Levo Gen 2 How I built up my Levo from scratch

[Mar]

Hello everyone,
After years and several "analog" bikes, I finally decided it was time to try an Ebike.

However, since the prices have gone up considerably in the last few years, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a new bike and was lurking the classifieds for a while.

I finally managed to get my hands on Turbo Levo Expert frame, TCU and Specialized dropper post in very good condition and another ad for motor, all the cables, remote, shock, cranks and little bits and pieces.

I also managed to get new Suntour Durolux EQ RC2 fork which would be a refreshing update from previous Fox and RS forks.

Anyhow my current dilemma is whether to go for 500 or 700WH battery.

Everything I've read points to 700, but I can get new 500wh with warranty, charger, all the wiring, extra TCU, remote for 450 euro while just 700wh would cost me at least 750 euro.

In any case, if anyone's interested Levo Expert carbon frame in XL size weighs 2.88kg with rear axle and derailleur cable housing.

I'll update the thread as I build it.

Expected cost for complete bike is around 2300-3000 euro and weight between 19 and 20kg depending on the battery and groupset I go for (I already have few parts such as wheels, tires, cockpit, saddle etc).

Cheers!

 

[Mar]

Update:
I'm expecting parcel containing motor, cranks, some cables, shock and drivetrain to arrive tomorrow and the only thing missing is some brakes that are going to be posted tomorrow.

My build:
Frame: Specialized Levo Expert carbon 2019 XL
Motor: Brose S Mag with Praxis cranks and 36t chainring
Battery: Specialized M2 500WH (I'll see how it performs and might add 700WH model afterwards)
Fork: Suntour Durolux 36 EQ RC2 160mm
Shock: Rockshox Deluxe RT (I'll possibly add MegNeg later on or get DVO Topaz if I don't like it)
Brakes: Formula Cura with 203mm rotors
Drivetrain: Shimano XT 12s
Wheels: Giant TRX1 carbon with DT Swiss ratchet hubs
Tires: Schwalbe Magic Mary / Hans Dampf 29x2.35
Seatpost & saddle: Specialized Command Post IIRC 160mm with ZTTO remote & SQ Lab 611 (might change to BikeYoke Revive Max 185mm in case I don't like it).
Bars & stem: Pivot Phoenix 780mm carbon bar & Syncros XM1.5 50mm stem

I'm expecting the total cost of the build to be around 2400-2500 euros after I sell some extra electronic parts I don't need which is pretty good considering most components are either new or used couple of times especially considering alu Levos with inferior components costing 3x more.

 

[R120]

Depending on where you are based getting a Trailwatts extender battery might be a good option.

 

[Mar]

Depending on where you are based getting a Trailwatts extender battery might be a good option.

Thanks but I've seen those prices. They're horrendous. I can get 700wh battery for little more and that would be much better idea.

 

[maynard]

That colour is sic

 

[maynard]

Levociraptor

 

[Ripping g]

I’ve a xl levo comp carbon 2019 with 700w 2 years warranty still all standard coming up for sale this weekend

 

[Mar]

Finally it is done!
I have encountered numerous obstacles and frustrations while building my Levo but in the end I managed to come out victorious.

While building it up, I bought parts from several different people and few shops, assembled the whole bike by myself and my local Specialized dealer helped out with some small parts.

I got the frame, dropper, saddle and TCU from private seller. The frame was missing few things however: right cable clamp/guide (which I solved by buying ICR kit), flip chip which came from another seller that I bought rear shock from, speed sensor bracket (got from the same shop as ICR and few rear cable clamps and seatpost clamp that my dealer helped out with. I also managed to make a compatible headset using parts from the Giant headset and upper bearing from the dealer.

Browsing national classifieds I found person who used to be Specialized dealer and had new battery, extra TCU, charger and bunch of cables I needed and he gave me great price and warranty for battery.

Another private seller provided motor with just 250km on it but it was missing blind plugs so I sourced them from the same shop I got other Levo specific parts from, cranks (turned out that one was bent so I had to get another set from a friend), rear shock with flip chip, some cables, extra TCU, motor mounting bolts (with few missing which dealer helped out with), rear derailleur, shifter and cassette (which for some god forsaken reason was missing 10t sprocket so I had to buy new cassette while the seller refunded me the money for extra sprockets and cranks).
There was "funny" issue with seller forgetting to ship the rear shock in the first package so he shipped the shock later seperately and glueing front chainring to the outside of the cardboard box which I almost threw out not realizing it was there.

Suntour Durolux RC2 was provided by another private seller from Germany (new).

That only left me with having to buy motor cover to complete "electronic" segment of the bike which I bought from another webshop (Italy).

I got the brakes from Austrian private seller and that went smoothly.

Got the brake rotors (Hayes D series 203mm not pictured here) along with 2L of sealant and some brake pads from Wiggle.

Another local seller provided Pivot carbon handlebars.

ZTTO (Aliexpress) provided dropper post lever which I'm already fan of as I'm using it on Trance.

After a lot of sweating and swearing while threading all those cables through the frame and fitting the motor, another issue reared it's ugly head: I was planning on using Giant TRX1 carbon wheels and ZTTO MS freehub but it turns out they're not 100% compatible despite ZTTO being a DT Swiss ratchet system replica with freehub binding when installed on Giant (DT) rear hub. That's why the bike currently has GX Eagle cassette on it but I already know how to fix the issue - I just need to mill off approximately 4mm off the ZTTO freehub so it can seat into the rear hub cavity the same way DT freehub does.

There was also one minor niggle of Specialized Command Post IRCC losing air pressure and refusing to come up, but I fixed it easily since one seal wasn't seated properly.

In the end bike is complete and I'm extremely happy with it and very pleased with the Suntour fork. It's buttery smooth and plush.

The bike rides like a dream, it's not excessively heavy either at 20.5kg with pedals.
There are few things still left to do: mill off ZTTO freehub so I can fit Shimano cassette, mount bigger Hayes rotors, install chain guide and 3D print planetary gears to remove the 25km/h limit.

In the end it's been laborious and fiddly task getting it all together but I learned a lot and I'm very happy with the end result.

We've been having the worst autumn in history with so much rain and dreary weather so I only managed to take one photo.

 

[maynard]

Well done . Great looking bike. Love the colours.

 

[Miru]

Noice work! How much did all this end up costing you? Just curious.

 

[Andy__C]

Nice - thats a great project to do and I bet you've ended up knowing your new bike really well in terms of maintenance and servicing etc.

I still think that the carbon and green levo colour scheme of the 2019 model has been the nicest colour scheme a levo has had to date

 

[Mar]

Noice work! How much did all this end up costing you? Just curious.

Around 2600 euro after I sell extra TCU, remote and cables.

 

[Mar]

My Levo story continues

Motor failed after just few short rides but luckily I was able to recover the funds since the seller gave a guarantee and bought brand new Specialized 2.2 motor from my local dealer at the same cost. It's got full warranty now.

Specialized dropper post didn't work at all from the start (the one I got with the frame) because it kept losing air pressure and after sorting it out, I got myself new Xfusion Manic which is very good. Not on BikeYoke Revive level but quite decent.

Other than that bike is great, hopefully everything is sorted now and I started riding it on proper trails. I was very busy in December, got Covid and bad weather so I barely managed to squeeze handful of rides in over a month.

Bike rides great, very composed and still fun. It doesn't feel heavy when riding, very close to much lighter trail bike but more stable and less nervous over chattery terrain.

Sensation of speed on Levo is much less pronounced than on my Trance. It's something I found interesting and unusual. For example riding at 32kph feels like 25kph on Trance. It's something that requires period of adjustment because you're unaware of the actual speed you're going which gets obvious only when you realize you're coming in hot.

If I were to build it from scratch again, I'd go for 10 speed 11-36 cassette over 12 speed Shimano I got because I had spare MS freehub. I never use 3-4 easiest gears because there's absolutely no need and it's pointless to ride ebike and winch up the hill in easiest gear at 5-6kph. Lucikly I got a great deal on it but I'd take lower cassette and chain cost and weight over the range any day.

 

[Miru]

Nice job. Could you share how much did a new 2.2 motor cost you at Spesh? Also was it a belt failure on the old motor?

 

[Mar]

Motor cost was around 600 euros without tax.
I think the old motor has issue with torque sensor, not belt.

Nice job. Could you share how much did a new 2.2 motor cost you at Spesh? Also was it a belt failure on the old motor?

 

[Crni33]

How did you get a hold of the M2 504W Battery for only 450 EUR?!??
The cheapest one I could find on-lie which ship in Europe was 730 EUR, just for the battery

 

[Mar]

Update on my first proper ride.

Lately I haven't been riding at all as I am renovating my house so I was busy with construction work.

I've done 64km ride today with 1000m elevation and average speed of 24km/h and just made home with 4% battery left.

Ride was mostly combination of eco and trail modes with a sprinkle of turbo.
I'm pretty happy with the range of a 500wh battery considering my size and weight.

Is true that eco mode is just enough to offset added weight and resistance of an ebike so it gives you a good workout with slightly faster speeds compared to regular bike.

Bike has been performing excellently and the only minor niggle I have is that 29km/h limit is a bit low for roads and I need to bring it up to at least 35 to 40 for those times you want to transfer to the trails.