Levo SL Gen 1 Levo SL 2023 Megathread

[Geniusbiker]

April is nearly over. No more rumors. No inside informations shared on any platforms.
I don´t think there will be a new Levo SL in the next weeks or months...
Or am I wrong?

 

[Killswitch73]

April is nearly over. No more rumors. No inside informations shared on any platforms.
I don´t think there will be a new Levo SL in the next weeks or months...
Or am I wrong?

I said May/June .

 

[Geniusbiker]

I said May/June .

Is this what you think/expect, what you know or what you hope?

 

[Killswitch73]

Is this what you think/expect, what you know or what you hope?

The person who told me from the start works in a specialized turbo store and wouldn't say to much. This person is actually pretty well known. He told me May/june . it may be delayed . i have not spoken to him as im not interested in buying one. But o sort of need to be in the know of some things as i run the main Levo SL & Kenevo SL facebook page .

 

[Geniusbiker]

It's been delayed. July/August is now more likely.

Will it be a "Stumpjumper" with a motor or a "Stumpjumper EVO" with a motor?

 

[Gee_Whiz]

Fwiw Fazua just put out a new motor.. lighter, higher NM.. So the technology is rapidly improving

Fazua's New Ride 60 Motor System Has More Power & Range - Pinkbike

The Ride 60 delivers 60 Nm of torque and has a 430 Wh battery, all in a very lightweight package.

www.pinkbike.com

 

[Rusty]

Probably just a detuned Levo with a small battery for weight loss.

 

[chamaruco]

Just a 2018 levo

 

[1oldfart]

They are just playing with your heads. I remember some years back batteries were 400Wh and
the new 500 was welcome. Than the 625 was welcome and the 700....
They are going back to the 400Wh you were happy to leave in the past.
Hahahahahaha . . . . . .
At least half of the readers could loose 5 pounds
just do it no need for a lighter Ebike but it is your life
go buy the new stuff, next year they will tell you it is garbage.
Go buy the new stuff in 2 years . . . . .

 

[chamaruco]

It's the economy mate,
look at the phones...at the beginning there was just the voice, then sms, then mms, then whatsapp, then long voice messages, then the turn is completed

 

[Mikerb]

I see very few opportunities for genuine weight reduction whilst retaining both the torsional and impact resistance requirements of a frame as well as other bike components. There is limited opportunity to reduce motor weight and the only real opportunity for weight loss for an EMTB is with advancing battery technology. Obviously the lower powered bikes have their following but from my perspective their supposed light weight is marginal and mostly at the expense of decent wheels and tyres and frame rigidity/impact resistance and/or battery range.

Perhaps everyone is in fact chasing the wrong end of the stick. With the best that can be achieved in terms of weight for a full powered EMTB being about 21kg would it not be more sensible for the manufacturers to be lobbying for an increase in nominal power in excess of the current 250 w together with a marginal increase in max assisted speed? Every vehicle at the end of the day has a power to weight ratio that befits its function. The clarion call for a little increase in max assisted speed.........most especially in Europe and the UK, needs to be taken up by the brands. A marginal increase in nominal power would likely lead to greater reliability of the motors and an increase in assisted speed would reduce the temptation to derestrict...probably again leading to better motor/electrical reliability.
The majority of EMTB components like brakes and tyres are easilly able to cope with a little more motor power so there are no real technical reasons to prevent such a move.

 

[R120]

It’s definitely coming, can’t remeber if i posted earlier in this thread but someone within S told me a SL with stumpy evo geometry was incoming this year , but they weren’t sure what final power of motor would be.

interestingly Mahle who make the SL motor just released a more powerful version of their road bike sytem which uses a hub motor and is found in most high end Road ebikes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the fundamental motor components are dissimilar to that in the SL

 

[Doomanic]

With the best that can be achieved in terms of weight for a full powered EMTB being about 21kg would it not be more sensible for the manufacturers to be lobbying for an increase in nominal power in excess of the current 250 w together with a marginal increase in max assisted speed?

No. The full power bikes are getting further and further away from unpowered bikes which isn't a good thing in my opinion; the hunt for more range has made the bikes progressively heavier and more expensive. More power will probably reduce the reliability of the current crop of motors and will certainly reduce the range, leading to bigger, heavier batteries.

 

[Mikerb]

the current crop of motors are restrcited to 250w nominal..........but most have a max output in excess of 500w!!
The nominal rating can be increased without increasing the max output meaning the motors will be operating much more within their nominal rating range rather than very often in excess of it. ( I assume you know the nominal rating is the output that can be continuously maintained without overheating). It is likely the motors will be operating much more efficiently which would therefore not mean increased battery consumption.
I agree that bigger and heavier batteries are counterproductive. I believe 625 or maybe 700w/h is the sweetspot and for those wanting longer range, battery extenders are the answer rather than bigger batteries.

 

[Jamsxr]

Horses for courses. As I still ride MTB most of the time I don’t mind a (heavy) full fat eMTB. If I had one bike to do it all then maybe I would look at a light weight eMTB.

 

[Gee_Whiz]

I see very few opportunities for genuine weight reduction whilst retaining both the torsional and impact resistance requirements of a frame as well as other bike components. There is limited opportunity to reduce motor weight and the only real opportunity for weight loss for an EMTB is with advancing battery technology. Obviously the lower powered bikes have their following but from my perspective their supposed light weight is marginal and mostly at the expense of decent wheels and tyres and frame rigidity/impact resistance and/or battery range.

Perhaps everyone is in fact chasing the wrong end of the stick. With the best that can be achieved in terms of weight for a full powered EMTB being about 21kg would it not be more sensible for the manufacturers to be lobbying for an increase in nominal power in excess of the current 250 w together with a marginal increase in max assisted speed? Every vehicle at the end of the day has a power to weight ratio that befits its function. The clarion call for a little increase in max assisted speed.........most especially in Europe and the UK, needs to be taken up by the brands. A marginal increase in nominal power would likely lead to greater reliability of the motors and an increase in assisted speed would reduce the temptation to derestrict...probably again leading to better motor/electrical reliability.
The majority of EMTB components like brakes and tyres are easilly able to cope with a little more motor power so there are no real technical reasons to prevent such a move.

Some consumers are looking for as close to a regular bike as possible, with a slight assist on uphills. Right now only the Rise exists in this designation. The current SL's are something else entirely

 

[Jamsxr]

Some consumers are looking for as close to a regular bike as possible, with a slight assist on uphills. Right now only the Rise exists in this designation. The current SL's are something else entirely

I would argue the SL’s are the bike you describe being as close to a regular bike as possible. The Rise is a full fat that’s tried to shave a few pounds.

 

[Chicane]

I would argue the SL’s are the bike you describe being as close to a regular bike as possible. The Rise is a full fat that’s tried to shave a few pounds.

You must not own or haven't ridden a Rise for any amount of time. My 41-42 pound Rise has a lot of similarities to my 27 pound Ripley and is just as agile on flowy single track trails as my Ripley is.

 

[Hob Nob]

You must not own or haven't ridden a Rise for any amount of time. My 41-42 pound Rise has a lot of similarities to my 27 pound Ripley and is just as agile on flowy single track trails as my Ripley is.

I’ve never ridden a Rise, because the geometry of it doesn’t interest me in the slightest, but comparing a 12kg XC bike to a 19kg e-bike in terms of agility? Come on, who are you trying to kid?

I’ve ridden enough lightweight e-bikes to know that they ride nothing like my 11kg Spur.

 

[chamaruco]

It’s a fan boy. Pls forgive him

 

[1oldfart]

I guess when they pay those crazy prices they live in a different planet.
I am happy with my 4,000$ Ebike so i might call myself lucky.
I have a 9.5K xc so they are different bikes.

 

[Chicane]

I’ve never ridden a Rise, because the geometry of it doesn’t interest me in the slightest,

The same way I and a lot of others feel about the current SL, but I still almost bought one 3 to 4 different times before I went with the Rise.

 

[thewrx]

They are just converting the brose motor to gear driven, and calling it 3.0, will offer in an RS form at first then a full powered on later models. Most likely the 2170 cells, but if they can figure out packaging they may have the new 46 series batteries, but doubtful as tesla doesn't even have those in their cars till end of the year at best. There is also talk about using a belt instead of chain and offering internal hub on some new models too.

Would be nice to have a kenevo suspension setup on a slightly shorter wheelbase that isn't quite a slack, more in line with the orbea geo; but that will probably never happen.

 

[Geniusbiker]

It’s definitely coming, can’t remeber if i posted earlier in this thread but someone within S told me a SL with stumpy evo geometry was incoming this year , but they weren’t sure what final power of motor would be.

In the German pedelec forum a member who claims from himself that he´s also very close to Specialized posted that he knows that the next Levo SL will not have the Stumpjumper EVO geometry, but only the Stumpjumper geometry because of weight reduction reasons...

 

[Jamsxr]

You must not own or haven't ridden a Rise for any amount of time. My 41-42 pound Rise has a lot of similarities to my 27 pound Ripley and is just as agile on flowy single track trails as my Ripley is.

lol! I’ve spent some time on one. Not a bad bike, but saying it’s more like an MTB than an SL is plain stupid.

A full fat eMTB can be agile with the right geometry. Just because the Rise has shaved a few pounds doesn’t make it the golden standard.

 

[R120]

In the German pedelec forum a member who claims from himself that he´s also very close to Specialized posted that he knows that the next Levo SL will not have the Stumpjumper EVO geometry, but only the Stumpjumper geometry because of weight reduction reasons...

Only going off what I was told, but then again who really knows! For sure whatever update to the SL model is coming is delayed as I was told this a good 10 months or so ago.

 

[R120]

From my experience of riding SL and Rise the only thing more MTB like about the SL is it has less power so you have to work harder

If I was looking at a Rise or Sl the decision would be made purely on the geometry, and in my case the Rise wins on the front, however if they did bring out a ride with Stumpy Evo geometry then I would be going with the SL over the rise as the Stumpy Evo in Mullet set up is my favourite trail bike I have tried.

 

[gabryp]

The new Levo SL should come out this autumn (was supposed to be this spring but got delayed). New motor will apparently be an update of current one, more powerful and quieter. Dimension should be the same as the current, so future Kenevo SL will have it, but probably it won’t be possible to upgrade current SLs.

 

[Killswitch73]

Probably just a detuned Levo with a small battery for weight loss.

No it’s not . Why would they do that ? The weight saving will be 1.5kg at most.

new motor also needs to fit current SL’s . Bad business model to just dump the current frame mounts.

 

[F4Flyer]

Local shop thinks it may be June before the new Levo SL is announced. I don't really care to consider it yet, but I know some who are waiting for it. It will be interesting to see the changes.