Cateye Rapid 3 front light

It's the purity of delivery that separates Cateye's Rapid 3 front light from a wealth of similar blinkeys. I don't like watts as a measure since it's concerned with consumption, rather than output. However, ours has saved my blushes (possibly my life too) when a high power main system packed up ten miles from the nearest stretch of street lighting, let alone my front door.

Sharing identical guts with its rear sibling, there's a central 0.2watt spot flanked by two 5mm LEDs powered by two ubiquitous AAA cells, which in my book makes these a better choice for tourists and indeed mountain bikers. Now for those of you uninitiated with the brands' opti cube technology, it's where lens and reflectors are matched to optimise output according to the light's intended purpose, which seems a genuinely effective.

Talking of which, I've come to appreciate Cateye's simple mounting system that resembles a super-refined zip tie snaking anaconda-like around the full set of handlebar diameters, extension brackets and even some stems too (photo). Another interesting feature is the sculpted anti glare strip that fits shroud like between lens and casing, overcoming the problem of being dazzled by your own light but without muting peripheral potency. Essentially it's a strip of electrical tape, so a neat trick you could use with similarly powerful designs.

Powering up unleashes a retina tickling pool of white light with a faintly blue aura that's just enough for navigating the suburbs to around 14mph in steady but economy drops to around 5hrs 43 minutes (against a quoted six, depending upon cell quality) whereas flashing has returned at least 78.25 with bargain basement batteries. Rapid also works very well because it oscillates faster than most other neon pollution and identifies you as a cyclist to other road users to at least 250 metres, nearer 400 in the sticks with a return of 33.5 hours (35 quoted).

Literally brilliant with old fashioned dynamos, slow speed saunters through congested traffic, waiting at level crossings have all felt markedly safer. Plenty of wet stuff coupled with garden hose testing suggests winter won't get close, while positive switches mightn't be prod n' play with heavy tog weight gloves, the diodes won't be doing the samba when bouncing around in rider luggage.

Verdict

Extremely capable urban commuter light/dynamo companion or main light back up with excellent output and economy all at a reasonable price