Cateye has been making bike lights for longer than most, and the AMPP2200 is the brightest of an 11 strong AMPP headlight range. The focused beam makes it OK for simpler trails and the worm screw mount fits all sorts of bars. It’s only splash proof though and expensive for lack of features and short run time.

Cateye’s AMPP2200 is ultra-reliable despite its lowly splashproof water resistancy rating, but it’s outshone by the likes of Exposure’s 6 Pack

Design and specifications

The AMPP2200’s long, narrow alloy body has a single LED at the front end. Top and bottom lips stop the glare into my eyes either way up and there are shallow cooling strakes machined into the side. The cut out side and lens bevel give some sideways traffic awareness too, but not as much as you’d imagine given the bulging shape of the lens.

There are five steady modes and two flashing, controlled through a single button. Battery charge status is limited to a colour change on the backlight button, there is a lock function for safe transport though. The USB-C charge port sits behind a rubber flap under the chin but the light is only weather rated to IPX4 (occasional water splashes and light rain).

The FlexTight bracket uses a worm drive thumbscrew to tighten a plastic band and it works on all round bars and some weird shaped ones too. The mounting shoe also has some sideways slew for accurate alignments. A strap on helmet mount is available as an accessory.

One rubbery button on top are all the controls you get on Cateye’s AMPP2200, use it to switch between modes or see how much juice is left in the battery

Performance

Cateye has been making bike lights for over 30 years and the AMPP range has been running for ages. It’s always prioritised top quality internals and been very reliable as a result. While the official waterproof rating isn’t great we’ve never drowned one during testing either. The FlexTight bracket is usefully universal if a bit of a faff to get together in the first place. Make sure you click the light firmly home into the mount shoe though I’ve lost AMPP’s before when we thought they were secure.

The single LED and ‘OptiCube’ lens gives a broader beam spread than previous AMPP lights and the medium spread is OK for most riding. It can make tight and twisty trails feel a bit frantic as upcoming turns and features swerve through the light patch though. The overall output seems significantly lower than other lights with similar lumen claims. The light gets hot quickly too so expect the thermal throttle to cut in and dim power on warmer or slower moving nights, reducing effective lighting even further.

The AMPP2200 produces a decent enough beam, but it’s just not as powerful as the best competition, and the run time is down on them too

Be warned that the orange 50% light comes on late though and then the ‘low’ red light warning comes on around three minutes before the Cateye dies completely. On colder nights I never saw the full claimed runtime either and there’s no pass through charging or power pack capability.

The ‘double click for Ultra Boost’ means you can shortcut from anywhere in the otherwise painful mode scroll though, which is really useful to avoid desperate disco moments.

Cateye’s been making lights longer than most, but it needs to modernise the AMPP, adding more features and power if it wants to keep up