19 levo 27.5 or 29?

[Phantomtracer]

Thinking of getting a 19 levo comp. I ride mostly tight singletrack. Do you think swapping the 29 wheels for a 27.5 Tire would be a good change?
It would be great to hear from anyone that has had experience doing this. I currently ride a mojo3 with 27.5 by 2.6 tires and love them. Also had 17.5 by 2.8 and really liked them except for the extra drag.

 

[R120]

I don't think anyone has had the bike for more than a few days as only came out last week, so i doubt it - however there are a fair few people with 2018 Levos who changed them to 29 from 27.5

 

[Gary]

it'll drop the BB and alter the steering (Rake) slightly.
I have a 27.5 Enduro bike I run 26" wheels in for these very reasons.
If you don't like low BBs you'll hate it.
If you love railing turns with a low BB you'll love it.

I can't stand riding 29ers but they're not actually bad in tight singletrack

 

[Paul Mac]

This is a question I want to answer as well.
I'm test riding a 2019 Levo tomorrow back to back with my current 2018 levo, to see which i prefer

 

[knut7]

If I'm not mistaken, the BB drop of the Levo is 27mm. That should be okay with 27.5+ on a 150mm travel bike.

 

[knut7]

Hibike says 27,5+ is okay
Google Oversetter

 

[R120]

The 19 Levo has a flip chip anyway doesn’t it?

 

[Phantomtracer]

This is a question I want to answer as well.
I'm test riding a 2019 Levo tomorrow back to back with my current 2018 levo, to see which i prefer

Please post your comments about the different wheel sizes.

 

[Sherman]

If you're not going wider than 2.6, then stick with the 29er. 29x2.6 are stock tires on 2019 Levo anyway.

27x2.8 can be quite a bit smaller than 29er tires so it will drop the BB. 27x3 is way bigger and almost the size of 29er.

I still use 27x3 on my old Levo, I really like them for trail riding. Big tires eat trail chatter way better than any suspension. On my 'acoustic' enduro bike I have 29x2.5. Sharp handling and tires give good support but they are a alot harder on my hands than plus tires. Maybe I should try moto style on my Levo, 27x3 rear and 29x2.5 front, hmm..

 

[Gee68]

The 19 Levo has a flip chip anyway doesn’t it?

Yes it does.

 

[Gary]

flip chips generally steepen the angles too though

 

[Swissrob]

Just to derail this thread a bit. Has anyone tried a 27.5 rear and 29 front wheel combination on a 2018 Levo?

 

[All Mountain Coaching]

We recently hired a '18 levo on plus and '19 levo on 29. Her on 29, me on 27.5. Now i don't know if it was the weight/size difference being an XL and S or the motor or both, it certainly wasn't fitness/technique. We were both in Turbo on a flat blue trail. She continuously left me for dead and had not been biking for 2 years. It was embarrassing! I couldn't keep up. I've been riding 29 for years now: Enduro/SB5.5/Primer and would not consider a plus. They were too vague and I think the difference.

I'll have my '19 levo tomorrow, so will be able to compare even better.

So to answer your question...i would definitely consider 29. If the geom changes do not bother you.

 

[R120]

29 will be faster on what I would term casual terrain - it’s when the going gets proper tough that you learn if you prefer one or the other, and I think that’s as much to do with personal riding style and preference over any particular size being better than the other.

 

[galaga187]

We recently hired a '18 levo on plus and '19 levo on 29. Her on 29, me on 27.5. Now i don't know if it was the weight/size difference being an XL and S or the motor or both, it certainly wasn't fitness/technique. We were both in Turbo on a flat blue trail. She continuously left me for dead and had not been biking for 2 years. It was embarrassing! I couldn't keep up. I've been riding 29 for years now: Enduro/SB5.5/Primer and would not consider a plus. They were too vague and I think the difference.

I'll have my '19 levo tomorrow, so will be able to compare even better.

So to answer your question...i would definitely consider 29. If the geom changes do not bother you.

I
Can you tell us where you hired them from please?

 

[All Mountain Coaching]

I
Can you tell us where you hired them from please?

Sure. It was the Spesh Store in Stafford. £40 for 4 days which i thought was brilliant. (collect friday PM, return monday AM). Dunno if they did me a deal on that or that was standard price. Made for a brilliant weekend.

 

[Deleted member 1026]

Isn’t that 2 days ?

 

[galaga187]

Sure. It was the Spesh Store in Stafford. £40 for 4 days which i thought was brilliant. (collect friday PM, return monday AM). Dunno if they did me a deal on that or that was standard price. Made for a brilliant weekend.

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Sure. It was the Spesh Store in Stafford. £40 for 4 days which i thought was brilliant. (collect friday PM, return monday AM). Dunno if they did me a deal on that or that was standard price. Made for a brilliant weekend.

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Thanks - I spoke to them last year and they seemed good blokes.

 

[All Mountain Coaching]

Isn’t that 2 days

In hours maybe, but to me it was 4x days riding.

 

[Topham]

So how did people get on with this? I’m due tomorrow to swap from 29 to 27.5 on my 19 levo expert

 

[All Mountain Coaching]

Backwards step imo. Out of interest, Why are you doing that?

 

[Topham]

I’m a rather big unit. 6ft and 120kg. I found out the other day in degla I was running of the bends, and the switchbacks I was struggling to get the front wheel around.

 

[All Mountain Coaching]

That'll be technique rather than wheel size imo.

 

[Indigo]

Trouble with front end grip is usually caused by not enough weight over front wheel. You may be able to solve by adjusting position of saddle forward and/or fitting a longer stem. But if reach is already a little long the later is not an option.

At 6'0", the recommended size for you is L.