The Lezyne Super Drive 1800+ bike light is a bright bike light with a big battery, plus a few tricks up its sleeve to justify the Super label. I’ve been testing the Super Drive 1800+ Loaded Kit, which pairs the light with a rear blinky, on my night rides this winter and it’s become one of my favorites.
Lezyne Super Drive 1800+ key specs
- Brightness: 1800 lumens
- Battery capacity: 6600 mAh
- Weight: 240.1g including mount. Rear light weight: 50.3g with strap
- Price: $149.99 (light only). $184.99 Loaded Kit includes rear light, bar mounts
- Buy from Amazon and Performance Bike
Most bike light experts agree that lumens don’t tell the whole story when it comes to brightness and overall effectiveness on the trail. And yet, the Super Drive 1800+ from Lezyne lets you know in the product name that it delivers up to 1800 lumens of brightness. Running on high, Lezyne says riders should get about 1:45 of runtime. There are four solid brightness modes ranging from 350-1800 lumens plus three flashing modes.
Rounding out the build specs: pass-through USB-C fast charging, a color-changing LED battery life indicator, an aluminum body that doubles as a heat sink, and a water-resistant design. With the included handlebar mount the Lezyne Super Drive 1800+ weighs 240.1g.
The KTV Pro Smart rear light is compact and features a sturdy mounting system that fits around most seat posts. (If you choose to mount it to a 34.9mm post, or another part of the bike frame, you may need to find a longer strap.) The KTV Pro Smart light plugs directly into a USB Type A outlet, though in my experience some outlets work and others do not. I ultimately found a small iPhone brick works best, though it is slow charging.
Smart features
Moving beyond the hardware, programmable light modes allow you to customize how the Lezyne Super Drive 1800+ operates. Pressing the single button on the light toggles between up to four light settings which can be configured using a free smartphone app to utilize any of the seven pre-programmed brightness modes. I chose to set the first three modes to solid ones: Economy (350 lumens), Enduro (500 lumen), and Blast (1100 lumen). Most of my night rides tend to be on medium-speed trails where the 1800-lumen Super Drive is overkill. Lezyne alternately labels the brightest mode “Overdrive race mode,” so unless you’re racing you likely won’t need all 1800 lumens at once.
For the fourth mode I set up the light to operate on Day Flash mode which is designed for maximum visibility on the road. While you can choose which of the seven solid and flashing brightness modes the light utilizes within the button sequence, you can’t modify those modes to create, for example a 800 lumen mode between “Enduro” and “Blast.”
Lezyne says the Super Drive 1800+ has a Mode Memory function that’s supposed to remember the last mode used but in my experience this doesn’t work. Every time the light is turned on it returns to mode one.
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Another smart feature is the ability of the Super Drive to sync with a rear blinky light, which can also be programmed using the Lezyne smartphone app. Turn on the front light and the rear turns on too. For mountain biking I set up the rear light to pulse mode which is the least harsh on the riders behind me. On the fourth mode, which I use for commuting, I set the rear light to Day Flash. Smart rear lights are sold separately, or you can pick one up as a part of the Super Drive 1800+ Loaded Kit.
Night riding with the Lezyne Super Drive 1800+
The Lezyne Super Drive 1800+ shoots a strong center beam that carries far forward with nice fill lighting at the sides to illuminate the periphery. It’s a pretty standard setup that works well for trail riding. I found I generally used about half the battery capacity for on 2-3 hour night rides.
While bulky, the standard handlebar mount works quite well. The light can be rotated in the mount so even with funky bar angles you can still point the light straight down the trail. The stretchy strap is long enough to fit 35mm bars and it’s thick enough that I expect it to last a while before wearing out. There’s also a GoPro-style mount that’s included with the Loaded Kit, or available for purchase separately that offers additional mounting options. At 240g the Lezyne Super Drive 1800+ is too heavy for helmet mounting IMO, but some riders may find it’s a fine option.
Rolling on smooth surfaces at just the right speed the light makes the front tire look like it’s standing still, similar to a strobe effect. This suggests the Super Drive 1800+ pulses the LED on and off rapidly to achieve varying dimness levels. The pulses are fast enough that you don’t generally notice them, though the effect can be a little distracting and is especially noticeable in video recordings.
The power button glows green when the battery is fully charged and changes to yellow, then red, as the battery is depleted. Once the button turns yellow I turn the light down a notch and in my experience it easily provides another hour or more of ride time.
Initially I thought the sync feature between the front and rear lights was gimmicky, but I have to admit it’s convenient to use a single button to control both.
Pros and cons of Lezyne Super Drive 1800+
Pros
- Fast charging main light and plenty of battery life for longer rides
- Effective beam pattern on the trail
- Customizable light mode sequence
- Easy to use mount system
Cons
- Too heavy for helmet mounting
- No ability to modify the seven steady and flashing modes
Bottom line
The Lezyne Super Drive 1800+ is a great choice for mountain biking thanks to its generous battery capacity, bright and customizable light mode sequence, and solid mount system.
- Price: $149.99 (light only). $184.99 Loaded Kit includes rear light, bar mounts
- Buy from Amazon and Performance Bike
