Cateye AMPP 1100 front light review

Cateye is a brand that has long been associated with bike lights and the AMPP 1100 does exactly what you’d expect, considering Cateye’s heritage, and throws out a good amount of light.

The beam pattern is bright with a decent distance reach and a wide periphery with a consistent quality of spread. On the highest setting you can see from the image below that it does light up the tree canopy, which is good for an unlit road but in order to avoid the dazzle factor you’d need to run it on a lower setting for general road riding.

Some lateral play in the mount means you can tweak the optimal beam angle too.

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Deep horizontal cut-outs in the side housing allow generous slices of light out to the sides for improved visibility at junctions.

The AMPP has five modes: High, Middle, Low, Daytime and Flashing. Cycling between them takes a simple click of the power button, with the added advantage of a double-click switching to full power mode.

It’s big enough to operate with gloved hands and the same central button glows blue, yellow or red to indicate battery life remaining. Charging is via a micro-USB cable.

The bracket is a really simple fixing with a plastic strap that wraps round the bar and pulls through a slot to tighten. It’s held in place with a knurled wheel. Okay, I'm nitpicking here as it’s the tiniest of aggravations, but the fact that the wheel is separate means that I know for certain I'm going to lose it in a drawer. My solution would be to fix it in place and leave it.

The light slides into place with a firm positive click and requires the press of a button to remove it, so there’s no danger of it rattling loose. The locating part of the light that slides onto the mount is quite chunky though – this is not one that pops unobtrusively into a pocket.

Centre stem and helmet mounts are also available, although I’d opine that there are lighter weight and sleeker options you can choose if you want to run a helmet light.

The Cateye AMPP 1100 is a good all-round light with enough range for both road and off-road use. It is practical and easy to use. In short, there is really little wrong with it and you’re unlikely to be disappointed by its performance.

However, at the same price point there are lights available that deliver more in terms of additional features, light weight and battery size. Ultimately, it feels like it lacks some of the refinement of similarly priced models.