Originally published April 19, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified April 19, 2007 at 2:01 AM
Getting in Gear
Bright, versatile lights for bikes
Seattle has a well-deserved reputation as a bike-friendly city, but serious cyclists know they always have to be vigilant about their own safety.
Get ski and boarding conditions all winter long with webcams, snow alerts and more at seattletimes.com/snowsports
Seattle has a well-deserved reputation as a bike-friendly city, but serious cyclists know they always have to be vigilant about their own safety.
With that in mind, safety-conscious riders should all equip their bikes with lights. Headlights illuminate your path, but just as important, they make you more visible to other riders, and other road users — namely, motorists!
Old-fashioned lights that drew power from generators attached to your wheels were less than effective. Not only did they create a drag on your power, but when you slowed down, the lights dimmed. The good news for today's riders is that one of the leaders in backcountry lighting has decided to use its expertise to assist cyclists.
The designers at Princeton Tec adapted their best headlamp technologies to the needs of bike riders. The Princeton Tec Yukon Bike light couples three bright LEDs with a super-bright xenon bulb to create a versatile light powered by three AA batteries. I found the LEDs perfect for rolling smoothly along trails in the woods behind Fort Ebey State Park on Whidbey Island, and when I popped out on the highway for the road-ride back to camp, I switched to the xenon bulb to throw a powerful beam of light far in front of me.
Using the xenon bulb, the Yukon Bike will project a full 90-plus meters (almost 300 feet). That means you can easily see large obstacles and approaching objects quite a distance away. It also means you are clearly visible to approaching vehicles while they are still far enough away to easily avoid you.
When using the LEDs, you'll get super-bright light in a wide bloom from your front tire out to about 20 meters (approximately 65 feet). When operating the LEDs, a standard set of alkaline batteries will keep you illuminated for 120 hours. Full-time operation of the xenon light will devour your batteries in just 5 hours, though.
The light could be improved with a standard zoom feature on the xenon bulb, so you could easily and quickly pull the beam back for midrange lighting. Still, with the dual nature of the Yukon, you can find perfect illumination for nearly all riding situations.
The Yukon Bike features a quick-release handlebar mount so you can pop it off and take it with you when you lock up your bike. There's also a headband clip so the light can be worn like a headlamp when you are out of the saddle. The battery pack fits into a zippered Cordura case with straps that allow it be tied to the bike frame or handlebars. A 4-foot cord between the light and the battery pack means you can secure the pack just about anywhere on your bike.
The Princeton Tec Yukon Bike light retails for $39.99. For more information: www.princetontec.com.
— Dan A. Nelson, special to The Seattle Times
Freelancer Dan A. Nelson, of Puyallup, is a regular contributor to Backpacker magazine, and an author of outdoor guides with The Mountaineers Books. For the purpose of review, gear manufacturers lend products, which are returned after a typical use of four to six weeks. There is no payment from manufacturers and they have no control over the content of reviews. Contact Dan with gear-related questions at gearguy@adventuresnw.net.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
UPDATE - 11:04 PM
Make sure you have the correct escape cord on your crab pots
Trail Mix: Death-defying dismount a bike move I'd rather forget
Paddler's paradise: South Sound offers quiet and beauty
Winter snowpack melts into waterfalls
Explore suburban Seattle's agricultural heritage on a day trip to Bellevue

Tribal Fireworks Rivalry
The Fourth of July marks a long-standing fireworks rivalry between two clans of a Native-American family in Suquamish.
Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech
shopping

events for Sunday, Jul. 5th
- REI Summer Sale and Clearance
- Jaxx Boutik Summer Sale
- Seattle Premium Outlets July 4th Summ...
- Evo Independence Sale
editors' picks
More shopping guides- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Palin takes to Web for hints of political future
- Fourth of July festivals and fireworks in Seattle, the suburbs and beyond
- Russell Branyan, Mariners fight off the Red Sox
- Former NFL MVP McNair killed
- The Blotter | Man pistol-whipped after argument at nightclub
- Desert-lobster dispute turns pair into sagebrush heroes
- Close-up | Prison guards intercept carrier pigeon with a cellphone
- Woman accuses Sounders FC player Nate Jaqua of sexual assault, seeks more than $10 million
- Rob Johnson's double in 11th powers Mariners past Red Sox, 7-6
- Palin resigning as Alaska governor
756 - Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox: 07/04 game thread
244 - Reports: NKorean missile arrives at launch site
100 - Woman accuses Sounders FC player Nate Jaqua of sexual assault, seeks more than $10 million
99 - Palin's Declaration of Independence
73 - Hatred for the NBA runs deep, but don't take it out on the players
62 - Former NFL MVP McNair killed
58 - Mariners score unlikely win over Red Sox in battle of bullpens
58 - Man pistol-whipped after argument at nightclub
42 - Plasma and LED beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
28
- Plasma and LCD beware; OLED screens ready to go mainstream
- Merchant Marine veterans fight for recognition
- Close-up | Prison guards intercept carrier pigeon with a cellphone
- Pre-grill drill: marinate steaks
- Concert Review | Green Day blasts off 4th weekend with KeyArena show
- Lake Washington's sockeye run may hit a record low
- Yakima teacher reprimanded for sending 5-year-old student home with bag of feces in backpack
- Art and conversation flow from hands and heart of artist Mandy Greer
- Fire danger already here in parched NW forests
- Amtrak cleared for 2nd daily train to Vancouver, B.C.



