Lezyne updated much of its bike light range in 2023, including the highly rated Strip Drive rear light.
Happily, the changes here have been largely positive, with increased power output, improved optics and longer battery life, while retaining a sensible number of modes and easy functionality.
Aside from the lack of a USB-C charging cable (for those who don’t have a spare already), the Strip Drive Pro 400+ Rear hasn’t skipped a beat in testing.
Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 400+ Rear light details and specifications
The Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 400+ Rear can deliver up to 400 lumens from one of its ‘daytime flash’ modes.
There are seven modes in total – two static modes (delivering 80 and 15 lumens), a pulse mode (80 lumens) and four flash modes (5, 50, 200 and 400 lumens).
The two most powerful flash modes mix sudden high outputs and lower-powered flashes in a ‘disruptive’ manner.
Claimed battery life ranges between 80 hours in the 5-lumen ‘Femto’ setting and 5 hours 30 minutes in the 80-lumen ‘Blast’ static mode. The most powerful 400-lumen ‘Day Flash 2’ mode is said to last for 18 hours from a full battery.
The Strip Drive Pro 400+ Rear also exhibits redesigned optics. There are now 10 LEDs in two columns of five (as opposed to the five on the Strip Drive Pro Alert 300). Two in each column are more pronounced and pump out more light than the other three.
A new lens design is said to offer 270 degrees of visibility and re-profiled rubber on the back is claimed to improve the fit on varying seatpost types.
The light continues to use a band-on securing system, with moulded hooks on the side of the light body, but Lezyne has updated the charge port to the USB-C standard (from micro-USB).
It does not provide a charging cable, however. A Lezyne representative told me the brand believes most people will have USB-C cables at home already.
If you do, that’s fine, and I suspect many people may see another USB-C charge cable as a redundant spare or a waste of Earth’s resources.
On the other hand, with the world still in the process of moving over from the micro-USB standard, some people – myself included – may still be happily using their micro-USB powered equipment.
The Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 400+ Rear costs £55 / $54.99, on a par with some of the most powerful and best rear bike lights.
Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 400+ Rear light performance
The Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 400+ Rear is incredibly powerful and, perhaps unsurprisingly, packs in more than enough punch to draw attention to you on the road.
The two bold ‘day flash’ modes are useful during the day. For many, the 200-lumen mode will be more than enough, but the 400-lumen retina-threatening setting offered me a welcome boost in confidence on a particularly gloomy, foggy commute.
It’s worth noting that the light doesn’t compensate for the seatpost angle, though, so drivers usually won’t get the full beans direct in their eyeline.
The Femto setting seems a little superfluous to me – given how dim it is, and the ‘lazy’ sequential nature of the mode, I’m not sure it adds much visibility even when riding at night.
That said, there are plenty of modes and even the 15-lumen static ‘economy’ setting will deliver around 26 hours of burn time.
My experience of battery life broadly lives up to Lezyne’s claims. In the 80-lumen static ‘Blast’ setting (the most draining of the modes), I achieved 5 hours 18 minutes – 12 minutes shy of the brand’s claim.
The light was easy to install and uninstall from my bikes’ round and D-shaped seatposts, but the supplied ladder strap is only just long enough to fit on deeper bladed seatposts, and isn’t as elastic as others I’ve used. Certainly, it takes a decent effort to stretch it around.
While all lights (or brackets) need to be fitted with a certain degree of tightness, too much tension can cause the Pro 400+ to move from central orientation if it gets shaken, or it’s over-tensioned on one side of the seatpost.
However, to dwell on such minor details would detract from my overall impression of the Strip Drive Pro 400+ Rear.
It’s easy to use out of the box, with the common long-press to switch it on and off and single presses to cycle through the seven modes.
Meanwhile, the memory function is useful if you want to stick to a single mode for the majority of your use, while the physical cover for the USB-C fits firmly and securely, helping to keep water at bay.
Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 400+ Rear light bottom line
The Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 400+ Rear bike light is incredibly bright when you need it to be, with other sensible modes that are easily accessible.
With the benefit of having used a couple of the previous-generation Strip Drive lights, I think the design changes work to improve the recipe. If you own one of those, though, you shouldn’t feel an urgent need to rush out and upgrade.
I understand Lezyne’s reasoning for not including a charge cable, but it’s worth considering, because it might add a small extra cost or over-reliance on an already-owned cable.
However, this is a mere niggle about an otherwise excellent rear bike light.
Rear bike lights | How we tested
Rear lights are essential accessories. Legal requirements at night in the vast majority of territories, many also prefer to use them during the day, year-round, to boost their visibility.
For this test, carried out in autumn 2023 in the UK, we selected some of the latest rear bike lights for the road.
Testing included use as commuter lights and companions for longer weekend rides, as well as seeing use on owned and test bikes. A burn-time test was also carried out, using the most battery-intensive mode to give an indication of life. We suggest using this as a guide only.
Lights on test
- Lezyne Strip Drive Pro 400+ Rear
- Cateye Viz450
- Knog Blinder V
- Magishine SeeMee 300 Smart
- Ravemen TR500
- Moon Helix Max
Product
| Brand | lezyne |
| Price | 55.00 GBP,55.00 USD |
| Weight | 79.0000, GRAM () - inc. strap |
Features
| br_lightType | rear |
| br_integratedBattery | yes |
| Features | Modes: 7 |
| br_outputLumens | 400 |
