Lezyne Femto Drive LED front light

Lezyne's Femto Drive front LED is another diminutive bobby dodger that can be left adorning the best or TT bike's bars in case of emergencies without adding unsightly clutter or used as an unobtrusive sidekick to dynamo/main systems. However, while mightier than its 15 lumens would suggest, it's hardly the stuff of standalone commuter service.

Your £10.99 buys a beautifully CNC machined aluminium body available in a choice of seven similarly alluring anodised colours. Combining lens and switch also optimises available space while being delightfully simple to navigate in stodgy winter weight gloves. There's no particular wizardry employed in the lens, which is a clear rubberised and seemingly scratch resistant polymer.

Now, I've a soft spot for plug-in rechargeable lighting but it's not the panacea some would suggest. Lezyne has gone the CR2032 route, which are plentiful, relatively economical and cheap when bought in batches. They've also got the balance between enclosure and accessibility bang on courtesy of a clever little 'composite' matrix screw cap that doubles as clothing clip or hook when mounted on the bar via the sturdy silicone strap. Sculpted profiles and smooth textures ensure leech-like tenure to the full zodiac of handlebar diameters, while showing compassion to dun and similar finishes.

Versatility aside, screwed down designs employing O-ring seals offer superior defence against Mother Nature and I wasn't surprised to find the Femto Drive passed my hosepipe torture test with flying colours. That said a few licks of polymer grease around the threads don't hurt.

Powering up is simply a matter of depressing the lens for two seconds and toggling to the desired steady or flashing settings. This is no trickier than anyone else's, prevents unwanted, wasteful engagements and gives a sporting chance of returning 60 hours light from two cells. Experience suggests this depends on cell quality but we've managed 56 hours 15 minutes when alternating between the flashing modes and 27 hours 33 minutes from a fresh set run exclusively in steady.

Round town, this Jack Russell of blinkies has barked our presence to around 200 metres, fast flash proving most captivating when used as an early evening contingency, though its slower, pulsing settings cut asharper swathe through congested neon or as an old school, pre stand light dynamo companion. Uber lumen main systems can sometimes induce unpredictable driver behaviours but strangely enough, the Femto Drive's pulsing modes seemed to temper the retina ticklers and in turn, induce more courteous road craft.

Verdict

Nicely executed bobby dodger with more punch than 15 lumens would suggest.