Review: Lezyne Hecto Drive 500XL

(2023) Crossing into autumn means later rides require lights. We could stay indoors and flog ourselves on trainers, but if the temperature is still welcoming, why not consider riding outside? Last year we reviewed the California-based Lezyne’s Macro Drive 1300XXL front light and found it to be the right amount of lumens. Many said 1300 lumens was more than enough to illuminate Bucks County farm roads well after dinner. Yet there was always the feeling that an extra light would do the trick. And that is how the Lezyne Hecto Drive 500XL came into the creakybottombracket.com service course.

Lezyne is far and away one of the best producers of cycling lights. With many products made of aluminum bodies to cool the unit, every Lezyne product in our service course has overperformed. From floor pumps (still got the one reviewed in 2016) to rear lights to front lights, Lezyne is a trusted supplier of cycling accessories. The company continues to innovate technologies, evidenced by their social media slogans of “You talked, we listened” regarding talking points such as plastic-free packaging to convenient charger ports. It’s no mistake the bikes hanging in the service course are adorned with Lezyne lights.

The purpose of obtaining the Lezyne Hecto Drive 500XL was to add a smidgeon of illumination to rides. There are dark winding farming roads in Bucks County. To have a helmet mounted light would add to the experience. Plus, Lezyne has stated this light can stand by itself in illumination. Should the Macro Drive be leaned on too heavily, the Hecto Drive could get us home.

Lezyne is known for its black aluminum lights. This year, though, Lezyne has varied the appearance by adding four colors beyond the traditional black. As of publishing, Purple Gloss was already sold out, leaving Silver, Blue, and Red Gloss on top of the Black. Beyond the colors and aluminum body, the Lezyne Hecto Drive 500XL appears as a shrunken version of the Macro Drive 1300XXL. The outward appearance and the “though [it] be little, [it] is fierce” stance is what made this light the object of desire. A large front-mounted light helped along by a small helmet light was what we were going for.

The Lezyne Hecto Drive 500XL uses an USB charger stick.

Taking the light out for several nighttime rides and the single LED light complemented the burley 1300XXL. Rarely was max output needed, but if selected, the Hecto Drive could operate for one hour. Enduro mode will work for double the time; economy hums along at four hours’ illumination. There is a femto mode, or ultrashort pulse of light, that works for twenty hours. Three flashing options work for more than a dozen hours, while the pulse mode, at 50 lumens, works for fifteen hours. There is an absolute chaos-inducing day flash mode that will last just under six hours. It is not recommended for nighttime riding as it is a bright sequence of flashes. The single push button design allows the rider to toggle through options while riding. When doubling up the lighting along with the Macro Drive 1300XXL, the road was warmly lighted. It was the side-to-side glances that demonstrated the Hecto Drive’s power.

We initially sought to complement the front light with the desire to see more in the darkness. Therein lies the problem - we got what we wished for. Night rides became spooky. In particular, autumn is the deer rutting season. Each ride eyes were reflected to denote dozens of deer just off the roadside. Then there were raccoons, hardly seen before without the Hecto Drive. If copious animals were now being seen, then what could be observed a little farther into the woods? This thought properly freaked us out each time we put the bike to the road well after sunset. The possibilities entertained were hardly healthy. Corn has never looked so suspicious.

The Lezyne Hecto Drive 500XL secures to a handlebar - or in our case the universal helmet mount - via a stout rubber strap.

Meanwhile the nighttime average speed creeped upwards. There was more confidence in the road riding experience overall. Anticipation was reinforced by the Hecto Drive 500XL while hammering favorite roads. Descents, still taken with caution, were approached with a dosage of higher confidence. Isn’t this what lights are supposed to do? Here we rode along dark miles with nearly the same confidence as broad daylight rides.

Lezyne has stated the Hecto Drive 500XL is powerful enough as a stand-alone handlebar mount. This could be true for any rider living in lighted areas like urban or densely populated suburban areas. While relying on the Hecto Drive by itself, there would be faith in this mighty light to get us home, though making a habit of it is definitely not ideal. Simply, we would not roll out of the office with the sole intention of relying on this light along dark farm roads. Moving it to the helmet is best, which leads us to the next important bit: the helmet mount. Lezyne has a universal helmet mount - sold separately - to assist in moving the Hecto Drive to the helmet. Perhaps a longer strap option could avoid the process of ordering a Lezyne Universal Helmet Mount which proved remarkably hard to find. 

Since outfitting the night kit with Lezyne lights, there have been two styles of recharging. The first involves the use of a charger cable similar to a Garmin 520. The rear light and the Hecto Drive 500XL rely on USB sticks to recharge the juice. While the back light works with the USB stick, the Hecto is considerably heavier, there were multiple attempts to rig up a support stand so the Hecto Drive didn’t hang off the USB charger block. It is appreciated that Lezyne has not caused a reliance on charger cables, so a charger block is regularly dropped into the competition bag just in case.

The Lezyne Hecto Drive 500XL has been the perfect addition to the nighttime riding kit. The price - around $45USD - is manageable for extending the outdoor riding season. Though the charging is awkward and a universal helmet mount is required, the Hecto Drive 500XL is the perfect addition to a handlebar light of any lumen. With an aluminum body to keep the unit cool, the single button feature makes toggling through light strength easy. It’s rare that a product has two major advantages: to add strength to an already strong product, and the confidence knowing that the Hecto Drive 500XL could get us home has already provided one more benefit: nighttime rides have gone farther out since its addition. There’s always love for any product that lets us ride farther and longer. Lezyne lets that happen in the night.