Review: Lezyne Power Drive 900XL
The Lezyne Power Drive 900XL side profile reveals a compact design (click to enlarge).
Editor’s Note: This article is part of Mtbr and RoadBikeReview’s 2016 Bike Lights Shootout. See the 2016 Mtbr Headlights Index and the RoadBikeReview Commuter Lights Index.
The Lowdown: Lezyne Power Drive 900XL
The highlights of this light are the fine, wide optics and excellent form factor. The beam is nice with a wide swath and a fairly oval spot. Quality is good too with nice machining and black powdercoating.
It is much smaller than before and is much more handy as a helmet light or even a pocket flashlight. Mount is now a rubber strap that has a molded base to ensure it stays put when cinched down.
| Claimed Lumens: 900 Lumens | Mtbr Lux: 86 |
| Measured Lumens: 850 Lumens | Mounted weight: 154 grams |
| Lumens per $: 8.50 Lumens | Category: Headlight |
| Lumens per gram: 6.78 Lumens | Price: $100 |
| Run time on high: 1:20 Hours |
Rating:  4 Chilis-out-of-5 |
Pluses |
Minuses |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Full Review: Lezyne Power Drive 900XL
It is a good light indeed and for $100 it offers good value. Its output puts it at one of the lower priced lights at around the 850 Lumen level. Optics and beam pattern are a highlight of this offering too.
What’s not great is the output out of the box is much lower than 900 Lumens claimed. The user has to realize that they are in ‘Blast’ mode of 600 Lumens and that they have to go to Overdrive mode using a special sequence. Our fear is most buyers will never realize that they are not using the highest mode that they were expecting when they purchased the light. It’s just too difficult to tell with the naked eye whether the output is 600 Lumens or 900.
Another issue we had is, we only got 850 Lumens out of the light even in Overdrive mode. It’s not characteristic of Lezyne to measure under their claimed output, but it seems all their new lights this year measure lower than claimed.
The Lezyne Power Drive 900XL dual lenses provide a good horizontal beam (click to enlarge).
The Infinite, field-replaceable battery option is gone now too. That was a great option for some, as they could carry extra batteries and guarantee themselves enough runtime at maximum output. It seems that was removed for better light form factors and better light output.
Continue to page 2 for more on the Lezyne Power Drive 900XL, the beam pattern and Lumen measurement »
The post Review: Lezyne Power Drive 900XL appeared first on Mountain Bike Review.