Cateye Volt 6000

Torchy the battery boy

Newly Enlightened
Joined
May 13, 2018
Messages
14
Location
Glasgow
Cateye Volt 6000 bike light- I just had to check it out and see if it lived up to the 6000 lumen claim.
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The good news is the output exceeds the claimed 6000 lumens, and the built in fan does a good job of controlling the heat. The output remained above 7000 lumens even after 20 minutes inside the integrating sphere.
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The bad news is there is no attempt to focus the light. The beam is very bright and very wide, but doesn't shine very far ahead. The light on the ground a few meters ahead is so bright, it produces a snow blind effect and it takes a few moments for the eyes to adjust to the relatively dark distance. There are much better lights for less than half the price. Apart from that, the battery is big and heavy, and while the light stayed quite cool, the battery gets very hot. The connection of the lamp to the battery is push fit, and it doesn't seem to be very secure, no threaded connectors.
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The packaging leaves a lot to be desired. For £500 I would have thought that they could at least have supplied a case tht all the bits fit in comfortably. The light comes with all the bits and pieces crammed into a case that is two sizes too small.
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Keitho

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 7, 2017
Messages
781
Location
CO, USA
Nice write up and test, much appreciated. That light looks fun--a lot like the first Cateye I bought back in about 2003, but with 70x the lumens! I just can't get over how much the bigger "bike light" manufacturers charge (I'm thinking Cateye, Niterider, Light and Motion, and Exposure). I think about it this way--I can produce over 7000 lumens for an hour with a lineup of qty=6 Zebralight SC64w HI's (probably a similar CRI and a similar floodlight effect); but, the lineup of six ZL's including 18650's mounted on Twofish lockblocks will weigh 160g less, and would cost USD $250 less! It would look ridiculous (almost silly enough that I really want to try it now); but, with a bunch of ZL's, you could even shape the beam to focus more light downrange and a lot less into outer space. That's got me thinking, my wide handlebars look pretty empty without seven light holders....

I'm glad to see Cateye being creative, but maybe they should be skipping the fan and investing in beam quality, tint, CRI, weight...after all, if I see that my light needs some cooling while cycling, I just need to pedal! And cyclists are (in)famous for paying anything for something a few grams lighter. I kind of like that my light warms up a bit when I'm going slowly on climbs and dims, then cools off as I start downhill and brightens back up.

I know, I'm not the market for these lights. The people who buy these go into a sporting goods store or bike shop, and say "give me the best mountain bike and the head light with the most lumens, because I just signed up for my first night race."
 
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