The See.Sense rear light was definitely my favourite bike-related gadget of 2014. A bit like Orac, the computer from Blake's 7, it was an unassuming little plastic box that was jammed full of cleverness, but without the irritating voice. It was simple to fit, blindingly bright, switchless, easy to charge and lasted for hours. I liked the idea of gesture control, the auto power save and the smart sensor technology that detected changes in light, speed and proximity to change its intensity and flash rate. It was a hell of a lot of light for under £50.
There were however a couple of niggles with the original See.Sense. The weather-proofing wasn't perfect, the seal around the light letting in moisture and causing some minor corrosion to the circuit board (which, to be fair, See.Sense were quick to replace free of charge), and the relative palaver of getting the light switched on. This was done by rotating it back and forth while holding it vertical - to the casual observer, it would appear I was standing by my bike mixing the world's tiniest bottle of radioactive salad dressing. Daring to read the battery status using the LED flashes also came with the risk of having kanji-like shadows on your vision for hours afterwards.
I only had the original rear light, but it should be noted that See.Sense also market a front light with the same functionality, and towards the end of last summer I was excited to hear about the next phase of the light's development - the ICON. I had access to some of the prototypes and initially, not much seemed to have changed. The chassis was the same as the See.Sense 2.0, with its charging port still protected by the lens-to-body seal, but what was revolutionary was that the light could be set up and controlled via a Bluetooth enabled phone app: on/off switching, motion and proximity sensors, brightness, charging and firmware upgrades could now be enabled from your Android or iOS phone.
The revised See.Sense ICON has since launched, and it's immediately apparent that the unit has gone through a major redesign. The production version of the ICON has abandoned the old charging port in favour of one that is protected by the rubber seat post adaptor at the rear of the light, in what looks to be a much more weatherproof design.
The lens is now firmly secured to the chassis with screws, and gesture control has been replaced with a manual switch to turn the light on to pulse, constant and off again. The mounting strap now feels more secure, and can be fitted to aero seat posts using See.Sense's own adaptor.
A lot of work has also been done on improving the functionality, with no notable increase in the cost per unit. Both front and rear lights, as well as maintaining the basic features of the See.Sense 2.0, now also come with theft and crash detection, using Bluetooth and accelerometer information to alert you or a third party if your light has moved out of range while your bike is stationary, or if it has experienced some rapid deceleration.
All of this sophisticated tech is, however, optional - you don't have to have it switched on. If, like me, you just want to have a bright set of reliable lights that adapt to different environmental conditions, then you can, and they're still amazing value for money. The lights pack plenty of punch too: twin Cree LEDS with 190 lumens in the rear and 320 lumens up front shine bright enough to be seen in broad daylight. An even brighter ICON+ version is also available, with 250 and 420 lumens at rear and front respectively.
The battery life is quoted at over 15 hours, which considering how much they're doing is truly incredible. I recently rode over Dartmoor at night for the best part of ten hours with my 2.0 model and it outlasted my cycle buddy's Lezyne by at least 50% - his light was long dead when we got back to Plymouth and mine was still bright and blinding. Even if the ICON lasts half as long, it'll be good for all but the longest sportive events.
See.Sense are not resting on their laurels either - they're constantly seeking user feedback, via Beta test consultation, on what their lights could deliver and what could be improved about the app, which has already undergone many iterations since the prototype phase. As good as this light is as a stand-alone accessory, when paired with smartphone control the ICON has the potential to be an indispensable cycling gadget.
See.Sense ICON, from £64.99 at seesense.cc
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