CAT EYE HL-EL135 LED Safety Bike Headlight for Commuting

I now own three of these lights, and highly recommend them in terms of value and convenience.Pros:- Many cheap lights use hearing aid batteries which are expensive and run down quickly. The fact that these take two AA's is what initially won me over. I usually get 1-2 months of occasional use out of Eneloop AAs on these.- The mounting bracket is simple, durable, and has a quick release. This also makes it easy to use as a standalone flashlight in a pinch.- The light is reasonably bright. Good enough to let cars know you're there.- Light weight!Cons:- It isn't bright enough to clearly illuminate the road in all conditions. If there is streetlight glare, or if it is pitch black, you will still want to take it slow. If you regularly ride in the dark, I suggest a more serious model. These are great as a backup if you think you might be out around dusk.- The lens reflects some light upwards, desensitizing your eyes. To fix this, put a bit of electrical tape over the top of the clear plastic. It will preserve your night vision and effectively make the light work much better.

I had a poor experience with this brand. When it worked, it was fine. I bought the first model. It worked fine for a period. Maybe 4 months. After a while it was sketchy about turning on and off. After thinking back and after reading other reviews on this product, it looks like the malfunction is due to the light being susceptible to rain. After I rode in the rain once or twice, that's when the problems started. The light was working fine before that but then I started having problems immediately after riding in wet conditions. Once I did that, sometimes it would work and sometimes not. As you know, if riding in the dark, you need a reliable light. Eventually the light stopped working altogether. I gave the brand the benefit of the doubt and bought another one. The same thing ended up happening. Worked fine at first, then became unreliable after riding in the rain.In reading other reviews on this product, I see similar complaints. I have since switched to a different brand. So far so good with that one. We'll see.Cat's Eye - Water proof your light -- Many of your consumers get after it whether its wet or dry. Your product needs to be ready for both.Cat's Eye -- I gave you every opportunity to make it work. But I've got no time to be riding in the dark.

If you are riding around the city it is a perfect light! Very reasonably priced for the quality of light! I'm sure everyone can see me riding...I haven't got hit..yet...(knock on wood!!!) :D anyway aside from the jokes... I am very impressed with this light! True story, when I received it I put in a request to return it because I thought it looked cheep, but I needed a light so I was going to take it for one last ride to test it and it rained on me during the ride. Of course I couldn't return it now.. so i guess I had to keep it. & it still worked & it still works! I've ridden it in the rain a lot more since then & left it out in heavy rain (because I'm one of those lazy people who leaves their lights on their bike all the time) & its been working like it did since the first day I've gotten it & I've had it for 4 months now!I would get a light with more lumens if you are planning on taking this trail riding in the dark, or you live in an area with a scarce amount of street lights, (or maybe even pair it with a helmet light, which is something I'm planning on doing).Overall, this product is perfect for city riding! But look somewhere else if you are trying to hit some late night bike trails!

The strap was defective on mine -- after a few months the light would no longer "click" into place, so it was not secure on my bike. It also wasn't very bright, so I upgraded to the much more expensive "CatEye Nano Shot Plus USB Rechargeable Headlight HL-EL625RC". This one was *fantastic* until the battery finally died. A replacement battery costs as much as a replacement headlight. I'm done with CatEye.

To me, this is perfect. It lets 'em know I'm there which is what I most want from a light. I leave it on flashing but if I'm in a really dark place with no traffic I might turn it on steady but I have a second light for that, usually. I have a second, moderately brighter light, a Cateye AMP400 I can use with this it there's no ambient light. This one, alone is actually bright enough, the secret is to not overdrive your lights, it's really not a race. Take a deep breath. My other like about this light is that it is not too bright, it's polite bright. I don't want to be that jerk with the UFO caliber lights on my bike.

Here is a summary of the bad reviews for this product in case you do want to read them...This is my second Hl-EL135 from Cateye: . It is not as bright as a real headlight: It offers enough light to feel safe at night, but I cannot for example see details like tree roots along the canal towpath. . Flimsy mounting mechanism: Personally, I think Cateye have the best mounting mechanisms on the market. They are very secure, but are also ultra convenient when removing accessories. This unit uses the exact same mounting mechanism as my main headlight the Cateye volt-800. . Not waterproof: I took one of these on a 4 month cycle tour around Scotland and the northern isles. The bike was mostly left outside often with the light on the handlebars. It died after about 3 months of use in very wet weather. But I feel that it has enough water resistance to cope if stored inside when not in use. . Not designed to last: Other than the waterproofing, I've not experienced any issues with this item. The plastics, the LEDs or the mounting mechanism. . Battery life short: I use this as my backup light in part because it has very long battery life, more than 100 hours It has a far greater battery life than USB-chargeable options. . Stopped working shortly after purchase: I've not experienced that with either of the units that I've purchased. . Cover is not secure: I've never had the cover come off and I've easily ridden more than 10K miles with this unit attached. . The battery cover doesn't make a full seal: I can see a little gap where the battery cover meets the base of the unit if I examine it, but not big enough to allow water directly through. But they are right it does not have the finish as high-end Cateye products like the Volt-800 for example.But in summary:It is a good quality budget option with a long battery life to use as your primary light. It is a great backup option if you have a USB light. I highly recommend this light if you have a product like the volt-300,400,800 since they share the same mounting mechanism and can be interchanged in seconds.

Poor product design has resulted in a feeble and wholly inadequate mechanism that is unable to securely hold this light on its mount. A tiny projection of plastic measuring approximately 2mm x 2mm is all that is holding this light in position on its mount after it is slid into position. Utterly ridiculous!After riding for no more than 10 hours in total on my local roads the aforementioned plastic sheared off sending the light onto the road at which point it smashed into pieces. A shamefully poor excuse for a bicycle light and one which could have resulted in injury or far worse.Avoid like the plague!

I wanted a bike lamp that took standard batteries as it gets infrequent use and I didn’t want it to need charging just as I wanted to use it. The lamp can double as a pocket torch. It is bright enough, but suffers from a few niggles. The construction is flimsy, and the battery cover can easily be knocked off. Worst of all, the lamp is not waterproof. There have been reports of failure due to water penetration. This is disappointing as this is not cheap, and I thought this was a good brand. I would not buy another.

the light is exactly what i was looking for so i didnt purchase a cheaper chinese one.aa batteries in it were a must-have not the little aaa sized ones so pleased at that.UNfortuantely the battery cover never fitted very well, and was prone to slide off. it did on mine, and the coveris now lost, leaving the batteries exposed to the rain.i really didnt expect this lack of quality in any cat-eye product as the cost is premium compared to a very cheap chinese product (this may be made in china anyway?). the battery cover is not adequately secured and can slip off if lightly brushed with something. the "click" i would expect securing it simply wasn't adequate.as for the led light itself, very acceptable, bright enough for slow speed riding at night. small and handy to carry about in my bag, but now its by no means spash proof without its sliding battery cover, which slid off and is lost "somewhere" alng my route home. the battery cover is the problem and therefore i give this 2 star only.

Bought as my current light wasn’t bright enough as some of my route home from work was via an unlit park. I secured this light to the front fork near the brake disc to give good lighting of the pathway. This is a very bright light and has made a big difference on my journey. The light itself does fit snuggly onto the securing strap but it is a nightmare to take off. I have chanced leaving it on and up to now it hasn’t been pinched. For the price I can’t grumble but if I end up replacing it I will probably buy a different one.