LEZYNE Micro Drive Pro 800XL Light

Product Information

The slight green cast of the LEDs I found to be slightly easier on the eyes than the brighter white often used by brands such as Exposure. Value If you visit the road.cc light beam comparison engine (below) and select the 2016 Macro Drive 800XL alongside the 2015 Power Drive XL, on the face of it the 800XL blows away the weaker Power Drive. But look closer. See the car in the distance? The weaker light illuminates it markedly better, while the 800 lumens from the Macro Drive are wasted in a wide beam close to the bike. Waterproofing is great as well. It dealt well with any rain it encountered and had no issues when given a blast in the bathroom shower. I've had one of these in heavy use for three years now. It performs the same as when new. The battery is still good for 90 minutes or so on full blast, and four hours on low. The 800XL sits at the bottom of Lezyne's 'Performance' range, which then drops to 'Sport' with lights of 450 lumens or lower. In the 800XL you get standard light settings from 15 up to 400 lumens, with runtimes decreasing from 63 down to 3 hours. There are 150 lumen pulse and flash modes lasting over 13 hours, plus Lezyne's trademark 'Overdrive Race mode', with a simple toggling between 'low beam' at 150 or the Overdrive 800 flagship output lasting 1hr 40mins.

The Lezyne Macro Drive 800XL is a decent-enough, all-in-one light with significant runtimes, but it's let down by poor beam focus and a wobbly mounting system. The Micro Drive Pro 800XL offers be-seen modes as well as a powerful beam that's sufficient for dark night outings on unlit lanes. It will suit most commuters and many keen roadies, a realistic option that will help you avoid the super-powerful, eye-blinding, wallet-emptying elite light category... It's worth pointing out that the light can be twisted on its mount; it's a very stiff movement, no float whatsoever. It means you can mount it on certain helmets if you wish. Switch to Economy, though, and it just isn't bright enough to see where you're going. If it was the 500lm Blast combined with Overdrive it would be spot on, and you'd be able to use it like the high/dipped beam of the Ravemen PR1600. Mount Flashing-wise, there is a DayFlash which pumps out the full 1,000lm for 7.5hrs, which grabs plenty of attention when riding in the sunshine or filtering during daylight, though it is way too antisocial to use during darkness.For the record, I have had a number of interactions with Lezyne support, and so far they have always stood behind their products. With up to 800 lumens of output and a powerful Daytime Flash mode this cycling LED light is impressive day or night. It features a lightweight, durable machined aluminum body with integrated cooling fins and cutouts for 180° of front visibility. The micro-USB rechargeable design boasts an impressive 87-hour max runtime (15 hour increase) and eight unique output modes.

The Oxford Ultratorch comes in at the same price point for an extra 50 lumens, but Stu wasn't overly impressed with its beam pattern.Typically I use the ultra-low setting near dusk when you begin to need visibility but you can still safely see where you are going. Then after dark I use race mode, on this one with the remote wired toggle button. The system has proven to be a 10 for reliability, and once you figure out the operating scheme, it has become second nature. True, Lezyne has gone some way to avoid this with its Race Mode, where you just have two settings, but the setting for the 'dipped' offering always seems to be too low. Overdrive is the Micro Drive Pro 800XL operating at its full capacity, 800 lumens (who'd have guessed); this will burn for 1 hour 45 minutes, a whopping 30 per cent increase on its predecessor's run-time in the same mode. I've made use of this for the darkest of lanes but rarely had it on for the duration of a ride. I prefer the 400-lumen Blast mode, which is enough on familiar roads (plus, knowing I have four hours to play with is more comforting).

Like Stu with the Lite Drive last year, I think eight modes is a bit much, but there's sure to be something to meet your needs and cope with every circumstance on the road. I didn't use Economy or Femto much, but it is nice to know they are there, should you start to run out of battery. I have had two of these lights in frequent use for the past three years, an 800 and 1000. Both are mounted to the bars with an optional alloy clamp mount, which I believe is well worth the extra cost. Also, both of mine have external controllers. I use the wired controller with the 800 and a wireless controller on the 1000. Since technology marches on, the wireless controller is now offered with the 1300 lumen light, but mine is the slightly older and still totally adequate 1000 lm spec. Overdrive is perfectly sufficient for speeds around 20-22mph; anything slower and I was happy with Blast's 400 lumens. Annoyingly, though, Blast sits between six others in the normal cycle of modes rather than in the Race Mode. Economy, which offers 150 lumens for 19 hours, partners Overdrive in Race Mode. It does offer 10 hours more than 2018's Lite Drive model, but it's just not powerful enough to facilitate riding at higher speeds.

How we tested

Redesigned for our Year 13 collection, the Strip Drive Rear features our new Wide Angle Optics lens that provides up to 270° of visibility. It also features an increase of 27 hours in runtime for a maximum of 57 hours. Its co-molded construction is more compact, but still boasts five LEDs for up to 150 lumens of output. With 11 output modes, including a Daytime Flash mode, it’s got options for any time day or night. A versatile mounting system attaches to aero or round posts and it’s micro-USB rechargeable. There are eight settings in total, which gives you plenty of versatility for balancing battery life against output, and I wouldn't real cull any of them – well, maybe the Pulse – but I would definitely change the way you access them to make the light more user-friendly.

The one exception I'd make are German lights manufactured to throw a shaped beam that cannot dazzle oncoming road users. In that case you can just use them on full all the time. But then on paths where you wand uniform coverage, for example to get even left-right cornering coverage, they don't work. Cons: Could do with better mode grouping; I prefer a proper handlebar clamp to keep the light secureMounting the Lezyne to the handlebar is taken care of by a rubber band, and it gives you plenty of options for varying diameters of tubing.