The Epicurean Cyclist

The Princeton Tec EOS front light is an intriguing light. It can be mounted on your bicycle, on your helmet and your head. It’s the triple threat of lights so to speak. Because of this versatility, I wondered if it could be the perfect touring light?

The first thing you have to do is get over the graffiti style packaging and you’ll be ok. Although you can probably use the light to throw up some sick pieces beneath a freeway overpass at 2am, I was really interested to see how it would do on a bike tour.

Once you pop it out of the box, the light gets exponentially better. It feels good in the hand. Dense but not too heavy. Something that should last for more than a single season.

Mounting
You can of course wear it on your head like any typical headlamp. It attaches to the head band via removable articulating plastic plate (the same one you use to mount it on your helmet).

In addition, you can also mount it on your handlebars with a nice tool free mount, that makes it quick work if you want to move the mount from bike to bike.

All three mounts work really well, they are firm and secure. When the clip is properly engaged it’s a tight fit so nothing will accidentally bounce off when you’re riding. My only wish it that they would include 2 of the plastic mounting plates, so you don’t have to move it from helmet to head strap. While it doesn’t take very long to do it, that extra bit of convenience would be nice.

In use
I’ve been using this light at night for some commutes and have also taken it with me on two short tours.

As a camp light it’s great! The brightest setting is bright (too bright). I actually dial it down to it’s lowest setting so as I don’t completely blow my night vision and blind my campmates. The clip on the back of the light can be easily jury-rigged into a tent light with a piece of twine or string if your tent has a loop in the ceiling.

As a light for riding…well, it’s also great! I compared it to two other lights, a Planet Bike Blaze and my InoLed 10+ dynamo light.

Compared to the Blaze, the EOS light is noticeably brighter. While I’ve always felt that the Blaze sort of straddles the see/be seen light category, the EOS light has a firm foot in the “see” side. Brightness isn’t everything though, the spread of the EOS is also wider, making it more usable for seeing on a road with no street lamps.

Compared to the InoLed 10+, well the EOS was also brighter. The InoLed had a similar light spread profile, but was clearly outgunned in terms of raw lumens. The InoLed does have the advantage in the energy department, running off of a dynamo hub.

I also briefly compared to a Schmidt E6 halogen. No contest. The EOS was brighter and had a good beam pattern. What IS nice about the Schmidt was the color temperature of the light. The EOS throws out a real cool colored light, making everything seem almost monochromatic. The E6 has a warmer light, so while not as bright, it feels a little easier on the eyes and easier to discern colors.

Weatherproofness

One thing I just HAD to test, was its waterproofness. On the box somewhere it stated that it was waterproof up to 3 feet. I’m not quite sure under what riding conditions you’d find yourself under three feet of water, but this is the light for you.

I took out the Epicurean Cyclist wave pool testing equipment (my Park Tool pint glass) and dropped it in. To be honest, I expected sparks, explosions and slight electrocution but alas, everything was fine.

Conclusion:
This is one fine light. I’m always skeptical when a product tries to be a jack of all trades, but this light IS really versatile. All three mounting points work as advertised. One thing they could add would be an extra mounting plate, but that’s not a deal breaker. In terms of brightness, you can use it for camp AND you can use it for riding (and snorkeling..but in water that is no deeper than 3 feet).

In fact, the only thing that is really off-putting about the light is the friggin box, but don’t let that scare you. It may threaten to time warp you back to the 80s with In Living Color, Max Headroom and ALF, but it’s only bark and no bite.

You can get yours from Rivendell, here.

Highly Recommend (just tear it outta the box ASAP)