By Stan Purdum
Those of you who read Road Bike Rider regularly will likely recall that recently I posted two articles about my purchase of the Lezyne Radar React System. That system consists of a rear radar unit with an LED red light and a headlight, which, in addition to the forward-facing LED light, has a rear facing white lens. That lens, when paired with the radar unit, glows red and emits a beep to alert the rider to traffic coming from behind.
A good video describing the Lezyne system can be found below. It’s from GPLama, which is the alter ego of Shane Miller, a popular Australian reviewer known for his in-depth analysis of cycling technology and gadgets. He’s quite positive about the Lezyne system.
I have now ridden twice using the system and am pleased to report that it works as advertised. As an effective radar system, I too now recommend it in terms of its technology.
However, you may remember that my complaint about the system is that the radar unit is designed so that the only means of mounting it is by a stretchy strap to your seat post, which makes a problem for people like me who, because of a sizeable under-the-saddle bag, have no seat post space available for the radar unit. The design of the unit rules out any of the third-party under-the-saddle hitches currently available.
In fact, even Miller, positive was he is about the Lezyne system overall, does say, after showing the provided stretchy straps and shims to accommodate various shaped seat posts, “It’s not the worst mount that I’ve used for radar, but this is the only radar that I can recall where the strap mounts directly to the radar itself; there’s no quarter-turn mount. I’m not really a fan of this ….” (If you want to hear it yourself, Miller’s comment comes just after minute 5 in the video.)
So, yes, the seat-post-dependent mounting arrangement for this system limits how many riders can easily use it. Thus, my first article on this topic was a request for suggestions from you RBR readers regarding alternative ways to mount the Lezyne radar unit. My second article was a description of a not-very-handsome hack I had come up with to attach the radar unit from under the saddle.
But following that, I decided to contact Lezyne directly for their input, which I did, via email. In response, two things happened. First, Lezyne added a comment of their own below my first article. They started by quoting my line from my article that said, “And if someone at Lezyne is reading this, how about coming up with a classy solution?”
They then added, “We read it! Your article has been shared internally with the product team. We are really good at classy solutions. But other than a 3rd party 3D printed adapter, there’s currently no easy way to attach to your setup. Shoot! Thanks for the article!”
The second thing was that Dillon Clapp, who is Director of Content in Lezyne’s Media Relations department, sent me his direct phone number and invited me to call him, which I did.
He told me of the company’s belief that their radar is on par with the best radars available, a claim I don’t disagree with after using it on the road. He also mentioned the company’s notion that most riders do not have their seat post area blocked and thus could use the direct-to-seat-post mount arrangement. I’m not in a position to know about the majority of riders, but I am aware that such is not the case for several of my cycling friends. But he went on to say that the current Radar React System is the first generation of the product, and there will likely be generations two and three. (He indicated that he could not reveal what plans for it might be in the works, which I understand, due to R&D being a competitive arena in the bike gadgetry industry.)
I told Dillon that if Lezyne did come out with another mounting arrangement to let me know so I can announce it in RBR. He said he would.
Just an update on my homemade mounting hack: I am now on version 1.2. I cut about an inch off both of the “arms” so I could move the post closer to the saddle. This also made the MacGyver device look less like the handles of yard shears. And I wrapped the wood dowel post with friction tape to reduce the tendency of the radar unit to slide around a bit on the post.
I told Dillon I’d be writing this article for RBR, and he said some Lezyne people would look at it when it goes live, so that if you readers post any questions in the comments section about their system, they will respond to those in the same section.
Stan Purdum has ridden several long-distance bike trips, including an across-America ride recounted in his book Roll Around Heaven All Day, and a trek on U.S. 62, from Niagara Falls, New York, to El Paso, Texas, the subject of his book Playing in Traffic. Stan, a freelance writer and editor, lives in Ohio. See more at www.StanPurdum.com.
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