Princeton Tec Aurora Bike
By James Sharp

It was a dark and stormy night... wait, that’s a different tale. It could be a dark and stormy night, and you are out on your bike commuting home from work, mountain biking in the forest or just trying to put in some miles before the weather turns really bad. In all of these cases you need a light. And you need a backup. Light in the dark is like water in the desert, absolutely essential. Without it, you can be lost, or worse. Princeton Tec is known for smart light solutions, but not necessarily in the bike world. All that is changing. For 2005, they are introducing a slew of products and have sent us the Aurora Bike light as a preview.

The Aurora in itself is not new. We reviewed it as a headlamp some time ago. That review was a comparative review and we had this to say, "Bright, Medium, Dim, Slow Strobe and Fast Strobe all controlled with an easy-to-operate pushbutton switch. The Dim mode is bright enough for reading and the Bright mode is bright enough to trail hike with. [The Aurora was] one of the best liked headlamps in this review." The same features are on hand with the bike version of the light. In addition to the headband, the Aurora Bike features a handlebar mount and a helmet mount. Both the headband and the helmet mount enable the user to tilt the light to the right angle, something that sets this light above its competition. The light itself has a clip on it, enabling it to be clipped onto clothing or packs. On high beam the 3 AAA batteries will last 50 hours, on medium they’ll last 110 hours and on low beam they will last 160 hours (all times claimed by Princeton Tec).

I found the light especially useful in commuting situations. The light was bright enough that if my main light failed in any way I could limp home, even in rural areas without any streetlights. The flashing mode was nice when I wanted to be seen, but didn’t need my own light, near dawn or when there was plenty of ambient light from streetlights. I found that I left it mounted to my commuting bike, but carried the light headband with me. That way, if I needed repairs I could easily relocate the light to my head and fix whatever needed fixing. It could just as easily be mounted to my helmet, but I tend to only use helmet-mounted lights when I am riding off-road at night. On the road I prefer to have my lights on my handlebars. The key is that this is a very versatile light.

Summary: At $29.95, the same price as the traditional Aurora but with the other attachment points, I would heartily recommend the Aurora Bike, even if you don’t own a bike. Again quoting from our previous review, "[The Aurora was] one of the best liked headlamps in this review" and the same is true now. It packs a sufficient punch and has a multitude of uses. This is a backpacker’s light, a bicycle commuter’s light, an emergency light and light for those odd jobs around the house.

James Sharp is a contributing editor for GearReview.com specializing in road and mountain biking.

For more information, contact:
Princeton Tec
PO BOX 8057
Trenton, NJ 08650
Phone: (609) 298-9331
E-mail: info.request@princetontec.com
www.princetontec.com