Factory Visit: Lezyne, San Luis Obispo, California
A few words come to mind when thinking back to my visit with Lezyne. Clean. Orderly. Slick. Almost the exact opposite of what I think about mountain biking. What makes it work then?
A quick bit on Lezyne, how they got started, and where they’re going. Micki Kozuschek, founder of Truvativ, wanted to take a break from the bike industry after selling that company to SRAM. After a few years away, it was time to get back in. (Probably drove his wife crazy.) At the time of founding Lezyne, Kozuschek felt that inexpensive, plastic, not designed very well accessories that also didn’t work very well were the norm. He set out to change that, matching the design and construction of high end bikes. Today, Lezyne creates floor and hand pumps, lights, and other accessories with certain goals in mind-exquisite design, intelligent engineering, and functional completion.
You won’t find Lezyne sponsoring every Joe on the street who needs race entries covered. They pick only a few well known, well spoken and highly respected athletes to represent them. In fact, Danny MacAskill, notoriously picky about sponsors, come to Lezyne and asked to be part of their team, as he liked their products so much. Angie Hohenwarter says this about her favorite sponsor, “I’m stoked to be with Lezyne now. Lezyne always was such an eye catcher for me. I love the simple and strong design, and function of their products and I can’t imagine a better partner to take with me on my travels.”
As an athlete, and working journalist with Type 1 diabetes, I’m a huge fan of Blind Bobby McMullen, who is no longer diabetic after multiple organ transplants, but lived and thrived with the disease for much of his career. Upon learning that McMullen is one Lezyne’s athletes, they immediately went up a couple notches in my book. McMullen is an example of someone living life. Speaking of cycling. “It’s that good of a sport. What inspires me is people who love it.” Simple wise words.
I have received a few pieces of gear from Lezyne for review, after letting them know that I wasn’t really familiar with their products. The one I’m most excited about is the Classic Dirt Floor Drive, in the High Volume (HV) model. I’m testing a lot of bikes, a lot of tires, and much of this happens on the road, out of the back of my car. Also, as an environmentally conscious guy, I drive a small car, and just don’t have room for an air compressor in my rig. I’m hoping this pump is going to solve that problem of inflating tubeless tires, where you always need that big, initial rush of air to seat the tire. I’ll get back to you on that one, but I can confirm this pump inflates my tires in about half the strokes as my other pump. So far, so good.
Words, Photos: Daniel Dunn
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