Rich Rothwell

Functional essentials from Lezyne.

November 15th, 2011

I’m really pleased to have received support from Upgrade Bikes in the shape of some ace Lezyne gear. The products are very well thought out and include some really innovative touches. Oh, and they look very nice too. Not that this influences me. No. Not at all.

Here are some highlights:

The Alloy Drive mini pump is the best mini pump I’ve ever used. Not only is it beautifully constructed, it has recycled some old road technology to great effect. The pump harbours an ‘ABS Flex Hose’ (like old style road pumps – the seperate flexible hose screws into the pump body) which has a high pressure fitting on one end and car valve on the other. This is useful for me when I’m guiding as it is far less fiddly than the faff of banging the pump head off the floor to dislodge that little plastic thingy and swapping it round… It’s also very good for high pressure valves because it reduces the stress on the valve and eliminates the chance of snapping it.

Air flow is also high and a good compromise between pump size and air volume capability for mtb use.

I’m also using two different Lezyne bags; the large capacity Great Divide and the more ’standard ride’ Svelte.

The Great Divide is a larger pack than you would use on most mtb rides. However, it has proven very useful when guiding, (carrying First Aid kits and extensive tool kits) and on a recent What Mountain Bike photo shoot, which involved two long days out in ‘local’ weather and ‘limited’ facilities! (i.e ‘crap’ and ‘nowt for miles in every direction’).

The bag is very robust and hence no lightweight, but when fully loaded it is incredibly comfortable. It’s a cliche but you can’t actually feel the pack itself. Of course the weight doesn’t disappear but the fit system distributes the pack perfectly across your back; a removeable aluminium ribbed insert can be moulded to fit the curve of your spine.

The bag also has labelled compartments for tyre levers, pumps, money, mulit-tools etc. and once you get in the habit of actually putting things in the right place (mental retraining required!) it’s far quicker than the usual blind ‘bran tub’ rummaging….

The Svelte is the pack I’ll reach for on the more ’standard’ missions. It is light, equally well organised, and has enough capacity for even an inclement winter ride. It also has a (slimmed down) mouldable back plate and a removeable waist strap (a personal thing but I actually prefer this to stop the pack ‘jumping up’ when on steep but fast descents).

Road and Mtb saddle bags follow the organisational theme with seperate pouches for the essentials; the slim road bag is just the right size for a tube, tyre levers, patches and one of the high quality Lezyne minimal multi-tools.

For more info on Lezyne products go to www.lezyne.com

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