Monthly Archives: September 2014
Review: Cat Eye Volt 1200 (HL-EL1000RC) front light
As a bicycle commuter, I’ve already discussed the importance of being seen on the road, and one of the most effective ways of doing so is by using good bike lights.
Front lights, in particular, occupy a broad spectrum of options. There are low-powered models that are meant to increase a cyclist’s visibility to other road users, but don’t do so well for illuminating the road. Other models rated for higher light output can cut through the darkness and light up your way as you pedal, highlighting potholes and road acne in advance so you can take avoiding action.
The light I’m reviewing today undeniably belongs to the latter category. We take a look at Cat Eye’s Volt 1200.
FEATURES
- High-intensity white LED x2 in OptiCube beam-shaping housing
- Maximum output: 1200 lumens
- Five operating modes
- Dynamic – 2 hours at 1200 lumens
- Normal – 5 hours at 600 lumens
- All-Night – 17.5 hours at 200 lumens
- HyperConstant – 14.5 hours at 200 lumens + 600 lumen strobe
- Flashing – 100 hours
- FlexTight handlebar bracket mounting
- Aluminum body
- Water-resistant
- Replaceable 3.6V 6200mAh cartridge battery
- Recharge time
- 14 hours via USB 2.0 @ 500mA
- 8 hours via high-current USB @ 2000mA
OUT OF THE BOX
The Volt 1200 comes in a nice cardboard box. Inside are the light itself, the micro-USB charging cable, instruction leaflet, and the FlexTight handlebar mount bracket. This is the exact same mount used by my other front light, the much smaller and lighter Cat Eye Nano Shot (HL-EL620RC).
As an all-in-one torch-type unit, the black cartridge battery is pre-installed into the lamp body, mounting via three bolts. You can undo the bolts with a hex key and mount a spare battery if you had one, but obviously this isn’t a quick affair. Besides, the huge battery is enough for most rides, especially when kept out of the higher-output modes. At 6200mAh, it dwarfs most cellphone batteries in pure capacity. My own Lenovo P770 smartphone has quite a large battery at 3500mAh; the Volt 1200 practically doubles that.
The aluminum body of the Volt 1200 acts like a heatsink, with a row of ridges on its top. Running at 600 or 1200 lumens means this can become quite hot, which is normal. The light has a little sticker on its underside warning of this, next to the rubber gasket flap for the micro-USB charging port.
PERFORMANCE IMPRESSIONS
The first time I turned it on, I laughed maniacally. An honest-to-goodness 1200 lumens! This is a seriously strong light in Dynamic mode, and it can temporarily blind people when aimed the wrong way. The beam is so potent that it handily outshines most indoor lighting. Headlight aim becomes critical when using the Volt 1200. I find it’s better angled slightly downward, 15-25 degrees from horizontal. The sheer volume of light means you will definitely be seen – it’s best employed by illuminating your path, and by brute force it will light up quite a way into the distance.
In terms of beam shape, the OptiCube reflectors and optics tightly control it to give you a focused rectangle of light with minimal spill, instead of a floodlight effect. Some people may want more peripheral light, but I find that the tight beam works well when you’re pedaling at higher speeds.
You’d think the 214g Volt 1200 would overwhelm its tiny FlexTight bracket, but this isn’t the case. Tightened properly, I never had a problem with the light drooping on the bar at all, even through bad roads.
OPERATION
Most people will see this light and think “I don’t have use for a 1200 lumen front light!” Well, true, in most cases it is overkill. However, the real draw of the Volt 1200 is how versatile it is. If the max output was the only good thing about this light, this review would have ended already.
The five modes are all good compromises between light output and battery life. You cycle between the main modes in decreasing order of brightness using a single press of the top button (Dynamic -> Normal -> All-Night -> HyperConstant, then repeat). Pedaling along East Service Road at 10 pm, at 18 km/h average speed, I used the 600-lumen Normal mode most of the time to light up the path, while being seen by the cars and trucks that ply the route. I reserve the full 1200 lumens for short bursts in very dark spots. In the daytime, I run the HyperConstant mode, which is a constant 200-lumen beam with a 600-lumen flash strobe, and this helps with visibility.
Below are sample beam shots taken with my camera. The light is mounted such that it is around 20 degrees down from horizontal. Settings are constant across all photos: ISO 400, an f/2.8 aperture, 1/2 second shutter, and 50mm-equivalent focal length. For distance reference, the white vehicle in the distance is 100 meters away.
Perhaps the only mode I don’t use at all is the Flashing mode. This turns the light into a high-powered blinker with an annoying pulse frequency. I prefer HyperConstant for this purpose, as the pulses aren’t so quick, and the constant beam gives oncoming traffic a better way of estimating distance between you and them.
Unfortunately, accessing the Flashing mode inadvertently (a double-press of the button, accessible at any time) is done way too easily. In practice, you may find that while trying to turn down the brightness, pressing too quickly triggers the borderline obnoxious Flashing mode.
Once the Volt 1200’s button glows red, it’s time for a recharge. Left alone long enough, it will automatically step down in output to squeeze as much run time out of the battery. At 6200mAh of capacity, charging this beast will take a while, and I would suggest investing in a high-current USB charger. The Volt 1200 has a useful way of discerning between normal and high-current charging. Normal charging leaves the button glowing red, while high-current charging is shown by a slow-cadence flashing.
VOLT 1200: YEA OR NAY?
I’ll get to the elephant in the room: this light isn’t affordable. Cheapskates are going to shy away from this light from the price alone, no matter what merits it has.
That said, 1200 lumens hasn’t been priced like this before – not from an established lighting brand. Not too long ago, you had to pay an arm and a leg for a light of equivalent output – and not in an all-in-one unit, to boot. Year on year, the improvements in bicycle lighting technology have become so great that my 200-lumen Nano Shot has been overtaken by the Volt 300 three years later, which packs 300 lumens in a package that’s half the price. If you look at the Volt 1200 as an investment, in that you’re buying a torch-type light that is ahead of the technological curve for about five years, coupled with the potential of buying replacement batteries…the price tag doesn’t seem too bad.
Also worth noting is that the bare aluminum on my own unit has shown a few signs of cosmetic minor corrosion. This is most evident in the clingy greenish hard powder in between the cooling ridges (which I assume is aluminum oxide) and some blistering on the underside. No adverse effect on the light’s function, though, and it might simply be due to my sweat falling on the lamp’s metal body. The Volt 1200 is still as solid as the day it was unboxed.
You may question the value of a 1200-lumen headlight, but the great thing about the Volt 1200 is that it is so much more than that. The capacious battery, great beam control, and a thoughtful selection of modes mean that this multi-role light excels at endurance – it can be the light you need it to be. Mount it to a mountain bike, turn on Dynamic mode, and see the trail light up right in front of your eyes. In practice, while riding with the light in HyperConstant mode in the daytime and Normal mode at night, over a total of two hours’ commuting per day, the battery will last a week with juice to spare. Charge it overnight using a good high-current USB charger, and you’re good to go the next day for another week’s worth of riding.
VERDICT
Reliable, powerful and well thought-out – one of the better lights around. An investment worth saving up for.
Review: SKS P45 Longboard bicycle fenders
As of this writing, we are smack dab in the middle of the rainy season. Riding a bike in this kind of weather presents its own risks and downsides – not least of which is a grimy, dirty stain down your shirt and butt affectionately called by cyclists as “the skunk stripe.”
This large stain is a headache to rain riders because it is so hard to launder out of the fabric. While the rain falling from above is pretty clean, the water from your riding surface is anything but. In the first few minutes following any rainfall, the oils from the asphalt and passing vehicles leach out into the road. Not only do these tend to decrease the grip of your tires, they also make for a binding adhesive for dust and dirt. If this stuff is thrown up by your wheels’ spray and ends up on your clothing, I bid you good luck washing it out. This spray also isn’t good for your front derailleur and crankset, either.
Many folding bikes come with very good full-length fenders installed as stock equipment, and they are very effective at keeping you clean as you ride. If you move up to a road bike, however, what options do you have? Most fenders available locally are MTB-style jobs which don’t offer anywhere near the same amount of coverage.
Since my Dahon Vitesse T10 came with very good SKS fenders, I decided to look for similar items for my Giant TCX SLR 2. Today we’ll be looking at the SKS P45 Longboard fender set.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Made of a sandwich construction of plastic and aluminum
- 45mm wide, will fit 700c tires with widths from 28mm to 37mm
- Secu-Clip safety feature on front stays – designed to release when foreign objects get wedged between the front tire and fender
- Stainless steel stays
- All mounting hardware included
OUT OF THE BOX
SKS weren’t kidding when they said the Longboards – an offshoot of their long-running Chromoplastics series – are their largest, fullest-coverage fenders available. I mean, just check out the rubber mudflap on the front fender.
The “P45” designation means these fenders are 45mm wide. SKS recommends fenders at least 7mm wider than the tire tread width, so the P45s are the way to go for a cyclocross bike with 35mm-wide tires in a typical configuration. A road bike running 20-28mm tires will be better served by the P35 variant.
Inside the packaging are the fenders, the front and rear stays, the instruction sheet, and a bag containing all the washers, nuts and bolts, as well as the fender stay end-caps and the sliding bridge piece for the rear fender. You’ll need a 4mm hex key for the bolts, an 8mm socket wrench for the stay nuts, and a metal saw or hacksaw to cut the stays down to size. Bring out a permanent marker and tape measure, too, and a vise would be very useful.
INSTALLATION…
The installation instructions are some of the worst I’ve seen. I’m used to seeing quality diagram-based instructions while installing everything from plastic models to car underbody parts, but SKS has the bare minimum of diagrams and resorts to explanation to walk the user through. You’re better off watching installation videos from YouTube instead.
Here’s a comprehensive one from Rivendell Bike Works.
Here’s one from SKS themselves.
Basically you will want to approach the install in the correct order, especially for the rear fender. It is meant to be anchored in six places: the chainstay bridge, the brake bridge, and then two points each for the left and right stays. Adding complication is that while the TCX SLR 2 has fender eyelets for the stays, it has neither of the two bridges, as it is a cyclocross bike equipped with disc brakes and designed for mud clearance. Conventionally you will want to anchor the rear fender by the bridge piece and chainstay bridge before having anything to do with the stays. For the TCX, I did this by repurposing a reflector mount and using some long zip ties.
The biggest headache you will likely encounter during installation is the proper sizing and cutting of the stays. Keep in mind the old adage “measure twice, cut once,” as it can be very easy to cut too much off the stays, leaving you with no way to vertically locate the huge fenders properly – unless you braze or weld the cut pieces back on.
…AND FINE-TUNING
Dialing in the fitment also happened in the first week post-install. On a disc-brake bike, you will definitely have to bend the stays inward. On the front fender, the bend is on the non-drive side to clear the disc caliper, while on the rear fender you will have to bend on the drive side to clear the cassette and freehub. The aim is to get the fenders as straight as they can, and eliminate any chance of the fender hardware rubbing on the spinning tire. Maintaining a one-finger-width gap from the stay to the tire will do.
Lastly, you will want to reduce the fender gap to the slimmest possible without the tire rubbing on the inside of the fender. This is especially true for the front. If the gap is too large, riding the bike one-handed at higher speeds feels as if there is a parachute strapped to the fork and the winds are snatching the steering away from you. That extra-long front mudflap can also jack-knife on itself and fold over, rubbing on the spinning front tire and having a lot of its thickness filed down very quickly. Reducing the gap mitigates this.
PERFORMANCE IMPRESSIONS
After the frustration of installation, fine-tuning and adjustment, the SKS P45 Longboards are a great fender set.
That low-hanging front mudflap might look odd, but it’s quite effective at keeping the spray out of your feet and toes. It’s also soft enough to bend out of the way in case you have to push the bike through a doorway with a raised step. Not even the front fender on my Vitesse was this good – it just doesn’t reach as low. It is worth all the effort to get the fender hugging the front wheel as snugly as possible.
With fenders cinched up and rubbing eliminated, the bike has no trouble hitting 47 km/h of flat sprint, and it’s stable riding one-handed.
As good as the front fender is, the rear fender was the primary reason why I bought this set. My clothes and backpack now remain dry and grime-free whenever I ride through lots of standing water or a rain shower. The half-moon arc also effectively protects my front derailleur and crankset from road grime.
One final selling point of the Longboards for me was their color. Fitted correctly, black fenders on a black bike are virtually invisible – only the stays and a few dots of chrome give them away. SKS also makes these in silver and beige, all with black rubber mudflaps.
P45 LONGBOARDS: YEA OR NAY?
The installation is the only thing frustrating about this product, and you just have to accept that the procedure will vary depending on the idiosyncrasies of your bike. If you can wrap your head around the install and fine-tuning, these are simply excellent fenders.
VERDICT
Highly recommended if you can find a set. Just take your time and be patient with the install and fine-tuning.
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