The See.Sense sat on my desk waiting to be tested through the sunniest of Octobers. Every day I said I will go out tonight to test the Irish designed and made, light set. The sun shone and I stole bright spins under its shadows.
I was wrong to have waited weeks for a dusk spin. In the small plastic box which houses the light, is not just a bulb and battery, but a mass of technology or a very small man who watches over you. Either way the brightness and frequency of the light changes via witchcraft or some very amazing design.
After an argument with a taxi last year, my return to the road months later was a nervous one. I bought a nice Lezyne rear light that, like the See.Sense, charges via a USB and is mounted on your seat post and makes you very visible. It was comforting and calming to have the extra road presence.
Somewhere on EVERY, a vehicle spin passes you too close. Making yourself known while out training isn’t just common sense – it is survival. And this has to be the best tool I have found for that survival.
An expandable rubber band mounts it securely to the seat post or handle bars. An internal motion detector knows when the bike is moving and flashes to shout your presence. And the 140 lumen ( retina boiling ) yells that you are there and wish not to be run over. An array of Light Sensors behind the lens pick up car lights or the change in day light and adjust the beams intensity to suit.
It was developed by a Belfast lad and as far as I can find out refined with the help of the University of Ulster. The result is just a great product. My metal shoulder reminded me all year to charge the Lezyne rear light the night before any spin. It gives off a great regular flash for 3ish hours. So I arrive home on Saturday or Sunday with it flat. This week I have done a two hour spin, a four hour session and a three hour coffee run and with my tired legs and dreams of being fast and young, the See.Sense is still going strong. I feel more secure and less weary of the punch of a lorry braking late.
The difference of a light coloured or a dark coat is 50-100 meters in low light. A small reflective strip is better than a yellow coat at night. But with this firework, cars do see you, ALL the time and the reward is space – lovely road room.
A coffee stop commentator said it was too expensive to mount a $60 light on his seat post . His seat post costs $130. He should buy a $70 seat post (and do without that 2nd scone)
I have only used the See.Sense front light in constant mode, and it is bright enough to pick out any pot hole or leaf in it. Bright enough to get you seen. It comes in 3 brightness strengths and It would come into its own for commuting at road junctions etc. The responsive light, alternating to the change in environments is better than just ‘a light’.
I am sold on the rear for ALL training spins. Light or dark. The wee man inside the See.Sense is your built-in wing mirror. The look over your shoulder you want to do, but don’t incase its the grill of a Volvo truck at your mudguard. See.Sense has your back.
A See.Sense employee used to be a tidy road rider and is now a very untidy Mountainbiker. Ross Blaney gave me a set on loan and was whispering how the accelerometer could be analysed to measure watts in the future. For the minute it is not just a light, it is the best bike light I could imagine. And Ross, send on an invoice as I’m keeping this.
See sense rear light 140 lumen- 9 out of 10 $60
Also available 250 lumen front light. $110
Available @ http://seesense.co
