Lights

Lezyne Laser Drive rear light – review

High-powered rear light with added safety lasers

When I got my hands on the Laser Drive from Lezyne, I couldn’t help but be excited by the presence of the two laser strips that project onto the road, providing a safety guideline for other road users.

Now, there’s something of a novelty to this light, but once that had worn off I realised there’s a real positive side to having lasers in your rear light. So how does it work?

Moving safety zone

They point at the ground, and are there to create tramlines around you and your bike’s silhouette on the road, effectively creating a moving safety zone. The two lines start relatively narrow and extending behind the rear wheel a half metre or so, before widening towards the front of the bike, around the bars and rider’s shoulders reaching level with the back of the front wheel.

As well as acting as a rear light, the Lezyne Laser Drive projects two laser lines on the road

If there are any issues with them, they’re minor. You can see the frontal edges of those lasers in the lower periphery of your vision when looking ahead, which in the dark initially can be slightly distracting, but you do phase it out pretty quickly. Additionally, it can be a touch difficult to line the lasers up dead-equally behind you despite no obvious tilt in the light, but again it’s only a slight niggle.

Specification
Price: £57.99
Weight: 84g
Website: Lezyne

Those lasers are on throughout the nine flash modes that use the three standard (although very bright) LEDs in the body of the light, while you can also opt to use two laser-only modes by pressing and holding the power button – one static, and one flashing as well as a mode where only the small fourth LED that accompanies the lasers is on. Battery life naturally varies, but if you stick it on the 40-lumen ‘Blast’ mode (the brightest static mode), you’ll get a solid 2:30 hours out of it, including powering the lasers.

There are two other static settings to get far more burn time out of the unit, topping out on the six-lumen ‘Economy’ setting with a claimed 15:30 hours, while the flash settings (four standard patterns, and two ultra-bright ‘Day Flash’ modes) should cater for any need.

Battery levels for these range between 17:30 hours for the ten-lumen mode, and 4:00 hours for the disruptive 250 – yes, 250 – lumen day mode.

Bright, visible, disruptive

In truth you could use that mode at night too to really make sure you’re noticed, while the lasers are on throughout, right up until the battery begins to run low in any mode, when the light flicks over into a standard flash mode and switches off the lasers to get you home.

Not only is it bright, but it’s highly visible from the side too thanks to the 180-degree lens, and it’s suitable for pretty much any kind of bike.

It only weighs in at a claimed 84g (my kitchen scales had it at around 85g), so weight’s not exactly a profound issue, while the backside of the unit is moulded with a semi-flexible groove so that it’ll fit snugly to bladed seatposts and standard round ones alike.

The only attachment apparatus you need is the supplied rubber strap because it tethers on both ends around the seatpost back onto the handles on the light, so fitting and removing is incredibly easy, while there’s the obligatory micro-USB charging port and supplied cable for convenient charging.

The Laser Drive has a maximum output of 250 lumens in daytime flash mode

I suspect these fitting characteristics could be a contributing factor to the light not always sitting precisely straight, but it’s a small sacrifice to make for the easy-yet-secure fitment.

Conclusion

The Lezyne Laser Drive is a fantastic little unit that maximises your chances of being seen with excellent disruptive flashing light modes, along with the added lasers that help to create, effectively, a ‘safe zone’ around you while riding.

Throw in easy fitting to a wide range of seatpost styles, the convenience of USB charging, light weight and decent battery life, and it’s a very well-rounded rear light. At £57.99, we could never describe it as cheap, but it’s certainly reasonable value and so should be on anyone’s shortlist if bang for your buck is a consideration.