Levo Gen 2 Motor just sh#t the bed.

[Alpman]

Guys what’s the deal here? Enjoying a nice ride (Turbo Levo S-works MY20) when suddenly a shrieking sound from the motor and no more drive to the chain. Rear wheel wont rotate backwards either until electrics switched off. When I apply pedal pressure the engine makes the same high-pitched noise for a second or so but with no drive to the train. I can hear something small rattling in the engine area. Was able to get home by turning off the motor which allowed normal pedaling. Bloody annoying. 1600 km of faultless operation til now. Somewhat shakes the confidence. Any idea what has let loose?

 

[salko]

I guess the belt snapped.

 

[Alpman]

Would that explain the rear wheel lock up?

 

[J200George]

Can you possibly post the build date of your motor? Allegedly anything from jan 20 has the fix, it’d be interesting to confirm if yours is a newer motor. There’s instructions on the forum somewhere that can help you locate it.

 

[Alpman]

The build date is 190602.

 

[J200George]

Horrible but at least you’ll get a new motor free of charge under warranty.

 

[Alpman]

Sod’s law - just coming up on a block of leave. Maybe the LBS will have a loaner for me.

 

[J200George]

Sod’s law - just coming up on a block of leave. Maybe the LBS will have a loaner for me.

I have read of places able to swap out on the day where they have a motor in stock. You may be lucky. Feel your pain. Fingers crossed.

 

[Alpman]

Yeah it’s a big LBS. Hope so.

 

[Peaky Rider]

This guy is a bit long winded but he eventually covers your problem.

 

[J200George]

I’m sure the shop wouldn’t fit an earlier motor, but it’s probably worth verifying the build date of any new motor they intend to swap it with,.... I’m maybe being a bit paranoid of course as any motor they’ve ordered in would be new stock and using any older motors around in stock wouldn’t really be wise. I’m sure you’ll get sorted asap. Let us all know how you get on please.

 

[MrSimmo]

I'd double check to be honest - I'm surprised that my 2020 Levo bought this month (which Berkshire Bikes had to order from Specialized - so it wasn't sitting around) has a motor date from April last year. I highly doubt Specialized have bikes sitting around for over a year so it looks (at least to me) that they're shipping out refurbs both in new bikes and replacement motors.

@Specialized Rider Care can you advise whether this is the case?

 

[J200George]

I'd double check to be honest - I'm surprised that my 2020 Levo bought this month (which Berkshire Bikes had to order from Specialized - so it wasn't sitting around) has a motor date from April last year. I highly doubt Specialized have bikes sitting around for over a year so it looks (at least to me) that they're shipping out refurbs both in new bikes and replacement motors.

@Specialized Rider Care can you advise whether this is the case?

I’m surprised at this, you could understand though if a bike was sitting in stock and had one of the potentially faulty motors, but to get from Specialized themselves, now that they know there’s an issue with a suspect unit is not really on.

I know I’ve really no place commenting on this because I have yet to purchase mine but this issue is a major part of my buying decision and I’m not running the risk until I know the supply chain has been cleared of the issue.

Until then I’m weighing up other manufacturers but I keep being drawn back to the Levo. I’ve a few other ducks to line up before I press the button anyway.

 

[MrSimmo]

I’m surprised at this, you could understand though if a bike was sitting in stock and had one of the potentially faulty motors, but to get from Specialized themselves, now that they know there’s an issue with a suspect unit is not really on.

I know I’ve really no place commenting on this because I have yet to purchase mine but this issue is a major part of my buying decision and I’m not running the risk until I know the supply chain has been cleared of the issue.

Until then I’m weighing up other manufacturers but I keep being drawn back to the Levo. I’ve a few other ducks to line up before I press the button anyway.

Me too, I looked at the Orbea Wild FS, the YT Decoy and the Trek Rail. Although the components were better on the others, I was drawn back to the Levo because of the fine tuning from the motor, the renowned excellent service from Berkshire Bikes and the potential to derestrict in the future if I wanted.

For me the Levo just matches my needs, I love it. I'm saddened a bit that Specialized seem to be putting in older kit into brand new bikes but I'm banking on if anything goes wrong, the LBS will be able to sort me out quickly. The turnaround times for Shimano and Bosch were the things that put me off where as Berkshire said they could get me back on the road in an hour which for me was the deciding point.

 

[Alpman]

So I took the bike in and the tech said he was pretty sure the belt had snapped but said he had never seen a rear wheel lock up like this. They don‘t have motors in stock so I’m SOL. Will try and get a loaner this weekend. To be continued...

 

[MrSimmo]

Not good mate, hope it works out ok ?

 

[Canmore TLCC 29]

So I took the bike in and the tech said he was pretty sure the belt had snapped but said he had never seen a rear wheel lock up like this. They don‘t have motors in stock so I’m SOL. Will try and get a loaner this weekend. To be continued...

Does anyone else think it is impossible for the motor to cause a rear wheel lock up?

 

[Alpman]

See my update etc. but the tech dude guessed the snapped drive belt was causing the rear wheel to only rotate in the fwd direction because it was jamming the gears. They don’t get to open the box o’ goodness so it’s all an edjacated guess.

 

[J200George]

See my update etc. but the tech dude guessed the snapped drive belt was causing the rear wheel to only rotate in the fwd direction because it was jamming the gears. They don’t get to open the box o’ goodness so it’s all an edjacated guess.

Have you got any idea of timescale for your repair yet?

 

[Alpman]

I’‘m already back in the saddle! See my post “ Motor Replaced. First Ride Feedback” for all the happy details...

 

[Canmore TLCC 29]

See my update etc. but the tech dude guessed the snapped drive belt was causing the rear wheel to only rotate in the fwd direction because it was jamming the gears. They don’t get to open the box o’ goodness so it’s all an edjacated guess.

I misunderstood. Thanks for the response.

 

[Grugged]

Mine shit the bed on Friday, 15km an hour up a gravel road. My problem is i bought the bike in Germany and now live in Norway. Specialized dealers charge for handling here and aren’t fully reimbursed by specialized (There is no Specialized office here). So despite a well known porblem but I will likely have to fork out a couple of hundred quid. Not happy jan. Global warranty shouldn’t mean a customer is out of pocket due to design faults

 

[J200George]

Mine shit the bed on Friday, 15km up a gravel road. My problem is i bought the bike in Germany and now live in Norway. Specialized dealers charge for handling here and aren’t fully reimbursed by specialized (There is no Specialized office here). So Despite a well known porblem but I will likely have to fork out a couple of hundred quid. Not happy jan. Global warranty shouldn’t been customer is out of pocket onn design faults

Can’t believe anyone would be out of pocket because of such a defect. You should contact spesh directly. If you don’t ask you won’t get.

 

[Alpman]

Mine shit the bed on Friday, 15km up a gravel road. My problem is i bought the bike in Germany and now live in Norway. Specialized dealers charge for handling here and aren’t fully reimbursed by specialized (There is no Specialized office here). So Despite a well known porblem but I will likely have to fork out a couple of hundred quid. Not happy jan. Global warranty shouldn’t been customer is out of pocket onn design faults

Agree 100%. The Spesh business model relies on a generous warranty period coupled with a no questions asked replacement policy. Without this people won’t roll the dice on what is still relatively new technology. I’m disappointed with Norway. As one of the world’s wealthiest nations why are they so stingy?

 

[Grugged]

Can’t believe anyone would be out of pocket because of such a defect. You should contact spesh directly. If you don’t ask you won’t get.

spoke to them today and Specialized said they (shops here) were free to charge What they wanted even though some of it Gets reinbursed. Unclear how much. But a shitty policy - Sram usually reimburses everything

 

[Grugged]

Agree 100%. The Spesh business model relies on a generous warranty period coupled with a no questions asked replacement policy. Without this people won’t roll the dice on what is still relatively new technology. I’m disappointed with Norway. As one of the world’s wealthiest nations why are they so stingy?

no specialized distributor here so have to go through local dealers and it is up to them to do what they want. Superspectical about buying from Specialized in the future