Levo SL Gen 1 New Owner! Assistance Resistance On/Off Question

[dowroa]

Hi all! After about a 6 month wait, I finally got my Turbo Levo SL Carbon Comp! I went out on a quick 6 mile ride with my daughter on the road between rain showers.

When riding between assistance to no assistance (but Levo SL TCU on), I noted that I would get what felt like bottom bracket resistance for about 30 seconds. Significantly harder to pedal (felt like a powerful magnet in the BB or heavily dragging rear brakes). After about 30 seconds, it would go away and would feel like the same resistance as the Stumpjumper FSR my daughter was riding (quite nice!).

Is this the motor being in the `on and ready` state that causes this behavior? Am I the only one who has experienced this?

I have not updated the FW on the bike (sorry, don't have Mission Control / phone with me at the moment), but I know it is not at the latest FW rev. The LBS didn't do anything to the bike when I finally got it (they have never seen a Levo SL and never have the throughput at their store for these). I basically had to do everything from the TCU warning removal to axle / pivot greasings and chain / stanchion lubes for what I would call a PDI for a bike.

Thanks for any help or information in advance! Really appreciate it!

 

[DtEW]

When riding between assistance to no assistance (but Levo SL TCU on), I noted that I would get what felt like bottom bracket resistance for about 30 seconds. Significantly harder to pedal (felt like a powerful magnet in the BB or heavily dragging rear brakes). After about 30 seconds, it would go away and would feel like the same resistance as the Stumpjumper FSR my daughter was riding (quite nice!).

Have you tried backpedaling for some portion of a stroke immediately after you turn the assistance off?

In my Levo (full-fat), I get the same effect when I turn down assistance to nothing while I'm pedaling, but it does not go away after 30 seconds. The resistance gets stronger the harder I try to push through. I realized that I was dragging the motor along because I didn't give the one-way sprag bearing the opportunity to release (not surprising since I'm maintaining a good amount of torque in the course of motivating a 50lb bike). A backstroke, whole or partial, does the trick.

 

[dowroa]

Nice. Thanks for the feedback. Crazy ice storms tomorrow, but I will give that a shot. Thank you!