2015 Lights Shootout, Bike Light, Deca Drive, Lezyne, Lights, Lights Shootout - November 19, 2014

Review: Lezyne Deca Drive

The Lezyne Deca Drive was one of the best lights from Lezyne last year, with a $160 price tag and a light head with three LEDs and a wide beam pattern. This year, the Deca Drive is unchanged, as its sibling the Mega Drive is upgraded to three LEDs as well now with an output of 1400 Lumens.

The mount of the Deca Drive is sturdy with an upgraded robust mount. This after all is a 265 gram light and it packs a bit of inertia on those big hits which can knock the light out of place.

This has the ‘infinite’ battery which is field replaceable, so the rider can keep replacing the battery to extend run time. Weight is heavy and size is unwieldy so this is not really appropriate as a helmet light or a flashlight.

Note that when you turn the light on, you will get 700 Lumens and not the 900 as advertised in the box. You have to go through a special sequence (pressing the button for 6 seconds) to go into the special overdrive mode. This is unfortunate, since we believe a light is to turn on at the advertised light level without going in to a special mode. It’s not difficult to enter this mode, but we are fairly certain many users will never realize that they are not in 800 Lumen mode by default.

Beam Pattern Photo

We photographed the lights in the same location setting with the same camera settings. The photos were taken in the back yard that is approximately 25 yards long. These photos feature many objects and a distinct background to analyze detail and beam pattern. Compare all Beam Patterns here »

Integrating Sphere Measured Lumens

This light measured 896 Lumens in an integrating sphere. Claimed Lumens by the manufacturer is 900 Lumens. The Lumen-hour graph below shows how the light performs over the first three minutes of its battery cycle. Compare all Lumen Tests here »

Strengths

Incredible machining and craftsmanship
Excellent brightness with three LED beam wide wide spill and far throw
Water Resistant
Field replaceable battery so run time is flexible
Light output is stable throughout the whole cycle
Battery charge indicator and available race mode

Weaknesses

Too big now to be used as a flashlight
Lots of sharp edges with all the heatsinking
Charging on a typical USB port can take up to 10 hours
Not practical now for use on the helmet
Full 900 Lumen mode is in a hidden mode
High powered lithium cell has two adjacent leads and is easy to short out especially when transported in a pocket or hydration pack