headlight is out of your budget, consider looking at the cateye volt 400, cateye volt 800.

Velocrush Tip:

As always with lights on any kind of vehicle, ensure that your bike lights are not angled in such a way that they blind oncoming road users.

This is unsafe for them and for you, and can cause collisions.

Make use of the mount, it has a lot of flexibility, so you can angle the light just right for the conditions.

You can read more cycling tips, by clicking here.

Verdict: Cateye Volt 1200 Review

The cateye volt 1200 is really good for long distance cyclist looking to do brevets and off-roading trials in the dark. Good battery life too and 5 modes offer enough variety to choose from.

If you are looking for similar lights within this budget, consider looking at the lezyne lights.