Lezyne Macro Drive 800 XL

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 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.

I've been a fan of the Overdrive Race mode for years, and consider any light without it fundamentally unfit for purpose. The ability to toggle directly between what is effectively High and Low Beam is a basic need for every cyclist, on- or off-road.

The new lineup of Lezyne lights has seen the bombproof plastic brackets replaced with rubber ladder straps, but fortunately the original brackets are available as an optional accessory for 25.4 or 31.8mm bars in Composite (£6) or Alloy (£12) options. This is good because the rubber band fixing provided is not up to the job of holding the light firmly when pressing the button to cycle through light settings, particularly if you're wearing thick gloves and therefore basically just mashing the entire top of the light to change output.

The new ladder fitting is also a bit of a faff to fit onto 31.8mm bars, requiring every step in the ladder and leaving you with only a small rubber tab to grasp – again, a faff with gloves on. For round bars there's an adapter you fit over the rubber strap, or remove for fitting to flatter aero bars. That's a nice touch, and the removable bit is held pretty firmly.

The hard brackets are readily available but you need to seek out the adapter to screw to the bottom of the light, which frustratingly seems to only be sold in the UK by Upgrade bikes for an extra £2.50 under the part number 'Lezyne - LED Strap-To-Handle Bar Mount Converter L-1-LED-HBMA-V104'. I mention this because you'll need the converter to screw into your light; you might buy a new bracket or already have one kicking about that you'll want to use for the Macro Drive 800XL.

Out on a dark road the Macro Drive 800XL puts out a decent amount of light. Eight hundred lumens isn't to be sneezed at, and you can trundle along happily at say 12-15mph and never miss a pothole or drain cover. But the nature of the beam really limits you to that and no more. Even though you have impressive power on tap it's sprayed all over the road and roadside, meaning when you want to go fast there simply isn't enough in the focused tunnel-vision centre of the road to let you get on in safety. Your hoods and front wheel are well-lit, as is the ground in front of you, but not the road beyond about 20 yards out. I found I couldn't ride faster than about 25mph due to the lack of definition.

My go-to light for the past four years has been a 2013-model Lezyne Power Drive XL, pumping out 475 lumens in overdrive mode. The focused single LED has proved just the ticket for nipping about pitch-black country lanes of an evening at about 25mph.

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.

What I'd have loved is a single 800 lumen LED, or a lens that combined the two 400 LEDs present in a more focused way. For a light purporting to be in the 'Performance' line, the performance is underwhelming.

Of course because it's Lezyne the runtimes are actually a bit longer than advertised. So in use as a 150 lumen daytime flasher safety light for training or commuting, it's a decent option: 13.5 hours should do the hardest of commuters for a full week between charges, which are performed via a rather deep micro-USB port on the rear. This socket is a step backwards from the previous Lezyne charging ports which were markedly shallower. While the provided cable fitted OK, I found various micro USB cables scattered about the house or garage would not seat properly. As with cameras the best USB cable is the one in your hand, and manufacturers shouldn't make their micro USB sockets borderline-proprietary.

That said, the weatherproofing is to Lezyne's usual high standards. Over a few months of riding in occasionally soaking conditions the Macro Drive 800XL didn't miss a beat, nor did the road.cc shower test of doom faze it.

Fundamentally I'm conflicted by this light. I love Lezyne's gear and have (at last count) no fewer than six of their lights in various shapes and sizes. It should on the face of it be my new go-to light for dark ventures, but the lack of focus and loose rubber strap means the weaker yet focused and stable Power Drive XL beats it, and the charge port is just annoying. For regular commuters I could see the Macro Drive XL being a good option: lasting a week on a bright yet inoffensive flash, with enough oomph to get you down dark lanes if they form part of your route. Just make sure the USB cable on your desk is a good fit, and you'd probably tire of fighting with the ladder strap so plump for the hard bracket and adapter.

Verdict

Okay for slower rides, but lack of focus and wobbly mount are significant disadvantages

The light beam comparison engine

Our beam test comparison data contains beam shots and data for over 40 of this year's lights, so you can directly compare one with another. After it, we take a look at the various options in lighting technology and recommend some of our favourite lights. 

If you have a nice big screen you can click here for the widescreen version (1400x1000px)