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review
Lights - rear
Cateye Omni 5 rear lightCateye Omni 5 rear light

Cateye Omni 5 rear light

8
by dave atkinson
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published May 18, 2013

0
£16.99

VERDICT:

8
10
Inexpensive and dependable rear light that's easy to fit and use
Weight: 
20g
Contact: 
www.zyro.co.uk
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Cateye make some great value lights that perform well, and the Omni 5 (or TD-L155-R, to give it its catchier name) is one of them. There's a lot to like about this rear blinky. It's not the most powerful or the sleekest, but it's a great all-rounder.

Lozenge-shaped, powered by two AAA batteries and with five bright red LEDs in a line, the Omni 5 is old school. No USB charging or funky casings here, it's more or less your standard rear blinky. Cateye have made the Omni 5 entirely out of translucent red plastic, so the LEDs shine out in all directions. Certainly it's nice and visible from both sides.

The bracket is Cateye's FlexTight one which, for the uninitiated, is a bit like a big plastic jubilee clip. It's tool-free and you can tighten it around most things: seatposts, stays, the back of racks, whatever. If you're mounting it on your 'post then you'll probably need to clip the end off as it tends to stick out and catch your shorts. Cateye also bung a clothing clip into the box which will fix to a pocket or a light loop on a bag. A saddle-rail mount is also available for a tenner or so.

The Omni 5 has two flashing modes and a constant one. It's a hold-to-turn-on switch so it won't accidentally activate in your bag, and it turns on at the mode you last turned it off which is a nice touch. Rapid blink is a bit, erm, annoying; I preferred the slower flashing mode. Output-wise it's not claiming to be super-bright and it isn't, but it's plenty visible enough at night or on an overcast morning. I'd be happy running it as my only rear light for normal riding.

Cateye claim the light will run for up to 120 hours (although not necessarily on the batteries they supply with it) and so far ours has racked up somewhere near 80 hours of use in flashing without giving out. We haven't been setting the stopwatch. The battery life is fine. Everything about this light is fine, really: the price, the construction, the output, the battery life. If you just want a simple rear light for everyday use you can't really go wrong here.

Verdict

Inexpensive and dependable rear light that's easy to fit and use

road.cc test report

Make and model: Cateye Omni 5 rear light

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Five bright LEDs deliver great brightness with impressive runtime. The Omni 5 rear light provides 360 degrees of visibility and New Omni Directional Technology increases safety while three flashing modes – rapid, flashing and constant, let you select the right level of visibility. With two AAA batteries, the Omni 5 will run up to 120 hours. The simple, tool-free FlexTight bracket and included clothing clip allow you to easily attach the Omni 5 anywhere you'd like.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Dimension：

 

36.0 X 75.0 X 21.9mm

Weight：

 

41.8 grams (light unit and battery)

Light source：

 

Red LED X5

Battery：

 

AAA alkaline battery X2

Runtime：

 

Approx 60hrs in constant, 90hrs in flashing, and 120hrs in rapid mode

Mount size：

 

φ12.0～32.0mm (FlexTight SP-11)

Other：

 

Clothing clip included

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
9/10
Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Good visibility, mounting options, battery life

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

nothing really

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 40  Height: 190cm  Weight: 102kg

I usually ride: whatever I'm testing...  My best bike is: Genesis Equilibrium with SRAM Apex

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

 

Cateye Omni 5 rear light
Cateye
LED rear light
Dave Atkinson

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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