Cateye AMPP1100

When I lived in the city I would cycle a lot, I had lights to ensure I was visible to other road users and didn’t think any more of it. When I moved to the countryside I realised just what a modern blessing street lights are, it was time to upgrade my lighting so I could still ride my bike at night.

When the Ampp1100 from Cateye arrived on my desk it was the perfect timing. The Ampp uses a twin-LED design with OptiCube lens technology, this helps to spread the light beam wide and evenly in front of you. This light is powered by a Li-ion rechargeable battery (7.4V-2500mAh) via the included Micro-USB cable, the built-in fast recharging circuit means the light will reach 100% in approx 3 hours minimum. There is a handy battery level indicator, blue above 50%, yellow 30-50% and red less than 30%, this ensures you never get surprised with a dead battery in the middle of a country lane.

There are five different light modes to choose from High, Middle, Low, Daytime HyperConstant and Flashing. The Ampp provides at high a run time of 1.5hrs and kicks out 1100 lumens, Middle gives 2hrs at 800 lumens and when it is on Low you get 4.5hrs with 400 lumens, the Daytime HyperConstant mode flicks between 1100 and 400 lumens for up to 6.5hrs and you get the most time in Flashing mode at 200 lumens for up to 50hrs.

This healthy battery life makes it great for both short commutes and longer rides as it allows you to conserve the battery when needed by easily toggling through the different modes, a quick double click of the power button will automatically set the high mode when a light boost is needed. The light casing wraps around the edge of the unit so it spreads the light beam out to both edges of the road even on the lowest setting. In this setting it reaches out to about 13 meters, which is perfectly usable in the darkest conditions, the medium setting was reaching out to about 25meters whilst the highest setting is almost too bright creating dark shadows from the bike itself but it is handy in some situations.

The Ampp is rather heavy at 200g and measures up at 48 x 105 x 34mm, it attaches to the top of the handlebars (top mounted only) via the FlexTight bracket, there is a helmet mount and centre fork bracket available and sold separately. This light is a good choice for low light and night-time cycling, you can easily use it on low mode, which gives a very healthy battery life and switch to a visibility light when you are in the city. RRP £67.05

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