Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My New Helmet Light, January 5, 2006
LED headlights are getting better all the time. This little guy is a one Watt Luxeon LED with very good power regulation. Regulation means that the light gets the most from a set of batteries and keeps the light at a given brightness instead of dimming as the batteries weaken. The Princeton Tec EOS has three brightness settings and a flash mode. I actually find the flash mode to be too slow to be useful on the bike and it flashes at full power but these are minor nits. I'd also prefer if the light used AA instead of AAA cells. So I guess there are two things I don't like about this light.
But the positives far outweigh the negatives. The light is small and is supposed to be waterproof to one meter. (I don't ride under water so I haven't tested that feature!) It's easy to operate and the batteries are easy to change. The light pattern seems to be just right for my riding. I use this light on my helmet but it also comes with a handlebar mount. I run the light at the lowest power setting most of the time and that's fine for reading my bike computer or cue sheets. The middle setting is better for general riding, spotting road signs and potholes and things like that. At the highest setting, you get the brightest beam but of course that eats through the batteries quicker.
I'm pretty sure the circuit in this light was designed by Willie Hunt, a real guru in bike lighting circles. And yes, I'm enough of a nerd that I actually keep track of things like that. Anyhow, the Princeton Tec EOS is my latest favorite bike toy.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Inexpensive and Versatile "See" Light, January 25, 2007
Cyclists recognize that headlights can be roughly placed into two categories: (1) "See" lights that provide sufficient illumination to actually see where you are going and avoid obstacles, and (2) "See me" lights that are really only about being seen from the front.
I commute with an HID light that is much brighter than this one, but I like having a backup light, and also like having a flashing helmet mounted light that I can point in any direction to get the attention of motorists, particularly those approaching me from the side.
The Princeton Tec light is one of the few LED lights I've enountered that truly qualifies (albiet, barely) as a "see" light. On the highest setting, it produces a very well collimated beam that is just the right intensity and width to make it suitable for night riding at reasonable speeds. The light is less suitable at the medium setting, and unsuitable for that purpose at the lowest setting.
I have the same gripes as Kent about this light. (1) It should have been designed to use AA batteries. If it were made to use AA batteries instead of AAA batteries, the light would be only marginally larger and heavier, but the burn time would be greatly extended ... enough to make it suitable for ultra cycling events. (2) The duty cycle of the "flash" mode is too low. The light would be far more visible if the flash rate were increased by at least a factor of two or three. Those complaints aren't a knock on the effectiveness of the light itself. Just suggestions for improvments that could make a great light even better.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bright and light, February 10, 2007
I bought the Eos to replace a small Cateye light that I had used as a helmet light until it unexpectedly died on me. I commute by bike and I got over 3,000 miles of solid-on or flashing light from the Cateye, but I expected more. The Eos costs about the same as the Cateye unit and uses the same AAA batteries (I prefer AA for runtime, I'll put up with the weight - this is the only reason I didn't give the Eos 5 stars). However, the Eos' light is *bright* - nearly as bright as my 10-watt halogen main light. The runtime is quite good - I got over a week of commuting from the provided alkaline batteries before switching to rechargables. The light doesn't seem dimmer on the rechargables, unlike some other LED lights. The Cateye required some ingenuity to mount on my helment - the Eos comes with a proper helmet mount in addition to the handlebar mount. It's clear that the light was originally designed to be mounted on a headband, which is fine for me. The battery compartment is secured by a small screw with a knurled edge for grip, and seems reasonably waterproof. I've used it light rain with no problems and I don't expect the eventual downpour will cause any trouble, either.
Bottom line - I'd buy it again. This one's a winner.
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