Levo SL Gen 1 Official Levo SL Thread

[Zimmerframe]

No 6/12V outlets for lights on the new motor?

In the video with Rob, he said they'd had to think about different solutions to lights and things ..

But then didn't say what the different solutions were. Like- ride in day light ...

 

[TheBikePilot]

No. I’m guessing they wanted to keep all connections where dust and water could ingress to a minimum..

Most people use battery lights as they are quite a drain at the Lumen you need to night ride. It’s an MTB not a road/touring bike and most don’t ride that often at night..

 

[miPbiP]

I ride at night quite a bit, sometimes on my Levo sometimes not, so a 1-bike-only light wouldn't work for me. It's a solution looking for a problem.

Plus here in the UK we have Exposure lights - they're very good and last for years.

 

[Blinkie]

Plus here in the UK we have Exposure lights - they're very good and last for years.

this ^

 

[losgatosgtr]

SL pedals very well, in fact, so little drag I actually shut off the motor on some climbs. When riding off or above motor support (faster than 20 mph here in the USA) you can easily outpace a standard Levo. With the standard Levo I actually found I wanted to slow down a little bit to stay on motor support because it was such a pain in the butt to pedal faster than that.

 

[p3eps]

With the standard Levo I actually found I wanted to slow down a little bit to stay on motor support because it was such a pain in the butt to pedal faster than that.

That's exactly how I felt riding my Trek Rail. If I stayed at 13-14mph, then I was under the limiter (UK) and got full support. Above 16mph on a flat trail was hard work. Downhill was ok for obvious reasons!

 

[Waynetta]

As anyone heard of creo motors on the road bike having any issues? It’s been around for at least 6 months and roadies tend to do a lot more miles. i visited a Trek dealer today and had a quick spin round the car park on a Rail. Demo booked on the SL but waiting for invisi kits to be fitted. Is there a thread on here regarding the Bosch motors reliability.

 

[galaga187]

No. I’m guessing they wanted to keep all connections where dust and water could ingress to a minimum..

Most people use battery lights as they are quite a drain at the Lumen you need to night ride. It’s an MTB not a road/touring bike and most don’t ride that often at night..

I’m not sure it’s such a drain but defo a risk of ingress

 

[galaga187]

I ride at night quite a bit, sometimes on my Levo sometimes not, so a 1-bike-only light wouldn't work for me. It's a solution looking for a problem.

Plus here in the UK we have Exposure lights - they're very good and last for years.

I’m on cheapo crees and they have last two months already ?

 

[TheBikePilot]

I’m not sure it’s such a drain but defo a risk of ingress

Sorry I meant a drain on the battery ?

 

[miPbiP]

I’m on cheapo crees and they have last two months already ?

I've got several sets of those on a shelf in the garage.

 

[Kpmnd85]

Not sure if I should post this here or in a separate thread
I will be buying a Levo SL in the next few days. I have a S-Works Stumpjumper.

Leaning towards the Levo SL Comp Carbon. Ride it for a while and figure out what I like and don't. I would probably change drivetrain to AXS and also replace the seatpost to Reverb AXS. Carbon wheels (BTLOS?) are likely.

I could get the Levo SL Expert or even the Levo SL S-works, but in the end I would spend more but not sure I would get more (especially the S-Works version being ~$6k more than the Carbon Comp).

Am I thinking about this the right way? Appreciate your thoughts.

 

[ImSundee]

Okay so I borrowed a Levo SL Alu today (Specialized Concept Store in Newbury has then available for hire, only in Medium/Large)

Me and a mate hit up Swinley, now hes a fitter rider than me. And with the SL I mainly kept it in eco mode, and felt it was perfect. Used trail and Turbo a little, but nothing major, Turbo felt like a little to much if I'm honest - I dont know how people ride full fat ones.

We did 13 miles, and I got back with low 60s left - and that is mainly due to me testing out turbo mode. I think at like 10 miles, I was still in the 80s. Total insanity tbh and the bike was never lacking power. Made the ride very enjoyable. Even did a little with the motor off at the start, and you dont even notice its a ebike, its really good!

Annoyed with the Specialized app, it did some odd stuff with recording hte ride for strava. And recorded the odd points and not the actual route we took - Luckily my mate logged the ride on his Garmin.


At the end of the day I was massively happy with the bike, and I have put in an order with my LBS for a Levo SL Carbon Comp in Berry (its stunning in life) - which Specialized managed to give me the last one in the UK - Next earliest is End of the month of next they said.
Hopefully it will be here next week - I'm just off to order some invisiframe for it now...

 

[ImSundee]

Not sure if I should post this here or in a separate thread
I will be buying a Levo SL in the next few days. I have a S-Works Stumpjumper.

Leaning towards the Levo SL Comp Carbon. Ride it for a while and figure out what I like and don't. I would probably change drivetrain to AXS and also replace the seatpost to Reverb AXS. Carbon wheels (BTLOS?) are likely.

I could get the Levo SL Expert or even the Levo SL S-works, but in the end I would spend more but not sure I would get more (especially the S-Works version being ~$6k more than the Carbon Comp).

Am I thinking about this the right way? Appreciate your thoughts.

For me the only reason to get the expert is the clear carbon finish, I couldn't justify it just for that.

 

[losgatosgtr]

Think about it... SL Carbon comp has exact same full Carbon frame as the SL founders edition. Components can be swapped in and out as you can afford them and you'll end up with an S Works bike if you want. Only reason to buy the s-works is they have most upgrades done for you buy specialized and under warranty.

On the standard Levo there is a different carbon frame construction on the s-works versus the expert. Fact 9 versus fact 11 I believe.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

So if the add a range extender and pedals your up to 20.5Kg is that right? a similar weight to the S-Works Levo?

Range extender weighs 1KG. So 19.4 KG with extender fitted ?

 

[losgatosgtr]

The s-works standard Levo is heavier than 20 kg I believe.

If you choose to lighten up the SL, you can get it down to 16 kg. Weight makes a huge difference you can feel it when you ride the SL. If you choose not to ride it, you're only looking at numbers on paper, but it rides completely differently than the full fat Levo. The range extender for the SL weighs 1 kg, and will give you the same range on the SL as the s-works standard levo with a 700 watt hour battery.

 

[losgatosgtr]

The two bikes are completely different. I suggest ride the SL and ride the full fat Levo and make your choice. The standard Levo will never be as light as the SL can be if low weight is what you are seeking.

 

[losgatosgtr]

It's 10 pounds lighter not sure what you're talking about.

 

[SquireRides]

Not sure if I should post this here or in a separate thread
I will be buying a Levo SL in the next few days. I have a S-Works Stumpjumper.

Leaning towards the Levo SL Comp Carbon. Ride it for a while and figure out what I like and don't. I would probably change drivetrain to AXS and also replace the seatpost to Reverb AXS. Carbon wheels (BTLOS?) are likely.

I could get the Levo SL Expert or even the Levo SL S-works, but in the end I would spend more but not sure I would get more (especially the S-Works version being ~$6k more than the Carbon Comp).

Am I thinking about this the right way? Appreciate your thoughts.

Depends how you're funding the bike. I'm using a cycle to work scheme, so I get about 35% off the bikes list price effectively. So it makes sense for me to buy the whole bike closest to the spec I want, because I won't get 35% off parts I buy to upgrade a cheaper bike...

 

[losgatosgtr]

If you are comparing the bottom spec SL (heaviest weight possible) with range extender installed, to The standard s-works levo, I'm not sure what the weight difference is. The bikes you are comparing, S works Levo vs comp carbon SL, handle and ride completely differently than one another.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Sorry Rob got the battery extender weight wrong! its still not that much lighter than an S-Works Std Levo, but you say it handles very differently? Would love to try one as It does sound and look a great bike. Sadly cant afford one now!

if we compare the SL S-Works and full fat S-Works there’s almost 4KG difference.

To replicate this weight difference and see how it feels, go get 2 x 2 litre bottles of coke and strap it onto your frame ?

In all seriousness that 4KG weight difference is pretty significant in the way the bike handles ?

 

[p3eps]

It's 10 pounds lighter not sure what you're talking about.

He’s comparing the S-Works Levo with the Comp Levo SL. Not really a fair comparison. A £5k bike vs a £10k bike.
If you want to compare them for weight, compare S-Works in both bikes. Then you have 4kg difference.

 

[Peter Hill]

if we compare the SL S-Works and full fat S-Works there’s almost 4KG difference.

To replicate this weight difference and see how it feels, go get 2 x 2 litre bottles of coke and strap it onto your frame ?

In all seriousness that 4KG weight difference is pretty significant in the way the bike handles ?

Thanks Rob, just need to get out and try one I guess

 

[ImSundee]

I think from riding both now, another big thing that is over looked is added weight caused by motor drag on the full levo, its okay if your using power, but turn that off and its massive difference and really makes it feel so much heavier.

 

[losgatosgtr]

Yes that's what makes the SL so quick and of course the instant acceleration. As Rob said, picks up speed incredibly fast.

 

[miPbiP]

I think from riding both now, another big thing that is over looked is added weight caused by motor drag on the full levo, its okay if your using power, but turn that off and its massive difference and really makes it feel so much heavier.

Toby Pantling, who races enduro and owns Ace Bicycles in Merrow, talked about this at the chat day.

He was asked which of the 2 models he's choose for events and he said the SL because it's much easier to 'pedal through' the assistance speed limit. (which is 16mph here in UK).

 

[Bencab]

I demoed a Levo SL expert with a range extender last Sunday. Mostly trail and turbo modes as I am trying to gauge the range. I stopped at 17% of batteries remaining. I rode for about 3.5 hours, covering about 25 miles and about 6,000 ft of climbing. I worked harder on the climb compared to my Pivot Shuttle but I was faster on the downhill. I immediately bought a carbon comp as soon as I returned the demo. I had so much fun with the bike despite of the wind storm that day.

 

[ImSundee]

He was asked which of the 2 models he's choose for events and he said the SL because it's much easier to 'pedal through' the assistance speed limit. (which is 16mph here in UK).

Indeed and I can agree, on my test ride today, I couldn't really even notice it when the motor cuts out, which hte full levo feels like you put an anchor out it really slows you back down.

 

[losgatosgtr]

Yes so fast almost flew off my local trail I've ridden many times on my acoustic bike...hit 38 miles per hour.