See.Sense has launched a new crowdfunding campaign to bring to market the ICON 3, billed as its brightest ‘to be seen’ light yet.
The new bike light was fully funded in just four hours via the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform, though the 60-day campaign continues until February 7, with delivery of the lights expected in April 2022.
The ICON 3 is the seventh product from the Northern Ireland-based cycling technology brand to be successfully funded in this fashion.
To achieve See.Sense’s aim of improved visibility, the ICON 3 combines a chip on board (CoB) with two focused LEDs to deliver 575 lumens in the front and 350 lumens in the rear. This equates to a 20% increase in lumens from the ICON 2 model.
(Image credit: See.Sense)
According to See.Sense the LEDs' focused beam can be seen from as far as three kilometres away while the light also delivers 270 degrees of side visibility. The ICON 3 is also designed to work as a daytime light.
See.Sense claims that the ICON 3 isn’t just brighter, but smarter too. Its Get Me Home Mode automatically switches to a low-power output when the battery life dips below 20%. This equates to an additional hour's running time. Claimed run-time in its brightest mode is 16 hours.
The ICON 3 also boasts Headlight Reactivity, with inbuilt sensors enabling it to flash brighter and faster in response to approaching car headlights. There’s also a brake mode that reacts to moments of risk, such as roundabouts and junctions. As your speed decreases the ICON 3 will react, again flashing brighter and faster to improve your visibility.
(Image credit: See.Sense)
Fortunately, the new technology doesn’t seem to come with a weight penalty. See.Sense’s claimed weight for the ICON 3 light is under 50 grams.
As with previous See.Sense products backers of the ICON 3 will be able to provide input into how the finished product looks, including choosing the preferred methods for both mounting options and USB ports.
The ICON 3 will benefit from connectivity with the See.Sense app. Many of its features, including the Get Me Home mode, can be toggled through the app, which also delivers crash and theft alerts.
Impressively, See.Sense has not only designed the ICON 3 in-house but will also manufacture it in Northern Ireland too. Packaging will also be made locally, helping to reduce both CO2 emissions and travel miles involved in the production of the ICON 3, all part of the brand’s commitment to improving sustainability.
(Image credit: See.Sense)
So how does the ICON 3 appear to stack up against other lights in its class?
In our best bike lights buyers guide, we put plenty of lights through their paces. At 575 lumens the ICON 3 front light would fall into our mid-power front light category. However, it can’t be purchased separately as a front light, rather just as set or as a rear light only.
For comparison, our favourite lights in this section were the Exposure Sirius MK9 Daybright, the Lezyne Micro Drive PRO 800XL and the Knog PWR RIder. Both the Exposure and the Lezyne models offer more lumens than the ICON 3: 850 and 800 respectively, while the Knog PWR delivers 450 lumens.
The ICON 3 rear light can be bought on its own.You can currently pre-order it from £49, a 50% saving from its RRP of £99.
At 350 lumens the ICON 3 rear light is brighter than any of the lights we tested. The closest in comparison is Lezyne’s Laser Drive, which delivers 250 lumens with a similar battery life to the ICON 3. The Cateye Rapid X3 rear light, which we rate highly, has a 150 lumen count but has a limited battery life when compared to the ICON 3 claimed running time.
As a set, the ICON 3 will retail at £179 (although you can currently enjoy an early bird discount that brings them under £100). This makes them more expensive than most of the sets we featured in our best bike lights buyers guide.
However, the ICON 3 does seemingly offer a strong balance of front and rear light power with the its 575 and 350 lumens split. In comparison the Lezyne Micro Drive 600XL and KTV Pro Light set, which scored well in our test, sees a powerful 800 lumens front light paired with a rear light that delivers 75 lumens.
The ICON 3 campaign will be live for 60 days, until 7th February 2022 with delivery of the lights expected in April 2022.
Luke Friend has worked as a writer, editor and copywriter for twenty five years. Across books, magazines and websites, he's covered a broad range of topics for a range of clients including Major League Baseball, the National Trust and the NHS. He has an MA in Professional Writing from Falmouth University and is a qualified bicycle mechanic. He has been a cycling enthusiast from an early age, partly due to watching the Tour de France on TV. He's a keen follower of bike racing to this day as well as a regular road and gravel rider.
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