Do you make something that looks beautiful above all, or do you make something that functions as well as possible?
At Lezyne, the emphasis is on the latter. They call it engineered design. RIDE Magazine saw with its own eyes how that philosophy is applied in the accessory brand's Taiwan factories.
By Ties Wijntjes • Thursday, March 26, 2026
This article was originally printed in RIDE Magazine and later posted online by WielerFlits.nl. It has been automatically translated into English. Some wording may not be perfectly translated.
If you are not satisfied with the products you can buy, why not just make them yourself? That is the philosophy behind Lezyne. The American company was founded in 2007 by German entrepreneur Micki Kozuschek in San Luis Obispo, California. After successfully selling the bicycle brand Maxcycles and the parts brand Truvativ, Kozuschek noticed that the pumps and multi-tools he was using did not meet his standards. There was plenty of choice, but in his eyes, none was good enough. So he decided to take matters into his own hands and focus entirely on the development of high-quality bicycle accessories with Lezyne.
To do so, he traveled to Taichung; Taiwan’s second-largest city and, above all, the heart of the international cycling industry. “Before Lezyne, Micki had various companies, and their products were manufactured here as well. He had so many contacts here that it was logical to come here for Lezyne too.” These are the words of Terry Cooke, who, as Vice President of Engineering, oversees all of Lezyne’s production processes at their Taiwan factories.
What we do here would be impossible in California. We would have to go to 5 to 10 different states to find all the different parts and materials we need for our products. Whereas here, we have everything at our fingertips. As a result, Micki was able to develop his first product in four months, which otherwise would probably have taken a year and a half.
Lezyne’s headquarters are located in Reno, Nevada, but the factory in Taichung is one of Lezyne’s most important strengths. Everything can be manufactured in-house there, and a large part of the production processes are managed internally. “We hardly have to outsource anything,” explains Terry. And if it doesn’t come from our own production, it comes from close by. “We source batteries and chips from abroad, but otherwise, everything comes from Taichung. That is incredibly convenient, because our engineers can visit our suppliers very often. As a result, we have really good insight into the products we receive, their quality, but also how we can improve them.”
Lezyne has two locations for its various in-house processes. Starting with a factory hall where the necessary CNC work is performed. “That was something we had outsourced for a long time, but during the corona crisis we noticed that it was vulnerable. So we decided to start doing it ourselves. At first we had four CNC machines, now we have almost twenty,” says Terry. These are used to mill housings for portable bicycle pumps and lighting, as well as the various bits for multi-tools. This is a significant advantage, as it keeps the production chain particularly short.
“We almost always need multiple attempts to find the right design for a new product. Sometimes we need up to twenty prototypes to find the highest quality. The nice thing about doing this ourselves is that we can go from design to physical prototype within a few days. We can, of course, 3D print things, but it is very valuable that we can also produce new products from metal almost immediately. Sometimes we go from an idea to a product rolling off the assembly line in just two months.”
ANODIZING
However, there are also processes that Lezyne very deliberately outsources. Anodizing, for example, a process in which a hard, protective layer is applied to metal by electrocuting the metal in an acid bath. A tricky, and sometimes polluting, job. “On paper, we could do this ourselves, but we prefer to outsource it so that it is done in an environmentally responsible manner,” explains Terry.
In this way, trade-offs are constantly being made regarding what is better for the quality of the products, but also for the climate and the environment. “Surface treatments are another example. We now treat as many of our products as possible using so-called bead blasting (a method in which small, round abrasives are blown against a surface under high pressure using compressed air, ed.), because that saves an enormous amount of water compared to traditional tumbling. And the small amount that really needs to be tumbled, we outsource. That is better for the environment, but it is also cost-effective.”
In addition to the CNC factory, Lezyne has a second location in Taichung, where they assemble the various parts into products. All the different parts arrive there and are assembled by hand. From floor pumps to multi-tools and from bicycle lights to saddle bags. There are dozens of racks, filled with thousands of different parts. It is an impressive sight, but Terry speaks about it coolly. “We use all of this in about three weeks. We try to adhere to the Toyota principle as much as possible, where parts arrive two days before they are assembled. We use those two days that they sit idle for quality control.”
And that last point is a magic spell in this factory hall: 'QC', or Quality Control. It is one of the things Terry is most proud of: the countless quality checks Lezyne performs on individual parts as well as on the finished products. “That starts even before it arrives at the factory. For example, we already carry out checks on the parts we CNC ourselves. In doing so, we verify that the dimensions are correct and that there are no deviations.”
Upon arrival at the factory, all parts are checked on a random basis. This includes parts they have produced or developed themselves. “I simply don’t want us to deliver bad products. The user must be able to trust our products.”
At the same time, Terry adds that such strict controls are a necessity in Asia. “If you receive parts from a manufacturer in Germany, you are reasonably certain that their technical reporting is correct. It is simply different here. With the companies we have been working with for a longer period, we often know by now that everything is in order. But when you enter into a new partnership, it often starts off fantastically, but after three months you inevitably get surprised.”
THOUSANDS OF VIBRATIONS
Therefore, various tests are performed on a large proportion of the components. Approximately one in 33 parts is checked on a sample basis. For instance, some parts are checked for dimensional accuracy under a type of telescope. Elsewhere, the products are placed in a metal machine, where their reaction at extremely high and extremely low temperatures is observed.
In addition, there is a machine that moves up and down for hours on end to test whether the bicycle light mounting remains strong enough even after thousands of vibrations. Almost everything is tested. Checks are also performed during and after assembly. Is the bulb waterproof? Is the light bright enough? Does the pump head hold the pressure? Nothing is left to chance.
That pays off, because over the years it has ensured that Lezyne rarely receives returned products due to defects. “At our CNC factory, in the beginning, we had batches that failed quality control and that we couldn't use. Now, we almost always detect this in advance and can prevent it. This also allows us to save costs. If we recognize that a small part, for example, hasn't been cut quite right, it helps that we don't subject it to other machining processes before it is rejected. Our error margin in the CNC factory is now only 0.5% on the monthly production of 200,000 parts. Thanks to all the quality controls, those parts never leave the factory to the user.”
That is also what makes Terry so proud of their production in Taichung: the quality they have built up there over the years. Lezyne produces the parts themselves or selects them with ease from their proverbial neighbors. They can organize the assembly according to their own wishes. A check is possible at any time. “The lines of communication are so short in our company, allowing us to exert influence over everything. We really have complete control.”
ENGINEERED DESIGN
Lezyne’s slogan is Engineered Design. With this, the American company means that technical development comes first and is more important than the appearance of the products. “Our engineers are essentially the product managers. They largely develop an idea. First, we conceive something and work it out technically; only then do we design it to make it look good as well. We call this engineered design, where we more or less reverse the design process. It is function over form: it is easier to make something that works well than to make something that looks good function well.”
