Should I buy last years Cateye led light at a discount?

dazzawazza

I'm looking to buy a new front Cateye led light.
The question I have is, has their led technology changed much in a year? A lot of the descriptions of their new lights state they are twice as bright as last year’s model.

The lights I'm looking at are:

Cateye EL 320 = Power Opticube 1000+ CP £22.99 (RRP £30.00) - 2007/2008

Cateye EL 510 = Front LED Light 800+ CP £19.99 (RRP £40.00) - 2005/2006

The 510 has less candle power, but might throw a wider beam and have more features.
It’s a model up from the EL320 and used to retail at a higher price, but if technology improvements mean that this year’s cheaper models are better I will choose the EL320.

I rarely use unlit roads, but want a light that will give me that option.

Does anyone know about these lights?

woodford2barbican

I will not buy cateye lights again. I have had two of their front lights come off their mounts and shatter into unfixable pieces.

I bought one of these http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=9110 it is much more robust that the cateye lights, maybe not quite as bright, but cheaper. I think it would survive the falls that destroyed my previous cateyes.......

spen666

I've had the opposite experience to you woodford

I have never had a failure with cateye lights and have four on my current bike (front & rear) and a similar number on other bikes.

I do not buy their cheapest front lights though

spen666

I've had the opposite experience to you woodford

I have never had a failure with cateye lights and have four on my current bike (front & rear) and a similar number on other bikes.

I do not buy their cheapest front lights though

spen666

I've had the opposite experience to you woodford

I have never had a failure with cateye lights and have four on my current bike (front & rear) and a similar number on other bikes.

I do not buy their cheapest front lights though

BentMikey

I too have had great experiences with cateye lights.

dondare

I spent over £40 on a Cateye, dropped it onto a carpeted floor from about waist height and it stopped working. I've also has one of the same design become unusable after the casing cracked; but I made a fully-working one out of the two damaged ones.
A friend of mine who uses cateyes finds that the mounting system wears out or breaks in no time, but I've not had this experience.

woodford2barbican

I now run these - got it cheaper than this though.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... ith%20Case

I heard a ped say as i passed him, "I thought he was a car!"