Levo Gen 3 Gen3 Turbo Levo vs Gen2 Turbo Levo SL

[teapeaage]

Hi,

Lot of text follows. Sorry

Quick backstory: I'm pretty fit but also a big guy (6'2, 200lbs), mostly ride local trails (e.g. 1300m total elevation over 35km) on my 2020 S-works Gen1 Levo SL with an extender in Turbo (although usually I'll do a shorter ride of 800m over 25km on Eco/Trail to get a bigger workout). I don't have an analogue bike anymore (other time spent trail running). On the bike I installed a 36 FOX Grip2 fork as the 34 was too choppy and upgraded the brakes to Code RSC (i brake quite a lot but the descents are not too long). Spend at least 2-3 days a week riding it here. In biking, I appreciate descents much more than just climbing and I'll sometimes do a bit of gnarlier terrain here but I don't jump anything big (never learned properly, too old and too scared to be starting now ). 95% of my riding are solo rides, from time to time I'll join a friend on full eMTB who is happy to go a bit slower with me. I think the only thing I didn't like about the bike is that it isn't too stable going down on heavier terrain (the head angle, the progression, the DPS shock and the 150mm fork), but manageable.

I saw the Gen2 announcement and it feels like they addressed 95% of my concerns and that's why I currently I have an order in for the S-Works Levo SL Gen2 (coming early June) and despite getting a pretty great discount, my local LBS has a last years full eMTB Levo Pro at an almost 40% discount, last piece of stock, in my size, too. The 'upgrade' cost to Levo Pro would be 50% of the upgrade to the S-Works Gen2 SL, and apart from the non-AXS derailleur, all other components are on-par for my needs or even better (X2 + Fox 38), I heard that the suspension is amazing on the Gen3, the geo is super progressive and addresses the 'ride-on-gnarlier-terrain' issues, and, overall, it could give me waay more bang for the buck, but the bike would be a bit less agile and heavier to carry to the my apartment to the 2nd floor (but I'll live).

I recently rode with a full eMTB buddy and we kept smashing the local trails (me on turbo, him on 50% of his Giant Reign E+), we spent almost 3 hours, my battery was down to 15% with the extender, but we could have ridden more. A lot of my rides are shorter thatn that but from time to time I could appreciate just going all the way and doing 12-15 descents in a single day instead of the usual 6-7. And if I want a workout, I will just set it to 25% and get a workout.

Has anyone of you been in a similar situation? I know that the outgoing SL was different, but maybe you were on the fence? Was the Levo SL agility so lost when you switched the full Levo? I do brake quite a lot, will my weight + the additional 10lbs of the bike be an issue with the brakes?

Thanks to everyone who made it here

 

[MLX John]

That Levo Pro build is pretty nice. One caveat, I hesitate to endorse the Gen 3 Levo because of the anecdotal reports of some people going through motors and X2 shocks like a hot knife through butter; however, I'm at almost 400 miles (which in reality is not much) and the motor and X2 are going strong. YMMV I ride it pretty hard and use Turbo and Trail quite a lot if range isn't an issue.

I had the SL1 for almost 3 years, was waiting for the SL2 (which got old), but decided on the Levo Expert when it went on sale. Glad I didn't wait to be honest.

I had a Gen 2 Levo for about 3-4 weeks before I swapped it out for the Levo SL. Was very happy with the SL for what it was, the Gen 2 Levo felt and rode like a tank. I attached a Beta MTB review, which you've probably seen if you've done research on the Levo because it mirrors my experience with the bike. The weight does literally disappear when you start riding the bike. It's weird, but true. I haven't ridden the SL2, and it seems like it has the same geo capability as the Gen 3 now. The 320 wh battery is small, but I was able to do pretty big rides on the SL1 with the range extender... still had to pay attention to my power levels constantly gauging power vs range.

I could go on and on about the Levo, but I'll keep it relatively short.
Pros-
Geo adjust from Enduro-like sled to high and steep trail bike
Power is insane - nice to have that headroom
Range is not an issue. Can't imagine how much range I could get using a lot of eco-mode. Recently did a ride: 15 miles with 1500 ft of climbing (24km 500m) Using Turbo 90% of the time (80/100) and Trail (40/70) and had 50% battery left.

Cons-
none yet.

Glad I made the switch, better than the SL1 in every way.

Btw, I weigh between 190 and 205 pounds depending on how much water/gear I have on me for a given ride. My code RS brakes are more than adequate, bike weighs just over 51 pounds with proper 2.3 Grid Gravity tires tubeless and XT trail pedals. S4

Ryan Palmer fangirling

"When we recorded Ryan Palmer's impressions of the new Specialized Levo Gen 3, we’d just gotten off the trail and Palmer was still really fired up from the ride and filming session we’d just wrapped. The video turned out to be such a blatant gush-fest that it made him feel pretty embarrassed when he rewatched it. But the truth is, it couldn’t be any more authentically aligned with Palmer's experience on this bike. He simply couldn’t contain his excitement. And when it comes right down to it, any bike that can turn Palmer's grumpy ass into a giddy ray of sunshine must be a winner."