More Lights - See Sense Icon2 Rear Light
It’s that time of year before the clocks go back that you tend to get caught without adequate lights for your ride home. You’re probably dressed in black too and without a helmet because that’s cool! 👀Here's a light that you should definitely consider getting because winter is coming!
I have been fortunate enough for the kind souls over at See Sense to send me a rear light to review. See.Sense creates cycling technology products that make cycling safer, and that engage the cycling community to share powerful data insights to improve conditions for cycling. The data insights from their patented products produce are unique - See.Sense work with leading smart cities to improve cycling infrastructure, reduce congestion and improve mobility in cities.
First Impressions
Straight out the box the light feels quite light, no pun intended. The mount is a fairly simple plastic design fixed to your bike via a rubber band like you would see on a simple Garmin computer mount. It’s easy to attach to your seat-post. There are various mounting angles that the light can fix to depending on the angle of your seat post to ensure maximum visibility from the rear.
I downloaded the app associated with the light, its very simple to use and gives you all of the functionality you would expect in a nice clean package along with other features like theft alert and ride data once you’ve signed up to the See Sense community. From the app its possible to turn your light on or off and choose the flash pattern you would like as shown below.
Build Quality
The unit is completely plastic and doesn’t feel as high end as some of the other lights one the market, like the Lezyne lights for example with aluminium bodies, or the version 1 Beryl lights which are all super sturdy but also heavy. For those weight weenies out there the See Sense Icon2 comes in at a massive 47grams including the mount. Compare that to a Beryl rear burner version 1 at 102grams not including the mount and you can see what I mean about the light feeling ‘light’.
The on off button feels like it should be more substantial and secure, I pulled it away from the unit and it is effectively a rubber seal that if for any reason were to be pulled away or not seated correctly would allow water in to the main body of the light, I'm sure it wont but this is just an observation.
The main reason that this light caught my attention was the multiple flash modes and reactive flash when breaking and stopped. This technology and extra visibility is exactly why I think its a great light and that's without mentioning the added technology in there to help make cycling better for the whole community through data collection.
The main reason that this light initially caught my attention was the multiple flash modes and reactive flash when breaking and stopped. As a cyclist I’m always on the look out for good visible rear lights. Ive seen a lot of these around London, If you want to be seen by motorists then this is a definite purchase you should make. I love tech and this unit is oozing tech with its app and features, thumbs up from me!
Price
The Icon2 Rear is on sale at the moment for £55.99 and £104.99 for a front/rear set
Whilst this seems steep for a light you’re not just getting a light. You’re getting a lot of research and development in to a product that will make sure you’re visible and some added features in the app like theft notification that other lights don’t currently offer.
Day to Day Usage
Battery life is good. I’ve tried multiple modes but I do favour a good old flash for attention. It hasn’t ever run out of battery on me and I have done some super long rides with it. I favour this rear light over the others i've been using and it's sitting proudly on my new Open Cycles WI.DE
Summary
All in all I think See Sense are a great company, they have great intentions to use technology in making cycling safer for everyone through their products. They have a seriously good offering to the light market in the form of the Icon2 that gives you more than just a light.
