Lezyne Shock Drive 400psi Shock Pump review

This Lezyne Shock Drive 400psi is very much a premium – and reassuringly chunky – affair. Capable of going all the way up to 400psi.

Lezyne Shock Drive 400 PSI

• Price: £57
• From: Upgrade Bikes

Pros

• Doesn’t trap your fingers
• Fits on to valves easily
• Clear and battery free pressure reading

Cons

• Fairly bulky gauge
• Handle is a little tiny and slippery
• Spendy (but worth it)

Many riders will need a shock pump once in a blue moon. Setting up a new bike, getting ready for a different sort of trail to usual, and perhaps if you’re carrying a very heavy pack/it’s been a while since you rode and you have a new ‘stomach pack’. As a serial bike swapper, I probably use a shock pump more often than you. Anyway, first world problems and all that, but I find it inordinately annoying to have to go and find a new battery on those occasions I need a shock pump. It fills me with faff-induced rage. And so, this battery-free pump from Lezyne looked right up my street.

Obviously you lose a little accuracy in the analogue vs digital option, but I don’t think that really matters. What matters is being able to measure where you’re at, and then add or remove air accordingly. You might think this would be a simple affair, and surely all shock pumps do this. But no. Not all shock pumps are created equal, and to my mind this one is better than most.

As well as not needing batteries, on the plus side this shock pump is not a finger trapper. The pump handle does not meet the pump body in a skin-pinching interface. If you’ve ever been vigorously pumping only to trap a flap of skin, you’ll know how disproportionately painful that is. Especially if you were already suffering from battery rage.

The handle is nicely shaped with no sharp edges, but it is perhaps a little dinky. It’s not the easiest to get hold of – although usually shock fettling is done at your convenience, rather than in an emergency fashion, so perhaps a bit of patience and focus here is all that’s required. The gauge is big enough to read easily, although it is quite deep and chunky, which adds a lot to the overall size of the pump. There’s a bleed valve so you can let air out as well as add it.

The braided hose can be screwed into the handle – again a little fiddly – if you really want to store it neatly, or perhaps keep crumbs of flapjack and other backpack detritus out of your valve. The valve screws easily on to every shock I’ve tried – it’s not too bulky to fit into some of the tighter shock layouts. It also twizzles freely. By that I mean that the valve turns easily on the end of the hose. That means the as you’re screwing the hose onto the shock or fork valve, you haven’t got the whole pump doing somersaults as you turn the valve on the pump. If you’ve ever had a pump that does that, you’ll know how frustrating it is having the pump flip and thwack into your precious fork stanchions.

Overall

A shock pump is one of those things you don’t need all that often, but when you need it you want it to work, and work well. A poor one can be very frustrating, and at their very worst they let all the air out of your fork before you can get the damned thing detached. This Lezyne Shock Drive 400psi shock pump is pretty much ideal – it pumps, it’s faff free, and it doesn’t trap your fingers. Job done. Get one.

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Review Info

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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