Moving from Jam2 to Turbo Levo - my thoughts after 2 rides

[aarfeldt]

'ello,

I have a Focus Jam2 2017 and love it !
My wife and me are sharing it....coming from many years of analog MTB'ing.
So we rented a eMTB last year on a holiday...just to try it out and liked it straight away.
So we got a Focus Jam2 at a good price, and has been sharing it since then.

Last saturday there came a used Turbo Levo 2020 base model for sale - just used 50km in the city, as the owner was moving to Brasil, so he had to sell all his stuff fast (airline pilot with too much cash)
So I bought it quite cheap....now we have a eMTB each...cool.

I went out to try it on sunday...and what an absolute terrible ride !
I actually got a headache after just 30mins....it was like riding a hardtail with old elastomer 80mm fork...terrible.
It actually just remided me of, how good the Jam2 and setup is....it's good.

So....yesterday I got a new Lyrik RC2.1 fork, a Fox DPX2 shock, new carbon handlebar and some of my favorite grips.
Had allready made it tubeless and replaced the tires with my favorite.
I saved money on the bike (base model) as I allways wants to upgrade at my pace and desicions.

I went out again yesterday afternoon...and the new parts changed the bike completely...totally enjoy'd the ride and I could concentrate on the actual ride.
It's a VERY technical trail (and quite wet/muddy/slippery), but I totally enjoyed the ride ... amazing bike !
Completely transformed.....now I have to fine adjust the suspension, to meet my needs.
What a nice bike.

Observationns compared to Shimano Jam2:
- bike is absolutely silent !
- 29" wheels climbs a lot better as expected (Jam2 is with 27.5" wheels)
- engine dosen't stop pulling when I stop pedaling, which cought me out in some silly situations (VERY tech trail).
- engine assist feels very natural.
- when I hit 25kmh I allmost cannot feel the engine stop assisting.
- I miss the Shimano display (small, crash resistant, easy to read).
- I need to learn to use MissionControl (or BLevo) app and the settings/adjustments.
- need to take a bike picture leaning on stuff (red bike with boxxer red fork - looks good)

Summary:
- need some to time to convert from Shimano to Brose engine.
- need to fine adjust suspension (it's allready much better than the base model)
- we now have e usable eMTB each !
- happy

 

[Levo-Lon]

Odd isn't it, i test rode a jam2, giant and a trek, personally i dont think any of them are anywhere near as user friendly as a levo.
I just kept going back to a Levo as my want EMTB

We have a 2018 and a 2019, so a 27.5 and 29 wheel, if anything i prefer the 29 and the fox rhythm fork.
Good luck with the conversion

 

[snowbro]

The rockshox shocks are trash imo. They make some good forks, but the shocks are terrible. I sold a $8,000 Santa Cruz bike thinking it was their VPP system (tried every possible adjustment/token/psi/rebound etc). Got another levo in summer (old one had fox); shock was setup properly (sag/rebound/token) and it beat me to death on the first ride. I swapped it for a fox x2 and the bike has been butter ever since.

 

[outerlimits]

The rockshox shocks are trash imo. They make some good forks, but the shocks are terrible. I sold a $8,000 Santa Cruz bike thinking it was their VPP system (tried every possible adjustment/token/psi/rebound etc). Got another levo in summer (old one had fox); shock was setup properly (sag/rebound/token) and it beat me to death on the first ride. I swapped it for a fox x2 and the bike has been butter ever since.

I agree
Fox for Shox and RS for forks.
I’m running a Yari up front and a fox factory float dos in the rear. Work quite well.

 

[R120]

I think the RS fitting the Meg Neg can to shocks that are compatible transforms them - I have a Super Deluxe with the Meg Neg fitted and it transforms the shock (which I already liked) into an awesome bit of kit, keeps the ride supple off the top, super supportive in the midstroke whilst remaining compliant, and doesn't blow through the travel

 

[ccrdave]

'ello,

I have a Focus Jam2 2017 and love it !
My wife and me are sharing it....coming from many years of analog MTB'ing.
So we rented a eMTB last year on a holiday...just to try it out and liked it straight away.
So we got a Focus Jam2 at a good price, and has been sharing it since then.

Last saturday there came a used Turbo Levo 2020 base model for sale - just used 50km in the city, as the owner was moving to Brasil, so he had to sell all his stuff fast (airline pilot with too much cash)
So I bought it quite cheap....now we have a eMTB each...cool.

I went out to try it on sunday...and what an absolute terrible ride !
I actually got a headache after just 30mins....it was like riding a hardtail with old elastomer 80mm fork...terrible.
It actually just remided me of, how good the Jam2 and setup is....it's good.

So....yesterday I got a new Lyrik RC2.1 fork, a Fox DPX2 shock, new carbon handlebar and some of my favorite grips.
Had allready made it tubeless and replaced the tires with my favorite.
I saved money on the bike (base model) as I allways wants to upgrade at my pace and desicions.

I went out again yesterday afternoon...and the new parts changed the bike completely...totally enjoy'd the ride and I could concentrate on the actual ride.
It's a VERY technical trail (and quite wet/muddy/slippery), but I totally enjoyed the ride ... amazing bike !
Completely transformed.....now I have to fine adjust the suspension, to meet my needs.
What a nice bike.

Observationns compared to Shimano Jam2:
- bike is absolutely silent !
- 29" wheels climbs a lot better as expected (Jam2 is with 27.5" wheels)
- engine dosen't stop pulling when I stop pedaling, which cought me out in some silly situations (VERY tech trail).
- engine assist feels very natural.
- when I hit 25kmh I allmost cannot feel the engine stop assisting.
- I miss the Shimano display (small, crash resistant, easy to read).
- I need to learn to use MissionControl (or BLevo) app and the settings/adjustments.
- need to take a bike picture leaning on stuff (red bike with boxxer red fork - looks good)

Summary:
- need some to time to convert from Shimano to Brose engine.
- need to fine adjust suspension (it's allready much better than the base model)
- we now have e usable eMTB each !
- happy

turn the acceleration down in mission control, it will stop that "running on" when you stop peddling

 

[aarfeldt]

turn the acceleration down in mission control, it will stop that "running on" when you stop peddling

Great...thanks....I will try it out.
I actually reset the bike when I got it - so it's using default settings as a starting point.

 

[KennyB]

Don't think so, I believe the run on is always there. Imagine pausing pedaling, say to pump the cranks to prevent pedal strike on a climb and no power. Run on should only be 0.2 secs, about 1/4 of a crank rotation.

 

[ccrdave]

maybe worked for me though! and on my wifes bike as well, maybe we just had a different problem

 

[steve_sordy]

I think the RS fitting the Meg Neg can to shocks that are compatible transforms them - I have a Super Deluxe with the Meg Neg fitted and it transforms the shock (which I already liked) into an awesome bit of kit, keeps the ride supple off the top, super supportive in the midstroke whilst remaining compliant, and doesn't blow through the travel

What is a "Meg Neg", how does it work, and can it be fitted to an existing Rockshox shock?

 

[R120]

What is a "Meg Neg", how does it work, and can it be fitted to an existing Rockshox shock?

RockShox MegNeg air can review

 

[G-Bru]

What is a "Meg Neg", how does it work, and can it be fitted to an existing Rockshox shock?

You can get it from TFTuned. Great bit of kit, Running 1 token, and 3 bands has improved my Super Deluxe and the way the rear behaves much like what R120 explained! I no longer blow through all my travel on big hits and always have about 5mm left for when I need it. ?

 

[snowbro]

I tried the megneg on my friends bike and it still felt like crap to me. Maybe I don't weigh enough (170lbs). Rockshox shocks just feel terrible to me now days. Night and day between it and fox.

 

[Jeff H]

I think the RS fitting the Meg Neg can to shocks that are compatible transforms them - I have a Super Deluxe with the Meg Neg fitted and it transforms the shock (which I already liked) into an awesome bit of kit, keeps the ride supple off the top, super supportive in the midstroke whilst remaining compliant, and doesn't blow through the travel

R120, I'm considering a MegNeg for the stock Deluxe RT on my '19 Comp. Any recommendations for negative bands and positive tokens? The shock came maxed out with 4.5 tokens and I've never bottomed it, even on drops that used most of the fork travel. I just removed 1 token and will test this weekend but the MegNeg looks like a no-brainer without spending big bucks on a new shock.

 

[magnil]

Will the MegNeg work on a base Levo 2018 shock? And and will there be much difference?

 

[steve_sordy]

Thanks @R120 for posting the video explaining what a MegNeg is. It makes sense to me, I did something similar (added an EVOL air sleeve) with my Fox Float CTD BV shock a few years ago and it made a noticeable difference. There were some very definite inflation instructions for the EVOL to work. This was inflate to a certain point and then compress the shock until you feel it "give", then inflate as normal. I know this made a big difference because at first I didn't know about them and was disappointed with the result. Once I had deflated and reflated doing it properly, I got what I was looking for.

The guy in the video made a point of saying what suspension design (liner/progressive etc) suited the MegNeg. This may be why @snowbro was unhappy with his mate's bike. Another thought is that if there were special inflation instructions required for the MegNeg and his mate didn't follow them, that may be why it doesn't work as anticipated.

 

[snowbro]

Thanks @R120 for posting the video explaining what a MegNeg is. It makes sense to me, I did something similar (added an EVOL air sleeve) with my Fox Float CTD BV shock a few years ago and it made a noticeable difference. There were some very definite inflation instructions for the EVOL to work. This was inflate to a certain point and then compress the shock until you feel it "give", then inflate as normal. I know this made a big difference because at first I didn't know about them and was disappointed with the result. Once I had deflated and reflated doing it properly, I got what I was looking for.

The guy in the video made a point of saying what suspension design (liner/progressive etc) suited the MegNeg. This may be why @snowbro was unhappy with his mate's bike. Another thought is that if there were special inflation instructions required for the MegNeg and his mate didn't follow them, that may be why it doesn't work as anticipated.

No, I've had 4 bikes in the last 2 years that came with mid to high end rockshox shocks. I did everything humanly possible to tune them and they still were sh!t. Thought it was the Santa Cruz vpp design on my Bronson, got another levo, which had a rockshox, same crappy ride. Adjusted everything on that shock, still crap. Put an X2 on & all of a sudden the bike was amazing. Their shocks I used in 2016 weren't like this, I dont know what they are doing, but fox doesnt do this.