More agile than a Turbo Levo

[Coedwig]

Hi I’m looking for a more agile emtb than my alloy turbo Levo. Ideally lighter but with decent power for towing kids up hills.

Any recommendations?

 

[Zimmerframe]

I think you're going to have to give a lot more information about which levo you have and it's spec before anyone can make any reasonable suggestions rather than just making lots of assumptions.

 

[Coedwig]

It’s the base model Gen 3 alloy with the entry level Rockshox fork. No upgrades. Thanks.

 

[Dax]

Elyte 150

 

[Coedwig]

Thanks Dax they do look good but £7k for the entry model is too expensive for me.

Is there going to be anything in the 4-5k price bracket or would I be better off looking to upgrade parts to improve performance?

 

[Tooks]

Hi I’m looking for a more agile emtb than my alloy turbo Levo. Ideally lighter but with decent power for towing kids up hills.

Isn’t that like asking what sports car is best for towing a caravan?!

The Levo is a good all rounder and the motor is nice and torquey. Not the most powerful, but a bit of a ‘goldilocks’ bike.

The problem with the more agile e-bikes is whilst they’re lighter, they’re also generally expensive and also tend to have lower power motors which won’t help with the towing part.

The cheapest way to make any heavy bike feel a bit lighter/more responsive is to change to a lighter wheelset, perhaps an all carbon set? Some lighter/higher end forks should make it feel a bit more ‘poppy’ as well as track the ground a bit better.

You can also experiment with stem lengths and stack heights inexpensively that can change how ‘darty’ a bike feels.

 

[Coedwig]

Thanks that’s really helpful. Are there any forks you’d recommend if agility is the goal rather than big drops? Would changing the stock tyres make any difference?

I’m 6ft and went for an S5 I wonder if an S4 would have been a better choice…

 

[Healy]

Can’t go wrong with a zeb or a marzocchi z1

 

[Dax]

My zebs are more precise than my lyrics, there’s noticeably less torsional deflection on rocky stuff. Whether that’s a desirable characteristic is up to you.

Get a cheap KSL1 and keep the Levo for the days when you tow the kids?

 

[Tooks]

Thanks that’s really helpful. Are there any forks you’d recommend if agility is the goal rather than big drops? Would changing the stock tyres make any difference?

I’m 6ft and went for an S5 I wonder if an S4 would have been a better choice…

As others have said, the Zeb is a great fork for the gnarlier stuff, very good on my base alloy Levo, but overkill for my riding. I’m happier with the RS Lyrik Ultimates on it now, noticeably lighter and better for my trail orientated riding.

Tyres are a very personal thing, and need to be matched to your riding, I run a Michelin Force/Wild AM2 combo on mine and prefer them to the Specialized rubber it came with. Others are happy with them though, so again personal preference. Lighter wheels and tyres would make it feel more responsive though, for sure.

Size wise, I’m just over 5ft 10” and ride an S4, and wouldn’t want it any bigger. Could be the S5 size is making it feel less nimble and reluctant to change direction etc?

 

[dimitrin]

In my experience, the levo is one of the more nimble handling full power e-bikes.
What types of limitations are you experiencing on the trail with the levo?

 

[theremotejuggernaut]

When you say 'more agile' what exactly do you mean? Quicker up hills? Sharper steering? Faster on flat singletrack? Easier to get airborne?

Pretty much any of those things would be down to component choice or setup. You've already got one of the lighter bikes out there. It sounds like you want something lighter and cheaper but more powerful for towing the kids. I'm not sure that exists. I'd say what you've got will do what you want, you might just need to adjust a few things.

 

[Coedwig]

Thanks for replying to the thread. I mean more nimble around corners. I don’t look to get airborne and it’s a beast at climbing up hill. But noticeably less fun on the flat or descents than my analogue bike on the kind of narrow trails I ride.

My analogue bike is much better specced in terms of shock, forks, tyres etc so I’m wondering if it’s worth upgrading parts. However I don’t want to throw money at it if the problem is the weight. I don’t think it’s so much the weight of the motor which is obviously very low centre of gravity but the battery weight in the downtube definitely makes it handle worse on tight corners than an analogue bike if you lose grip slightly it exaggerates any error and can make crashes happen that wouldn’t on an analogue bike. That’s my experience at any rate. Probably very different for those with motorbike experience that I don’t have. This is why I was thinking an SL bike might be better as the batteries are a lot smaller and lighter. Thinking perhaps a Rise or Fuel ExE? Or would a new fork and tires transform the Levo?

 

[theremotejuggernaut]

More nimble around corners could be as simple as narrower bars. My Rise was a bit sluggish with 800mm bars and a 45mm stem.

50mm stem 790 bars made it steer slightly faster (*I actually went from 45mm to 50 on the stem, got it the wrong way around) and I've just this afternoon chopped another 5mm off to go down to 780. It's still noticeably slower turning in than my hardtail but that's 27.5 inch wheels.

29ers are slower. It's a bigger wheel and takes more effort to turn
Doesn't meant they don't corner well, I think they just take a bit more manhandling.

Lighter wheels and tyres, and tyres which roll faster will always make a bike, assisted or otherwise, feel more nimble. They take less effort to accelerate so it'll be faster out if a corner when you get back on pedals. The Internet will have you believe that riding a ebike, you need 2.8kg wheels with DH casing tyres and inserts along with a steel freehub and full steel cassette.

Maybe some people do but I'll bet the majority of people have overbuilt and overweight wheels for their riding.

 

[irie]

More nimble around corners could be as simple as narrower bars. My Rise was a bit sluggish with 800mm bars and a 45mm stem.

50mm stem 790 bars made it steer slightly faster and I've just this afternoon chopped another 5mm off to go down to 780. It's still noticeably slower turning in than my hardtail but that's 27.5 inch wheels.

29ers are slower. It's a bigger wheel and takes more effort to turn
Doesn't meant they don't corner well, I think they just take a bit more manhandling.

Lighter wheels and tyres, and tyres which roll faster will always make a bike, assisted or otherwise, feel more nimble. They take less effort to accelerate so it'll be faster out if a corner when you get back on pedals. The Internet will have you believe that riding a ebike, you need 2.8kg wheels with DH casing tyres and inserts along with a steel freehub and full steel cassette.

Maybe some people do but I'll bet the majority of people have overbuilt and overweight wheels for their riding.

Going from a 45mm to a 50mm stem made your bike steer faster?

 

[theremotejuggernaut]

Good catch...

Got it the wrong way around! Was 50, went down to 45.

I might sneakily edit it so it looks like you were wrong instead of me

 

[dimitrin]

X2 on shortening the bars.
Riser bars can help as well.
I ride 765 mm bars on my pedal bike, I've cut my e-bike bars with 40 mm rise down to 750 mm, made a noticeable difference on tight tech trails.

 

[Doomanic]

My zebs are more precise than my lyrics,

The latest Lyriks are noticeably stiffer than the previous model.

 

[Doomanic]

Make sure the flip chip is in the high position. If you've got a Comp with the adjustable head angle set that at +1 as well.

 

[Coedwig]

Make sure the flip chip is in the high position. If you've got a Comp with the adjustable head angle set that at +1 as well.

I’ve got the base model - does that have the adjustable head angle set?

 

[Doomanic]

No.

 

[Coedwig]

The latest Lyriks are noticeably stiffer than the previous model.

How are the new Lyrics? I’ve read early reviews that said how poor they were over small bumps / trail chatter. Has this now been sorted in the latest batches?

 

[Coedwig]

No.

That’s annoying it wasn’t mentioned to me at the concept store when I bought it.

 

[Doomanic]

How are the new Lyrics? I’ve read early reviews that said how poor they were over small bumps / trail chatter. Has this now been sorted in the latest batches?

They haven't really been on my radar so I haven't read any reviews. I have ridden them down a Czech mountain a few times though and I was very surprised at how much stiffer they are compared to the previous generation on my Rail.

 

[Tooks]

No.

My 2022 Gen 3 base alloy has the adjustable head angle set, I thought all Gen 3s did?

 

[Coedwig]

My 2022 Gen 3 base alloy has the adjustable head angle set, I thought all Gen 3s did?

Is it possible to tell the difference without taking it apart?

 

[Doomanic]

My 2022 Gen 3 base alloy has the adjustable head angle set, I thought all Gen 3s did?

I was just going by what it says on the Spesh website.

 

[Coedwig]

I was just going by what it says on the Spesh website.

Where does it say that?

 

[Ou812]

Is it possible to tell the difference without taking it apart?

My levo came with the fixed headset cup installed and the +1 -1 headset cup in a parts box along with the tubeless valve stems and the different stem spacers. Did you get anything like that with yours?

 

[Doomanic]

Where does it say that?

Lowest spec Levo;

All the rest;