Levo Gen 3 Levo Gen 4 2024 Rumours... And assorted random chat ....

oettam20

Member
Mar 3, 2021
93
88
Lugano
This Gen4 story is truly exhausting. It seems like Specialized, driven by economists and marketing strategists, is losing its product leadership. What could have been an innovative project in the spring of '24 (the original launch date) will inevitably feel outdated—or at least not up to the level of innovation the Turbo Levo line has accustomed us to with previous generations. Continuing to delay can only erode the appeal of Specialized's offering in a market that is far from stagnant.

The number of loyal customers willing to wait for a new model is steadily decreasing, especially with strong alternatives from well-established brands like Santa Cruz, Orbea, Mondraker, or even unexpected players like DJI, to name a few. Every additional day Specialized waits to launch the Gen4 is a lost opportunity to acquire or retain customers, undermining the efforts of the product development team that likely had this ready months ago.
 

electricbogaloo

Active member
Apr 18, 2020
217
107
germany
This Gen4 story is truly exhausting. It seems like Specialized, driven by economists and marketing strategists, is losing its product leadership. What could have been an innovative project in the spring of '24 (the original launch date) will inevitably feel outdated—or at least not up to the level of innovation the Turbo Levo line has accustomed us to with previous generations. Continuing to delay can only erode the appeal of Specialized's offering in a market that is far from stagnant.

The number of loyal customers willing to wait for a new model is steadily decreasing, especially with strong alternatives from well-established brands like Santa Cruz, Orbea, Mondraker, or even unexpected players like DJI, to name a few. Every additional day Specialized waits to launch the Gen4 is a lost opportunity to acquire or retain customers, undermining the efforts of the product development team that likely had this ready months ago.

Hard to say if that's true without insider knowledge. It most likely has to do with the covid boom and bust cycle and too much leftover stock. Maybe another reason is the Avinox system and they went to implement some additional features. But on the other hand the Gen3 was and is a really competitive bike if the motor reliability got better (that's a bit unclear how much better it is). Until the Bosch 2025 launch the Levo was the lightest full power ebike with a removable battery without a rattling motor. That's quite an accomplishment for a bike that was released in 2021.

You also have to keep in mind that the innovation with ebikes is slowing down now. Yeah, we will see innovation here and there but overall the bikes are pretty refined now and we won't see huge improvements at least what in on trail performance. The focus will switch to electronic/connectivity stuff but I'm not really interested in that because the idea for me to get out with the bike is to get away from screens, not juggle an additional screen on my bike.
 

Dax

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 25, 2018
1,755
2,142
FoD
the Gen3 was and is a really competitive bike if the motor reliability got better (that's a bit unclear how much better it is). Until the Bosch 2025 launch the Levo was the lightest full power ebike with a removable battery without a rattling motor. That's quite an accomplishment for a bike that was released in 2021.

In terms of feeling, the levo gen3 totally blew away Bosch until gen4, it just felt much more natural. Apparently the new Bosch and the dji are now as good, but the levo set the bar for a long time.

I’m reliably informed the gen4 levo is worth waiting for, looking forward to seeing how they move the needle.
 

electricbogaloo

Active member
Apr 18, 2020
217
107
germany
In terms of feeling, the levo gen3 totally blew away Bosch until gen4, it just felt much more natural. Apparently the new Bosch and the dji are now as good, but the levo set the bar for a long time.

I’m reliably informed the gen4 levo is worth waiting for, looking forward to seeing how they move the needle.
I rode shimano e8000, Gen3 levo and Bosch Gen4 extensively and the Levo is still my favourite. The only thing that might be better on the Bosch Gen4 is efficiency/range and raw power but I don't even notice that myself as I'm light and have the 700/625 wh combo. Plus obviously the reliability of the Bosch seems better.

The Bosch Gen5 appears to be only a minor improvement compared to the Gen4 apart from the rattle. So Bosch essentially just went slightly ahead of the Specialized System after all these years because the Gen4 system was also way heavier and most bikes had long ass chainstays (not sure if the system was to blame for this but it was on the Gen2 Bosch I think).
 
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mustclime

Active member
Apr 19, 2023
466
366
New Jerzy
New Brose details.
Soooo June…….
IMG_3302.jpeg
IMG_3303.jpeg
 

electricbogaloo

Active member
Apr 18, 2020
217
107
germany
Well that matches the rumoured specialized timeline. But if this is true this would mean the first Gen4 Levos would be available to customers not before summer 2025 or more realistically autumn!
 

DylanJM

New Member
Sep 19, 2024
56
53
Denmark
I assume that refers to the Brose badged version of the motor with all the Brose ancillaries.

If Specialized use the Peak motor that's all they'll be using and they'll be rebranding it as part of their own system as in the past. I'm sure Specialized would like some initial exclusivity. I wouldn't read any Brose dates as Specialized dates. I would expect the Levo to be available well in time for 2025 riding season.
 

Ou812

Well-known member
Jun 26, 2022
801
549
Inverness
No matter what happens they can’t screw up as bad as Pivot did😂🤣

I’m just tired of waiting at this point and will likely go another direction. My plan was to buy either buy a LSL or KSL frame for a custom build and replace my gen 3 with the new gen 4 Levo, looks like neither will be happening now. The 2025 LSL/KSL frames aren’t available in the UK and there no time frame for the gen 4, I don’t have enough patience to wait.
 
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Dax

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 25, 2018
1,755
2,142
FoD
No matter what happens they can’t screw up as bad as Pivot did😂🤣

I’m just tired of waiting at this point and will likely go another direction. My plan was to buy either buy a LSL or KSL frame for a custom build and replace my gen 3 with the new gen 4 Levo, looks like neither will be happening now. The 2025 LSL/KSL frames aren’t available in the UK and there no time frame for the gen 4, I don’t have enough patience to wait.

Buy a KSL comp and swap out the bits you don’t like? Probably cheaper the frame on its own.
 

emtbeast

Active member
Jan 10, 2022
323
383
Slovenia
Just a thought why Mahle maybe wasn't/isn't choosen for the new Levo...

Mahle is a big car industry parts developer and supplier as first, the cycle e mobility is important but IMO just a side track for them.

Current situation with the car industry in Europe is not very good and Mahle is not immune to that, already since fall 2024 they are slowly announcing/closing factorys or laying off workers.

We have one of their factorys here in Slovenia (Mahle Electric Drives), where mostly parts for electric motors for cars are made. I know they also manufacture the X20 hub drive ebike motor there. I am not sure if they were/are manufacturing others also.

Well already last year there was talk about closing, now the factory is laying off cca 600 workers, most probably closing later on...
 

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