Review: CatEye Volt 6000
The Volt 6000 is the first light we’ve seen to incorporate a fan in the light head (click to enlarge).
Editor’s Note: This article is part of Mtbr and RoadBikeReview’s 2016 Bike Lights Shootout. See the 2016 Mtbr Headlights Index and the RoadBikeReview Commuter Lights Index.
The Lowdown: CatEye Volt 6000
CatEye made the first HID bike light with the Stadium 3 bike light about ten years ago and revolutionized night riding. The system was incredibly heavy at 2000 grams and it put out about 500 Lumens of very white/blue-ish light.
Now, CatEye wowed us once again with the introduction of their Volt 6000 lights. With a claimed output of 6000 Lumens, the Volt 6000 weighs in at 718 grams with a cost of $800. The kicker is it has a built-in fan to counter the greatest enemy of LED bike lights today, heat.
Is it as revolutionary as the old CatEye Stadium? Is it an unfair advantage for trail night riding? Read on and find out.
| Claimed Lumens: 6000 Lumens | Mtbr Lux: 5400 |
| Measured Lumens: 7252 Lumens | Mounted weight: 718 grams |
| Lumens per $: 9.07 Lumens | Category: Headlight |
| Lumens per gram: 10.10 Lumens | Price: $800 |
| Run time on high: 1:00 Hours |
Rating:  5 Chilis-out-of-5 for achievement |
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Battery is big, weighing in at 600 grams, providing an hour of run time at maximum brightness (click to enlarge).
Full Review: CatEye Volt 6000
This light has many things going for it. First, the light is devastatingly bright and brighter than claimed. The beam pattern is very wide too so there is actually good usage of all the brightness. Often bright lights have a beam that’s too narrow and the rider adjusts to the bright beam but cannot see anything on the periphery. With this light, everything is lit up and visible.
Air is sucked in from the rear and let out through the sides to cool thin heating fins designed to take all the head from the LED (click to enlarge).
Second, the integrated fan actually works. It allows the light to operate at maximum brightness in all conditions. Warm weather or slow moving rides are not a problem. Most lights become inefficient or step down in brightness to protect the LED. This light just stays on max brightness while keeping the light head fairly cool. Instead of using the light head as a heat sink, all the heat is pushed out of the side vents.
Finally, this light is designed and manufactured with the highest Japanese standards of CatEye. It is not uncommon to hear of CatEye Stadium lights still using their 10-year old lights.
Continue to page 2 for more on the CatEye Volt 6000, beam pattern and Lumen measurement »
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