New rider from Knysna, South Africa

[GuyP]

Hi everyone. I got myself a used 2018 turbo levo for my 60th birthday.

Have had my first few trail rides and a pretty decent hilly ride yesterday ending with a long steep singletrack. Rode with my brother-in-law on a ride we have done a few times. I was surprised how sore my legs were today. I rode at a lot higher cadence than usual with an average heart rate 10% lower (than norm).

Still have to figure out how to have the motor work the best for me and am busy reading all the posts on blevo and mission control. Also have to figure out how to get the specialized display unit to work for me (how do you actually start a ride) but suspect that I will remove it once I find a mobile phone mount.

Lots to learn. I don't know most of the abbreviations and I don't know who/what does motor firmware upgrades. The motor gave a few hiccups after a couple of hours when I thought I'd change to turbo and speed home, instead it felt like it was over choking and gave no power. Went back to eco and all was fine. Strange.

Next on the list is to go figure out the best wheels sizes for me. I've never ridden 650b before and have on 3.0 Grids. Quite fun but scary with the lower bottom bracket/motor when approaching fallen logs. Maybe a 29er up front will feel more normal. On the other hand the 650b felt great on the steep descents so we'll see.

regards from Knysna, a small town on the South African coast.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Welcome Guy !

I remember driving through Knysna 20 years ago, heading to Capetown after performing best man duties near Durban. Really pretty place !

It's interesting how you can still push yourself, with the assistance, and how it still hurts afterwards !

Firmware upgrades are done by a Specialized dealer. If you go into Mission Control and then diagnostics and then motor. If it's a 1.3 and the latest firmware it should say 5.0.4.

When you were in turbo, you weren't hitting the "assistance speed limit" were you ? It's probably set to either 25kph or 32kph, when you get there, it stops assisting.

 

[GuyP]

Hi Zimmerframe. Thanks for the welcome. Lots of excellent riding around the Knysna area. Lots of it still beyond my skill levels.

Ok, version all sorted out and I have latest firmware. I was riding slowly up a short hill at around 7kph when it happened, so no limiter in there. Almost felt like the motor was engaging and disengaging. I stopped and then it was fine after that.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Hi Zimmerframe. Thanks for the welcome. Lots of excellent riding around the Knysna area. Lots of it still beyond my skill levels.

Ok, version all sorted out and I have latest firmware. I was riding slowly up a short hill at around 7kph when it happened, so no limiter in there. Almost felt like the motor was engaging and disengaging. I stopped and then it was fine after that.

It could have just been surging between TURBO (lots of assistance) and no assistance. Sometimes if you're in a high assistance mode and not pedalling hard, it swings quite dramatically between assisting and not assisting as you're just on the balance point where it can't quite decide if you need assistance or not. The brose seems to be smoother than say an E8000 in this situation though, so there could be something else going on. I take it Turbo feels like it works fine when you're pushing harder ?

 

[GuyP]

It could have just been surging between TURBO (lots of assistance) and no assistance. Sometimes if you're in a high assistance mode and not pedalling hard, it swings quite dramatically between assisting and not assisting as you're just on the balance point where it can't quite decide if you need assistance or not. The brose seems to be smoother than say an E8000 in this situation though, so there could be something else going on. I take it Turbo feels like it works fine when you're pushing harder ?

Yep, turbo feels great when engaged. Almost addictive

Had it again today. Wanted to ride up the very steep hill behind the house. Thought I might be able to make it in eco mode but soon realised that I was not and double clicked to get to turbo mode. Instead of turbo I got nothing. Had to jump off. I'm missing something.

Come to think if it I might have confused the motor. I must have had power around or over 500w when I tried to engage turbo. I'll experiment a bit with that.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Yep, turbo feels great when engaged. Almost addictive

Had it again today. Wanted to ride up the very steep hill behind the house. Thought I might be able to make it in eco mode but soon realised that I was not and double clicked to get to turbo mode. Instead of turbo I got nothing. Had to jump off. I'm missing something.

Come to think if it I might have confused the motor. I must have had power around or over 500w when I tried to engage turbo. I'll experiment a bit with that.

That does't sounds right. You shouldn't get nothing. If your cadence was already too low in eco and you switched to turbo it might feel like you've got nothing more than eco because the "revs" are too low. But you shouldn't get nothing, there isn't even a "no assistance" option you could have engaged by accident. I take it the battery lights were all still on when it happened and it hadn't just turned itself off ?

You could check "diagnose" for the motor and battery in Mission Control, but it doesn't immediately sound like anything that would show up as it's working most of the time.

Sounds like one to keep an eye on and when you know a bit more/have narrowed down when the problem occurs, you can take it to Spesh shop and ideally re-create the problem.

 

[Clint600f]

Hey Guy,
I'm only seeing this post now......
My in laws own a house in Knysna Quays, beautiful part of the world. I've only been out once due to having 2 small kids so would love to get out again soon.
Good to hear that there is decent terrain for the mountain bikes. I only had my road bike when I was there, did the Cape Argus which was amazing. I will definitely be taking a mtb next time.
If you're down by the Waterfront look out for a sixty something year old dude with a black beard and Irish accent!
Cheers......

 

[GuyP]

Hey Guy,
I'm only seeing this post now......
My in laws own a house in Knysna Quays, beautiful part of the world. I've only been out once due to having 2 small kids so would love to get out again soon.
Good to hear that there is decent terrain for the mountain bikes. I only had my road bike when I was there, did the Cape Argus which was amazing. I will definitely be taking a mtb next time.
If you're down by the Waterfront look out for a sixty something year old dude with a black beard and Irish accent!
Cheers......

I'll do that