Light & Motion Taz 800 front light

The Light & Motion Taz 800 front light is an intriguing blend of high power and commuter friendly features. Although it has great potential, I don't think it quite succeeds.

Kicking out a hefty 800 lumens the Taz 800 sits in their Crossover range, occupying the middle ground between Performance and Commuter. It's certainly powerful, although 800 lumens is less of a standout than it was a few years ago, but it also comes with a pair of flashing side lights for extra safety.

Mounting is straightforward, although L&M's up-and-over version of the rubber strap is harder to use than some others. The light comes with some sticky rubberised strips to wrap round your bars and stop the light from moving about, which is useful as it can be a bit of a challenge pulling the strap tight enough.

Control is via two buttons on the top – one for the main light (which doubles up as a battery indicator) and the other for the side lights. Both of them are stiff and unresponsive, especially when wearing gloves and if you want to flick between settings on the move it can be awkward and frustrating.

There are five modes to switch between, starting with High and moving through to Flash. Pleasingly it doesn't cycle through 'Off' (a pet hate of mine) and there is also a Race mode (accessed through a long press) which just has High and Medium. Battery life is adequate but nothing special, L&M quote 2 hours on full power and my rundown test gave 2:25 before it shut down completely, albeit stepping down the output considerably for the overrun.

For comparison the Exposure Strada Mk4 (same output but a rrp of £70 more) runs for a quoted 3hrs on full power. What the Taz does have is a Pulse mode, based on the 200 lumen setting, which extends the run time by about 50%, from 8hrs to 12hrs. It's a useful setting, although a little underpowered for dark lanes.

Ok, so we have a powerful all-in-one light in a neat package with excellent side visibility. Surely it's all good? Well, kind of. There are a few niggles; the runtime, the stiff buttons and the lengthy charging time but my biggest gripe is with the beam, it's just too damn wide, as confirmed by our beam test. L&M seem to be pitching the Taz as a 'do everything' light and if you fancy a trail blast it's probably quite handy but on the road you can see just how much light is being wasted both above and to the sides. Despite the power on offer it lacks punch for showing up the road ahead. Of course a wide beam pattern also does oncoming traffic no favours, although I've had no complaints so far on the bike path.

Rather than trying to be all things to all riders, I'd love to see a Taz set up as a dedicated super-commuter with a proper road beam and perhaps that Pulse mode available on a slightly higher power setting, say 300 lumens. I'd also like a faster charger; using the supplied micro-USB takes a whopping 13/14hrs.

I had mixed feelings about the Taz. It's not a bad light and it has some useful features but it feels like it could have been so much better.

Verdict

Tries to be all things to all cyclists, but beam pattern doesn't quite work for the road