Lezyne Zecto Drive Y9 Light Set Black/Red

The Zecto Drive Rear Light from Lezyne is an absolute little gem. Its neat, bright, and clips easily to your bike, helmet or backpack. Its also rechargeable, waterproof and fairly priced.

With three LEDs contained within a red lens 35mm in diameter, and the additional housing a little bigger all round (45x45mm, by 25mm deep), the Zecto Drive Rear Light is very neat and compact. It clips to your bikes seat post via a big rubber band (as do several other types of Lezyne rear light), assuming your seat post is cylindrical. The clip is slightly angled to take account of most seatpost angles, so the beam itself is still pretty much horizontal.

The Zecto Drive has six modes, including three different flash patterns (all at 10 lumens, ranging from about three to four hours claimed battery life), constant economy (five lumens, four hours), constant blast (10 lumens, 2:45) and daytime – a very bright double flash (20 lumens, seven hours). In practice, these battery life figures are about right. Towards the end of the charge, the various flash modes switched to constant (although comparatively dull) and kept going for another hour. For those cyclists that use two lights, something with a constant beam plus the Zecto Drive in flash mode would be an ideal combination. The shape of the beam on the Zecto Drive is fairly narrow and, although the Lezyne website claims 180 degree visibility, in reality the brightness of the light when viewed from the side is pretty minimal – but certainly better than nothing.

Recharging is via a micro USB port and cable which you plug into a USB port on your computer, or into an on-the-wall socket adaptor. It takes a couple of hours via the computer, and theres a set of colourful little indicators to show you when the light is fully charged. The same indicators show you when the light is nearly out of charge as well.

If youre a commuter or otherwise ride regularly at night in bad weather, there are bigger and brighter rear lights available from Lezyne and other manufacturers, and you can also find rear lights which are either cheaper, physically smaller or have longer battery life. But for general weekend cycling where youre making the occasional early start (or a late finish) and need lights for just an hour or two – perhaps using daytime mode for the bulk of your ride – then one rear light is often enough, and this Zecto Drive is ideal.

Read the full review at road.cc.

The Zecto Drive Front Light from Lezyne is a excellent piece of kit. Its designed to alert drivers of your presence, rather than to help you see the way on unlit roads, although its good at that as well. It clips easily to your bike, helmet or backpack, and is neat and sturdy. Its also rechargeable, waterproof and fairly priced. The Zecto Drive Front Light clips to your handlebars using a big rubber band (as do several other models of Lezyne light) in a matter of seconds, making it very easy to swap between bikes.

The only downside with this fitting method might be the position of your brake and/or gear cables as they exit from under the bar tape – assuming you want to fit the light as near to central as possible. If the cables exit from under the bar tape fairly close to the stem, there might not be room to fit the light onto the bars. Of course, you could fit the light over the bars a bit further away from the stem, but then it might get in the way of your hands when riding on the tops. In addition, if you run your cables under the tape at the front of the bars, rather than below or at the back, the light wont stay in position. All this isnt a criticism of the light, but its worth keeping in mind before you buy. Of course, if you have cables that are not under the bar tape (or one of those extensions for handlebar-fitting gadgetry) then all this is academic.

The Zecto Drive Front has six lighting modes, including constant economy (20 lumens, 5 hours), constant blast (40 lumens, 3 hours), and three flash modes (all at 40 lumens, ranging from 3 to 5 hours, depending on how the individual LEDs are employed). Theres also a flashing daytime mode (80 lumens, 6h 45mins); although the light is brighter, it doesnt flash as often, thus extending battery run-time. To toggle between these modes, or to turn the light on or off, the single button is easy to use, even with gloves on. In practice, the claimed battery run-time figures are about right. Towards the end of the charge, the various flash modes switch to economy constant. Its important to realise that the Zecto Drive Front is a front light designed for alerting drivers of your presence, rather than seeing your way. Having said that, although this light wont be bright enough for any night-time singletrack expeditions, or for pounding unlit urban cyclepaths, its absolutely fine for tootling along country lanes after dark.

If youre a commuter, other lights are available, from Lezyne and other manufacturers, which may be better for alerting car drivers to your presence. Similarly, if you ride regularly at night on dark roads in bad weather, and need to see clearly where youre going at all times, theres a huge range of lights that are bigger and brighter – although they tend to cost more money. On the other hand, you can also find front lights which are either cheaper or physically smaller, but they tend to be not so bright. With this in mind, the price of the Zecto Drive Front is very good for what you get – a light thats an ideal combination of neat, compact, sturdy and bright.

For general winter club-run or training duties where youre making the occasional early start (or a late finish) and need lights for just an hour or two – perhaps using daytime mode for the bulk of your ride – the Zecto Drive Front is highly recommended. Compact rechargeable front light. Bright, waterproof and easy to fit, ideal for pre-dawn starts or all-day rides in dull conditions. Fair price too.

Read the full review at road.cc.