For the size of the light the run-times are pretty impressive, often over-achieving not just hitting the targets, in use. For me personally, I wouldn't choose any light that scrolls through flashing as it just annoys me, but I certainly can't fault its quality and beam for the money. Verdict

Agree totally with the other commentators, this review is seriously harsh and a little pedantic on what is a fantastic light. I would hate to see anyone put off on the basis of this review. The Oxford Ultratorch comes in at the same price point for an extra 50 lumens, but Stu wasn't overly impressed with its beam pattern. From behind though, the Micro Drive does throw out a powerful amount of light from its single LED. There's the really useful Daytime Flash mode to start with; a super high powered flash for riding in high light conditions where you still want extra visibility.I was so impressed I bought the matching front light and would award this an easy 9/0 - best rear light I have tried, beautifully made with a quality feel. I didn't use Economy or Femto much, but it is nice to know they are there, should you start to run out of battery.

The beam pattern is excellent with a bright central spot surrounded by a nice spread of diffused light. Even when angled to illuminate further down the road it provides plenty of coverage to allow you to read the road effectively and in flash mode will illuminate signs a significant distance away. It's an excellent concept, which is also a feature on Lezyne's Zecto Drive rear light. It's entered separately from the standard set of modes; holding the power button from off for five seconds allows you to chose between one of two 70 lumen flash modes; Daytime 1 (think morse code long dashes), and Daytime 2 (morse code dots). Both will see you through a little over three hours riding time. Overdrive is perfectly sufficient for speeds around 20-22mph; anything slower and I was happy with Blast's 400 lumens. Annoyingly, though, Blast sits between six others in the normal cycle of modes rather than in the Race Mode. Economy, which offers 150 lumens for 19 hours, partners Overdrive in Race Mode. It does offer 10 hours more than 2018's Lite Drive model, but it's just not powerful enough to facilitate riding at higher speeds. The Day Flash mode puts out 800 lumens and is top notch for riding in daytime traffic; EVERYONE notices you! It's followed in the cycle of modes by Flash and Pulse; these two are much better for evening riding in urban areas – they don't send your eyes funny but still make others aware of you. The light is compatible with a remote switch but I didn't test this. Personally, I found the operating switch easily accessible and the addition of a cable to operate it doesn't strike me as a huge advantage. Battery life and chargingUsing a helmet light provides the rider with excellent line-of-sight vision, as well as increasing their visibility to oncoming traffic significantly. This offering from Lezyne is one of the lightest and longest-lasting bike helmet lights that I have tested to date. True, Lezyne has gone some way to avoid this with its Race Mode, where you just have two settings, but the setting for the 'dipped' offering always seems to be too low. Mounting the Lezyne to the handlebar is taken care of by a rubber band, and it gives you plenty of options for varying diameters of tubing. There are eight settings in total, which gives you plenty of versatility for balancing battery life against output, and I wouldn't real cull any of them – well, maybe the Pulse – but I would definitely change the way you access them to make the light more user-friendly.

It's not the best design anyway; A Safe Memorable Place must be found for the tailcap whilst the light charges to stop it getting lost among desk junk, or rolling under furniture etc, as there's no other attachment facility when it's unscrewed.The CNC machined aluminium body looks quality and makes the light look way more expensive then it actually is. It's available in a range of anodised colours too, so you can achieve a bit of coordination with your bike. In terms of the beam pattern, it doesn't differ much from its predecessor, the Lite Drive 800XL: a decent central spot with fading edges. On the road, I had absolutely no issue seeing what was coming up, obstacles, potholes and gutter dwelling objects. The lateral cutouts really help here. The Lezyne Strip Pro Alert Drive also features a Wide Angle Optics lens that provides up to 270° of visibility. Pumping out a massive 300 lumens on 'Day Time Flash' mode, it will last for 6:15 hours, whilst in 'Economy' it will stay alive for 28 hours of runtime. I tend to use both lights in "race mode" after dark, but in the daytime in the normal setup so I can use the pulse mode for additional visibility as needed. This is a sinusoidal "flash" that doesn't blow people's eyeballs out. I get migraines from sudden strobing flashes, so I do not use the daytime flash modes unless I believe my life is in danger. At dusk, I begin on the low-power femto/economy mode until it gets dark enough, then put it in race mode.