TurboedMarin
Member
Howdy Forum Peeps,
I’ve recently ordered a 2019 Turbo Levo and have been anxiously awaiting for the arrival of what will be my first e-bike. I’ve been looking at picking up an e-bike for several years now but was never that jazzed about the bikes I was able to ride. My biggest concerns had been the heavy weight, the way the motor engaged, and the overall look and feel of the bike.
Along comes the 2019 Turbo Levo and I go to my LBS to give it a ride. I’m definitely impressed as the test ride on a flat paved bike path is impressively quiet in all three modes, the bike seems decently nimble, the motor engages naturally, and the appearance of the bike doesn’t scream out “E-BIKE”. Regarding the last point, perhaps it’s just my ego getting in the way, but it’s important that I feel like I’m riding a non-motorized bike even if I’m not and if other riders don’t notice I’m on an e-bike that would be great too.
So now I sit waiting for the bike to arrive obsessively reading all these forum posts talking about noisy motors and leaf/guck-attracting motor enclosures. It makes me wonder if it’s worth waiting for the second year of production on this new model so that Specialized can make a few tweaks to get this otherwise well-designed bike dialed-in. But I’m really anxious to start riding again. I live in a hilly area and my current fitness level is just flabby enough to make riding my analog mountain bike too much of a chore.
So my real question is in regards to the motor noise as to me this is the real make-or-break issue. For those of you that have spent some time riding the 2019 edition, is the bike sufficiently quiet in eco and trail modes to leave you happy with the rider experience? Is the unacceptable (or hard-to-accept) noise limited to riding in Turbo mode going over steep terrain? And is this steep turbo riding only done during those occasional times when the rider is tired and going over tough terrain and therefore grateful enough to have the motor support that you’re willing to put up with the extra motor noise?
If it helps, I live and ride in Marin county in California (birthplace of mountain biking) and also ride up in the Lake Tahoe region which is also fertile ground for kick-ass riding. However I’m not personally a super aggressive technical rider. I ride a combination of fire roads and single track probably more of the former but I do see a fair share of rocky and twisty trails that get the heart and adrenaline pumping.
Thanks for reading my post. I look forward to reading people’s opinions on their rider experience, especially how much and how often they are bothered by the motor noise. This will help me determine if I should cancel my order to wait for a hopefully improved 2020 model or to keep waiting for a future bike to finally be the one that I’ve been dreaming of.
I’ve recently ordered a 2019 Turbo Levo and have been anxiously awaiting for the arrival of what will be my first e-bike. I’ve been looking at picking up an e-bike for several years now but was never that jazzed about the bikes I was able to ride. My biggest concerns had been the heavy weight, the way the motor engaged, and the overall look and feel of the bike.
Along comes the 2019 Turbo Levo and I go to my LBS to give it a ride. I’m definitely impressed as the test ride on a flat paved bike path is impressively quiet in all three modes, the bike seems decently nimble, the motor engages naturally, and the appearance of the bike doesn’t scream out “E-BIKE”. Regarding the last point, perhaps it’s just my ego getting in the way, but it’s important that I feel like I’m riding a non-motorized bike even if I’m not and if other riders don’t notice I’m on an e-bike that would be great too.
So now I sit waiting for the bike to arrive obsessively reading all these forum posts talking about noisy motors and leaf/guck-attracting motor enclosures. It makes me wonder if it’s worth waiting for the second year of production on this new model so that Specialized can make a few tweaks to get this otherwise well-designed bike dialed-in. But I’m really anxious to start riding again. I live in a hilly area and my current fitness level is just flabby enough to make riding my analog mountain bike too much of a chore.
So my real question is in regards to the motor noise as to me this is the real make-or-break issue. For those of you that have spent some time riding the 2019 edition, is the bike sufficiently quiet in eco and trail modes to leave you happy with the rider experience? Is the unacceptable (or hard-to-accept) noise limited to riding in Turbo mode going over steep terrain? And is this steep turbo riding only done during those occasional times when the rider is tired and going over tough terrain and therefore grateful enough to have the motor support that you’re willing to put up with the extra motor noise?
If it helps, I live and ride in Marin county in California (birthplace of mountain biking) and also ride up in the Lake Tahoe region which is also fertile ground for kick-ass riding. However I’m not personally a super aggressive technical rider. I ride a combination of fire roads and single track probably more of the former but I do see a fair share of rocky and twisty trails that get the heart and adrenaline pumping.
Thanks for reading my post. I look forward to reading people’s opinions on their rider experience, especially how much and how often they are bothered by the motor noise. This will help me determine if I should cancel my order to wait for a hopefully improved 2020 model or to keep waiting for a future bike to finally be the one that I’ve been dreaming of.
