Cyclingnews Verdict

A great example of solid, simple, universal design with an excellent performance-for-price ratio

Pros

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Universal bar/bike fit
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More powerful than the numbers suggest
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Great price
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Simple operation
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Multiple modes
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Optional remote switch
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Useful scroll shortcut
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Rear light bundle bargains

Cons

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Gappy battery feedback
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Wobbles on rough rides
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Minimal tuning option
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Plastic packaging

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Lezyne’s ‘Drive’ range has expanded its power span from 1800 to 200 lumens but the 1000 XL is one of the originals and this evolved version is still a sweet spot of better-than-expected power, compact convenience and simple functional versatility at a great value price.

But how does it stack up against the best bike lights on the market? Read on to find out.

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Lezyne Drive 1000 XL review — The extruded alloy sleeve is scooped at the front to give upper and lower lips to stop glare(Image credit: Guy Kesteven)

I normally run multiple lights on my bars at once when testing so I can toggle between them for a very clear comparison of power and beam spread. Whenever I did this with the 1000XL it significantly outshone any other lights with a similar theoretical rating and often compared favourably to 12-1300 lumen listed lights. It’s not just a restricted spotlight either, there’s enough spread to give useful context of the surrounding environment such as frost on grass, gaps in walls in crosswind conditions, and incoming swerves and curves. The twin LED beam has no distracting edges or halo effects to mess with your perception either, so you can pick out vital ‘trust or tread carefully’ surface details without squinting or straining.

That’s likely to be fairly often if you like riding full speed on unlit roads, as while there’s still some light coming out of the 1000 XL past the hour and a half mark that Lezyne pegs as the ‘Overdrive’ run time, the power drops significantly 10 to 15 minutes before that, when the last gasp alert starts flashing on the power button. The 500 lumen ‘Blast’ is enough for cruising, climbing and group riding though, and that’ll get you three hours. Therefore a two-hour mixed pace ride is a reasonable expectation. With a big gap in the battery indicator between the 50 per cent alert and the 10%per cent power fade you’ll need to keep a ready reckoner on remaining life.

There are flash and pulse modes as well as a brutally bright 1,000 lumen Day Flash mode for keeping you visible to oncoming drivers even on the nastiest low sun days. Riders who don’t want to have to scroll through all the options to get back to full power will potentially appreciate the ‘Race’ mode which sets the light up to only give ‘Overdrive’ and ‘Economy’ modes. That’s the extent of possible tuning though, which is frustrating as being able to set Race to ‘Overdrive’ and ‘Blast’ or even the 250 lumen ‘Enduro’ setting would be a lot more useful. Cardboard/recycled packaging would be appreciated by the planet, too.