There’s something of a lighting bonanza at RCUK at the moment, prompted by the onset of autumn.
George’s recent blog on the danger of being caught without lights was a useful warning to us all. For early morning and evening rides, we have a couple of interesting offerings from Lezyne.
We reported from Eurobike on the new range from Lezyne at the start of September.
Landing on my desk were a pair of Micro Drive front and rear lights. Retailing at £69.99 for the matched set, or £39.99 each, these are stylish and simple units.
At the front the CNC machined aluminium bodied LED light pumps out and impressive 150 lumens in Blast mode for two hours, enough for a good early evening training ride, or long commute in and out of work. Other modes offer increased run times; Enduro reduces the output to 100 lumens, but three hours of running, and Economy, with two flash settings, will go for a claimed six hours. We will be testing this time period. If you’re worried that the ride to work might leave you without sufficient juice for the ride home, the back cap of the unit unscrews to reveal a neat USB charging plug.
When illuminated, the front light throws out a soft wide beam which easily illuminates the ground immediately in front, while an more intensely bright beam in the centre throws light a reasonable distance ahead of you. In a pack of riders, or commuting through the streets, we think this is a very good front light; if your night riding excursions stray into the countryside then the 300 lumen Macro front light might be a more suitable companion. We will take a more detailed look at that light in a separate article.
The rear Micro Drive pushes out between 30 and 70 lumens and runs through 6 modes which generally enable you to go for 5 hours between charges, but it is possible in the Low setting to use the light for 16 hours, or the super bright 70 lumen daytime mode for 2.5 hours.
Mounting is achieved using a plastic clamp (specific to the front and rear), with hooks which enable you to loop a special rubber band around a chosen attachment point. This is a simple system that grips well and has proved its flexibility in the past on the systems of a host of manufacturers.
Early usage of the Micro Drives has delivered good performance. The button is easy to feel with gloved hands, and the modes offer a good range of alternatives for a variety of situations and daylight levels. The waterproofing has kept out moisture to date, in spite of our initial concerns about the durability of the washer sealing the removable back from the aluminium body.
The lights are also very well constructed and designed; the one area for improvement is side illumination. Exposure’s Flare unit, for example, has a cap over the light that creates a good glowing ‘bulb’ at the back of the bike, increasing side visibility. The neatly machined notches in the side of the Micro Drive cylinders are good, but could be better. The front beam is excellent for a small unit however, and we felt that there was no excuse for oncoming traffic to miss our approach.
Check back soon for a full review.
