I don't think I quite understood this before I started cycling. When I was younger I hung out in lit places in the evenings - all the streets around my area had lights. Then when I could drive and went anywhere, the cars headlights lit up the entire road for me to see by, potlights, animals, cyclists.
Last week I went out and found it too dark for my liking. Descending was a slow process and the light shining from my two front lights were not bright enough for my liking.
In steps the Lezyne Micro Drive.
Overview and Functions
This light is more at the budget end of bike lights (I bought it for £26 in the sale) but boy is it worth the money. The light has two 'functions' normal & race. The normal function has 5 settings. 100 lumens (pretty bright), 150 lumens (really bright, don't point it straight in your eyes!), 50 lumens ('economy') and then two flashing patterns, both at 100 lumens.
The Race function then has 2 settings - 50 lumens and 200 lumens.
200 lumens is the brightest this thing will go, and for general road riding I think having any more would lead to a series of diminishing returns the more money you spent.
With 200 lumens shining on a pitch black road I can see straight ahead for about 100m and about 25m of road lit up and clear. The beam is very wide so I can see both edges of the road (on single carriageway) as well as any potholes or other dangers with enough time to react to them (branches, glass etc)
General Use
You get between the two functions by holding down the single-button for 5 seconds, and then cycle through each setting by pressing it once. The button is held down for 2 seconds to turn on or off, and pressed just once to indicate the battery life. Green is fully charged, Orange is in use and Red means charge me please or you will soon be in pitch black!!!
It's pretty intuitive but I have found pressing the button down with cold, numb hands whilst cycling along to be of moderate difficulty.
As far as battery life goes I am a left a little bit wanting but the unit is so impressive with size, weight, looks and strength of light beam that for me, it is not a deal breaker.
Lezyne claim 3 hours of usage on Economy setting (50 lumens), 2 hours on 100 lumens and just 1 solitary hour on 200 lumens. But I can't imagine needing 200 lumens for very long - if ever really.
In my first week of use I have found that to be enough, my commute on its longest day is now an hour and I only need the 150 lumens for it so it's all good as long as I remember to charge it!
Now, charging it is awesome. The only lights I've ever had before took normal batteries that you had to replace once they were used. The Lezyne Micro drive uses an internal battery that gets recharged. How do you recharge it? Well, it's super simple. Just screw off the cap and underneath it is revealed to have a built in USB stick! Pop this in your laptop/pc/other charging device for a couple of hours and it will be back to full strength next time you want to use it. (Lezyne note it takes up to 4 hours to fully charge, though I've not had to charge it for longer than 90mins down as far as about 1/3 charged.) What's even better is that other than the cap there's nothing to lose. No leads, no battery packs.
It secures to the bike using a plastic holder which is itself secured by a thick rubber 'ladder', which has lots of bars on depending on how thick your handlebars are. My handlebars are oversized, yet the rubber ladder is still too long, and I am left with a rubber tab sticking up one end - to help remove it, and an excess bit of rubber ladder at the other end, threatening to get in the way of the light!
It is however, easily kept out of the way and doesn't impact on the use of the light. It is held in place securely and doesn't jiggle or rattle whilst riding.
Summary
I really like this light. I'm so glad I bought it and it is possible even literally a life saver for me this winter. For the price I think the performance is incredible and the little niggles I have with it aren't worth splitting hairs about.
Pros:
- Very bright - easily bright enough for pitch black riding.
- Fantastic charging method
- It's remarkably light and small - doesn't get in the way at all
- Great price - lower end of the market but still high level of performance
- Secure in place yet easily taken off when you leave your bike
- Lots of functions and options depending on your preferences - economy for daytime, flashing if you want it or the high powered settings for when it's truly dark
Cons:
- Battery life isn't great - you would struggle on a long evenings ride of more than about 2 hours on unlit roads. I would happily have a larger body to accomodate more battery
- The beam is so wide I get HUGE shadows of my handlebars, brake levers and hands on either side of my vision
- The rubber holding attachment is too long, and it leaves lots of rubber either side of the light base - even though my bike has oversize handlebars.
If you need a new light for this winter, but don't want to spend over the odds then I strongly recommend this fantastic product!
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