Lezyne Zecto Drive front light

The Zecto Drive Front Light from Lezyne is a excellent piece of kit. It's designed to alert drivers of your presence, rather than to help you see the way on unlit roads, although it's good at that as well. It clips easily to your bike, helmet or backpack, and is neat and sturdy. It's also rechargeable, waterproof and fairly priced.

Previously on road.cc we reviewed the Lezyne Zecto Drive Rear Light. Needless to say, the front version shares many of the same characteristics, including the three LEDs contained within a lens 35mm in diameter, with the unit itself measuring 45x45mm, by 25mm deep, making it very neat and compact overall.

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 won't stay in position. All this isn't a criticism of the light, but it's 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.

You can also fix the Zecto Drive Front to the shoulder strap of a backpack or messenger bag via the sturdy plastic clip on the back of the light. Another option is fitting it to your helmet via an additional clip supplied with the light.

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).

There's also a flashing 'daytime' mode (80 lumens, 6h 45mins); although the light is brighter, it doesn't 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.

It's 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 won't be bright enough for any night-time singletrack expeditions, or for pounding unlit urban cyclepaths, it's absolutely fine for tootling along country lanes after dark.

The Lezyne website claims the Zecto Drive Front has 180 degree visibility, but in reality the brightness of the light when viewed from the side is pretty minimal compared to some commuter-specific lights available from Lezyne and other brands.

Recharging is via a mini-USB port and cable which you plug into a normal USB socket on your computer, or into an on-the-wall socket adapter. It takes a couple of hours via the computer, and there's 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.

The mini-USB recharging port on the light is protected by a rubber flap which is certainly enough to keep out the rain, assuming you position the light with the switch on top and the port underneath. If you're riding without mudguards in the rain, or follow a lot of back wheels, road spray may eventually penetrate.

On cost, the Zecto Drive Front's recommended retail price is a penny under £30, but you can find it discounted by a few quid at your local bike shop and the usual on-line stores. Some places bundle the Zecto Drive front and rear together for extra savings.

If you're 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 you're going at all times, there's 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 that's an ideal combination of neat, compact, sturdy and bright.

For general winter club-run or training duties where you're 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.

Verdict

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.

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