Cateye Reflex Auto Tail Light

A few days ago, Allan of BCP posted on our Facebook page the Cateye Reflex Auto Tail Light LD570. He installed it on his Brompton and I thought I had to do the same as well. You see, the Reflex Auto is not your ordinary tail light/reflector. The cool thing about it is that it has optic and motion sensors! This means the Reflex Auto can determine when its dark and the bike is in motion, and will then turn itself on. If its neither, then the Reflex Auto will turn itself off after 50 seconds. Galing, 'no?  

The Reflex Auto sells for PhP 1,200.00 (US$28.00) at Tryon bike shop in Makati. I got mine last weekend. The package comes with 2 AAA dry cells, 2 seat post mounts and a rack mount. I chose to use the rack mount.

The Brompton's stock Cateye Reflector

First, I removed the stock reflector of my Brompton's rear rack with a wrench. Afterwards, I screwed on the Reflex Auto's black plastic mount. It felt a bit flimsy--like the thread will loosen after some time. I wish Cateye used a sturdier material for the mount.

Anyway, when that was done, I snapped on the Reflex Auto and locked it in with the small lockscrew that came with it in the package.

Bird's Eye View

My new tail light fits perfectly on the rear rack. In fact, the Reflex Auto looked like it came with the Brompton straight from the factory.

I folded the Brompton just to check if I positioned the tail light too low and therefore made it touch the floor. Mabuti naman at hindi. Glad that it didn't. 

The Reflex Auto hovers a few centimeters above the ground in the Brompton's folded state.

I can't wait to use the Reflex Auto in one of my afternoon bike commutes. With this tail light installed, I no longer need to stop in the middle of the road just to turn it on. When it gets dark, the Reflex Auto will automatically light up. And when I get home and park it, it will turn off by itself. I tested this last Sunday and it works! Here's a video from Cateye featuring the Reflex Auto Tail Light LD570 in action.