Lezyne Strip Drive set

Lezyne's Strip Drive set consists of a pair of rugged and user-friendly front and rear safety lights with generous surface areas and no fewer than nine modes each.

These comprise blast, enduro, economy and six flashing, from 125-15 lumens at the front, with a more modest 25-5 lumens at the rear. On the one hand, with this many sequences there's no danger of being drowned out by competing town centre illumination, but on the other, I imagine most of us will stick with three, maybe four at most.

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The lights are made from a rugged co-moulded body, with the rubberised material enveloping the acrylic lens, creating a clean, weatherproof join. FL1 standard basically means waterproof when subjected to torrential rains. These have also passed my hosepipe torture test with flying colours, which is reassuring, and they come with a two-year warranty.

Beam quality up front is relatively pure, with blast and enduro modes up to scratch through the suburbs and useful in darker sections, should your main unit go kaput on a longer commute.

Run times are pretty favourable too. Up front I've had a consistent 1hr 53mins (blast), 3:51 (enduro), and 10:56 (economy). The rear isn't quite so frugal: top whack meant 1:33, (blast), 3:52 (enduro) and 7:54 (economy), although this is still pretty good by rechargeable standards.

Flashing is my default, and I've found the intermittent strobes particularly useful at snaring other road users' attention. Through pitch black lanes we're talking a good 650m from the front light, further on a clear night; around town or when things turn misty this dips to nearer 350. I'm assured by friends and the odd pundit-in-pursuit that it's much the same story from behind.

> Check out our guide to the best rear lights

Despite some initial scepticism, I found the 25-lumen daylight setting particularly useful for being seen from the rear during cloudy afternoons as natural light diminished.

Don't be deceived by the economy tag either; I couldn't believe the front was a mere 15 lumens, and its cell-sipping frugality is perfect for an all-nighter. This appears to have been achieved by slower pulsing diodes.

Curiously, peripheral visibility – at least in the lower modes – doesn't match the front end. This wasn't an issue when bike-mounted, but it proved less effective when fitted horizontally on my low-slung touring trailer – especially at roundabouts.

On the subject of fitting, if your post is consumed by a big wedge pack or SQR type saddle bag, the rubberised straps seem very accommodating of other tubing and, surprisingly enough, the oversized versions still offer limpet-like tenure to pencil-thin seatstays or fork legs.

At the front, bigger bars/extension brackets proved tricky customers, even with the longer strap, so I often tethered it around the head tube, which had a positive effect on peripheral punch.

> Check out our guide to the best front lights and our beam comparison engine

For refuelling, Lezyne has gone the 'lolly stick' route with the integral lithium polymer battery, so it's simply a matter of removing the cap and slotting the unit into your mains or PC port. Zero to hero, we're talking three hours cosied up to the laptop or similar device, 20 per cent quicker when sipping from a wall socket via the mains adaptor.

A charge/indicator is integrated within the bank of five LEDs, pulsing until fully juiced, whereupon it goes green. When reserves fall to around the 30 per cent mark, a red light chimes in alongside, which gives the option of toggling down to conserve power long before trouble strikes. Unlike old school AA/AAAs, output remains consistent right until the cell is completely spent.

Switches live at the opposite end to the USB stick and are easily engaged when you're wearing winter gloves, but accidental power-ups in pockets or bags are highly unlikely since they need a sustained two-second prod.

Ultimately, I liked the Strip Lights' user-friendly, refined and tuneable nature, and they also seem good value alongside similarly sophisticated rivals.

Verdict

Potent, tuneable safety lights for general riding, though maybe more modes than required