Cateye Volt 1200 front light

Cateye have nailed this one. They've been steadily increasing the power of their torch-style lights over the last three years and they've come out with some crackers. We loved the 250-lumen Nano Shot and we loved the 600-lumen Nano Shot Plus. And now we love the Volt.

It's not all about the maximum output. But the Volt 1200 puts out masses of light on full, more than some lights that are rated higher in terms of lumen output. You get two hours on full (Cateye's battery life predictions are pretty accurate), five hours on Normal (about half power) and a whopping 17.5 hours on All-Night, which I reckon is about what the original Nano Shot used to kick out, 250 lumens or so.

That means you can genuinely ride all night with the Volt 1200. In fact, assuming it's summer riding and you're frugal with the high beam, you could probably do a whole weekend. From a light this size that's mighty impressive. The All-Night setting is plenty of light to navigate by in the darkness, although when you're heading downhill you'll want to switch to a higher beam. Normal is generally fine for that but if you're really screaming down a descent then you can go for the mega beam; I seldom used it on road. In the woods it's fantastic: the amount you can see is astonishing, to the point that your skill, not the visibility, is often the limiting factor.

On the road, it's often too much: certainly when you're in traffic it's just too bright to use considerately. Even on Normal I got flashed a couple of times by cars thinking I was a motorbike stuck on full beam. Most of the time I stuck to low power, using the higher beams on deserted lanes. There's a Hyperconstant setting too, which is low power with a full-beam strobe; that's brilliant for getting seen in the daytime. Double click the button and you get a standard flashing mode that's also good around town.

That double click is the only major issue with the light. More than once on a dark lane I'd try to switch from high beam to All-Night mode (two clicks) to avoid dazzling an oncoming car/cyclist/pedestrian only to find myself in flashing mode which is very much not adequate for staying out of the hedges in the dark. If you're in Normal mode it's not an issue, as it's only one click to All-Night.

The beam isn't road specific – in fact Cateye's product video of the Volt shows it mostly used off-road – but so long as you're sensitive to other road users it's not really an issue. There's decent side visibility from the lens design, although it'd be nice to have a touch more.

The LEDs also light up the mode button so it's easy to find in the dark, although my gloved hands would like it to be a bit bigger. And a red LED comes on inside that button when it's time to charge the Volt - that takes ages on a computer USB port (14 hours!) so it's better to try and find a high-output USB transformer that'll juice it up overnight.

I've had to charge the Volt less than once a week based on a half-hour each way commute; at that rate the 6200mAh battery will last about six or seven years. The light is very well built with an alloy/nylon body that's proved to be more than a match for the elements.

The mount is Cateye's FlexTight bracket which is a kind of plastic Jubilee clip. It doesn't sound that sexy but you can swap it between bikes in about half a minute and it holds the light firmly, and is adjustable for tension so you can keep the Volt adjustable by hand, useful for on-the fly adjustments.

There's a lot to like about this light. It's insanely bright on full, has good power options for the road, is well built and waterproof, has a long battery life and is easy to switch between your bikes. £150 isn't cheap but it'll do you for both on- and off-road and should last a few years. That makes it well worth considering as an investment.

Verdict

Really good all-purpose high-power light with good power options and battery life for road riding.

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