Levo SL Gen 1 Official Levo SL Thread

[crazymelki]

Perfect, thank you! Are you using the SRAM Garmin mount? Fits perfect.

it's the TCD Holder using for my Garmin Edge ;-)

 

[p3eps]

Here’s mine...

 

[p3eps]

Has the shock wiz changed your default set up much?
How long until we have computer controlled suspension like super bikes? Computer knows when to stiffen up and when to stay plush. I give it 5 more years.

When I had it on my Rail, it pretty much agreed with my own setup. 1 or 2 clicks extra of LSC was all I needed.

I’ve only had a couple of rides out of lockdown on the SL, and was mainly trying to get the rear right. I’ve always had about 80% correct from the ShockWiz on the rear, and never managed to get it any better.
What I’m riding in lockdown is not what I’d normally ride at the weekend - so I can’t really gauge whether it’s doing a good job or not!
My forks feel perfect for what I’m riding at the moment, but there’s a lot more roads and fire roads in there than I normally would have.

Hopefully in a few weeks I’ll be allowed to chuck my bike on the back of the car and head off to some real trails when I can test it out properly on the forks. At that point, I think I’m going to buy a new rear shock too.

 

[Tommidd]

Another ride with my SL. 23 miles and and 4800 ft of elevation. Had 20% battery remaining after my ride. This is my 3rd ride and I already have 83 miles on my odometer. The SL will definitely stay as it complements my Shuttle. It provides a different ride quality and I really digging it. Keeping one more analog bike and will sell my other 2 analog bikes.

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Nice Levo SL Porn

 

[Tommidd]

Just finished my short ride with 35/100 setting.

• 18.5 KM
• 706 feet of vertical
• 131Wh battery used
• 61% battery remaining
• Average Support Level: 69%

Definitely going to leave it in this. Seems really natural and you can still achieve 240 watts assistance from the motor, but it doesn't unnecessary give too much power when not needed.

Feet of vertical or meters? If it's feet, then that appears to be higher than usual battery consumption.

 

[Tommidd]

Its all about personalizing your bike to the region where you live, how you ride etc. I like that.
@Rob You can definitely remove the chainguide too if you didn't already.

I agree, walk assist can really come in handy. makes the minimal clutter worth it for me.

 

[dfgomez]

Hi everyone:
New SL owner here and I have a question. I paired my SL to my Wahoo Bolt with the ANT+ LEV profile. It added a couple of fields like mode (Eco, Sport, Turbo) and the battery level. All well and good. However under watts it shows a figure that I don't know how it's calculating. I just want it to show the watts that I'm producing and not the sum of my power and the motor's since that higher figure is then sync'ed to my Training Peaks and messes up my data. It shows a really high TSS (based on a high power output) but a low HHRR since I was not working as hard due to the assist. It messes up my training data for my coach. Any idea how to only show my watts? Thanks in advance.

 

[dfgomez]

Garmin Forerunner 235 - Looks like the Vivo Active 3 does a bit more for cheaper. I wouldn't bother with a Fenix unless you want to totally replace your existing watch. I've got a nice watch for day to day so this is just for riding. I wouldn't use the music Function and navigation on a watch is too small IMHO. Some say take the watch off and put in on the handlebars, but then you lose the heart rate function.

If you want to do that get a cheap iPhone 5 or 6 and strap it to the Handlebars. I've also got an Garmin Edge but I never use it anymore and it kept coming off on branches and through trees, not to mention crashes.

I don't worry about having something so expensive on my wrist. Some guys have got Apple Watches as well which seem to work well, but again it's an expensive piece of kit in harms way to all the mud and crap in a crash.

The fake channel works brilliantly, sends the bike Battery Percentage exactly and you can also measure Ft climbed (separate app it's not a data field on the 235) as well as distance travelled so once you know your battery and bike you've got a very good idea of how much further/longer you can ride.

I know you are talking about a Garmin and not a Wahoo head unit (I use a Bolt) but can you explain more about the fake channel setting? I'm trying to get power on the Bolt and what I see is a very high figure so not sure if it's just my power or the sum of my and the motor's power. Messing up my stats making me look way better (high power output and lower heart rate). Thanks for any advice.

 

[MrBrownstone]

Feet of vertical or meters? If it's feet, then that appears to be higher than usual battery consumption.

Seems about rite. We did 14.3 miles with 3000 feet of climbing yesterday and my friend had 25% battery left running the same settings. My Shimano steps with 504wh had 50% left using an equal mix of eco/trail and boost.

 

[Nickolp1974]

Hi. Yes my arm length measured from my armpit to wrist joint is about 58/59cm(23”), I’m about 177cm(5’9.6”)tall. I’m about 73kg in weight so fairly light.
my LBS didn’t have a full fat Levo to try but I did try a Cube Stereo160 which i found more powerful but going past the motor cut off speed it was much harder to push on faster on a slight uphill, I tried some weaving around traffic cones and found it heavy and harder work than the Levo Sl to flick around at any pace.
The Levo Sl rode the same hill in turbo easily, I had to put a little more input into the pedals but it was still easy, weaving cones the Levo felt like a normal MTB and easier to handle than the heavy full fat Cube.
The medium frame Levo Sl felt a little more nimble and playful for me compared to the large and did not seem significantly smaller than the large.

Since I’ve had my Levo Sl I’ve been riding some pretty technical downhill tracks and Ive been feeling really stable and confident on it. I also did some pretty steep climbs that probably wouldn’t be possible on an analogue bike and found it climbs well too. I can also do manuals wheelies, bunny hops and rear wheel hops on the SL too which I think would be harder on a heavy full fat bike.
I did get passed on a fairly steep road climb by a full fat giant EMTB but I was in trail mode and when the rode flattened out I left him for dust when I accelerated past the motor cut off.

so with the SL you will have to put in more input than you would on a full fat but if you want an e bike that handles like a regular MTB like I was you will love the SL but I would consider what you want to do on the bike and if you can find a shop to try them its definitely worthwhile to help you decide before you buy.

Thanks for the info, most appreciated. I'm still very torn in my choice at the moment, the SL really does appeal to me for it's weight and for being nimble, also there is stock!!!! I can get to try a medium which is a 5 hour drive there and back which is fine but there is nothing to else compare too at that shop. Also we are planning a move to cumbria next year so will i require more power from a full fat motor or will I appreciate the lower mass of a lightweight bike when i inevitably have to hike a bike?? At the moment my shimano equipped steed sits in eco 95% of the time in the Lincolnshire wolds, pleasant but nothing demanding at all up or down. When i dont have the time to do a 3+hour ride its then i use the other power modes to do a quick 15-20 mile blast and it does put a smile on my face like when you 1st ride an ebike, does an SL still give you that knda WOW feeling?? This was the year where I was gong to take my bike up to the lakes, normally there quite a lot but on 2 legs not wheels! and then that would of answered my power requirements issue, this damn pandemic put a stop to that
Would be nice if we started to hear about 2021 bikes and when stock will land on our shores, I'm just so impatient!! Normally this time of year there'd be some cracking deals about instead we have hardly anything available and what is most arnt budging on price.

 

[iainc]

Cables and hoses .... I got my UK spec SL a few weeks ago and loving it. I am a wee bit disappointed at the nose and cable lengths as supplied and it’s going back to the lbs for some tweaks in a couple of weeks. I have the 150mm dropper pretty much as far into the seat tube as it will go, being a short arse 5ft 9.5 with a 30 inch inside leg. The dropper cable is a good 5-6 inches too long, with a huge loop out front. Similarly the rear brake hose is a few inches too long, while the front hose is definitely a bit short. Spinning the bars in the stand the front hose stops rotation way before anything else and would be a likely casualty in an off. Anyone else found this ?

 

[paquo]

Anyone else found this ?

Doesn't seem too extreme except the dropper. It actually worked out for me as i used higher bars. Fortunately if you cant wait for the shop the dropper cable and housing would be simple to deal with but yes lazy shop.

 

[MrBrownstone]

Thanks for the info, most appreciated. I'm still very torn in my choice at the moment, the SL really does appeal to me for it's weight and for being nimble, also there is stock!!!! I can get to try a medium which is a 5 hour drive there and back which is fine but there is nothing to else compare too at that shop. Also we are planning a move to cumbria next year so will i require more power from a full fat motor or will I appreciate the lower mass of a lightweight bike when i inevitably have to hike a bike?? At the moment my shimano equipped steed sits in eco 95% of the time in the Lincolnshire wolds, pleasant but nothing demanding at all up or down. When i dont have the time to do a 3+hour ride its then i use the other power modes to do a quick 15-20 mile blast and it does put a smile on my face like when you 1st ride an ebike, does an SL still give you that knda WOW feeling?? This was the year where I was gong to take my bike up to the lakes, normally there quite a lot but on 2 legs not wheels! and then that would of answered my power requirements issue, this damn pandemic put a stop to that
Would be nice if we started to hear about 2021 bikes and when stock will land on our shores, I'm just so impatient!! Normally this time of year there'd be some cracking deals about instead we have hardly anything available and what is most arnt budging on price.

No from my experience riding an SL and owning a 70nm bike, you will not get that WOW feeling from the SL compared to a full power bike. Nor will you be able to climb as fast or as steep as you can with full power. Riding with my equal ability friend Thursday on the 1st big climb I waited 5+ minutes for him to catch up and we were maybe halfway up the 4 mile climb. And I was holding back so I wouldn’t get further ahead and have to wait longer. This climb required me to ride in Boost a fair bit and I lost my 1st bar out of 5 only 3 miles into the ride/climb. He lost almost 30% of his 320wh battery in that distance. When he caught up with me while I was waiting he said he couldn’t believe how easily I pulled away on the steeps with my BMC.

The SL is a super nimble great handling machine and he was crushing the steep techy descents. I just could never give up the capability of full power and he mentions his curiosity of a regular Levo after every time I pull away literally leaving him in the dust on any climb.

 

[Nickolp1974]

No from my experience riding an SL and owning a 70nm bike, you will not get that WOW feeling from the SL compared to a full power bike. Nor will you be able to climb as fast or as steep as you can with full power. Riding with my equal ability friend Thursday on the 1st big climb I waited 5+ minutes for him to catch up and we were maybe halfway up the 4 mile climb. And I was holding back so I wouldn’t get further ahead and have to wait longer. This climb required me to ride in Boost a fair bit and I lost my 1st bar out of 5 only 3 miles into the ride/climb. He lost almost 30% of his 320wh battery in that distance. When he caught up with me while I was waiting he said he couldn’t believe how easily I pulled away on the steeps with my BMC.

The SL is a super nimble great handling machine and he was crushing the steep techy descents. I just could never give up the capability of full power and he mentions his curiosity of a regular Levo after every time I pull away literally leaving him in the dust on any climb.

That's good info thanks and kinda backing up what I'm thinking. I'd love a really light bike, well sub 19kg with a full fat motor not that I'd use full power all the time but it's nice to have it and to put a grin on your face when its steep and techy. The sub 19kg can no doubt be achieved but I dont have 10k+ to throw at a bike, 6 maybe 7 max

 

[iainc]

Conversely, I’ve been riding my new SL from home since I got it 3 weeks ago. Can’t go any further in lockdown anyway. So the route is about 10 miles of hilly back roads and 13 miles of gravel windfarm tracks with a mile or 2 of additional quite steep and fun singletrack. On my new gravel bike, a Genesis Fugio, with 650x47 tyres I average about 12.5 mph. The SL is consistently 13.5-13.8mph, even considering the road stuff where it is significantly slower. The loop, which has about 1700ft of climbing and is 25 miles, leaves me with about 40% battery remaining. The joy of the SL is on the flowing flatter stuff where there is no assist, at around 16-18mph where it rides exactly like any other FS 29er.

 

[TheBikePilot]

I've ridden with @Rob Hancill a fair bit on my full fat. On the flat and flow trails he pulls away all the time. Honestly, hand on heart, the SL smokes my Levo on the trail and flat pedally sections. I can't keep up. It's a fast nimble trail ripper. I say Trail ripper, downhill on a singletrack trail (not a bike park) its the best there is. Uphill, of course, it's Levo all the way. But it's no slouch up, it's just not a Levo. You're getting the power of a professional athlete on the SL. A superhuman on the FF Levo.

As with everything on an MTB it's all about compromise. I've ridden it, and I love it. I just can't afford to swap right now. If you have any modicum of fitness and you want the best handling eBike on the market, the SL is for you. For many coming off a regular MTB I would reccomend the SL. If you just want to blast, FF Levo.

For long techy or steep climbs, yes a FF is going to excel. Weirdly from what others are reporting, his battery percentage is around the same discharge as mine. Don't read anything into the numbers, a 320wh battery is effectively the equivalent of around a 640wh FF, just you haven't got that big punch many enjoy and Rob mostly climbs in Turbo on the SL which equates to a little below Trail on normal settings on a FF. Don't forget for £300 you can add another 50% battery as many times as your wallet will allow without having to hack into the bikes electrics. Those extenders are super easy to carry as well.

Rob rides with all of us on FF on a normal ride and isn't left behind. If you're leaving people for dust then that's a choice and never has it felt like we were massively holding back to accommodate the SL. I guess it depends on your riding group. This is not an Acoustic vs eBike race. Just if a FF is in Turbo and an SL is in Turbo, there is one winner. To me, that's not a deal-breaker. Rob has never said 'slow down boys...'

It's hard, in the short term, on a test ride against a FF Levo to compare the two and say one is better than the other. It's so down to your personal preference. When I ride with Rob, and he has many many bikes in the quiver to choose from, he grabs the SL every time for a joy ride. We aren't paid to say that. There's many other long term test bikes in the garage he could grab, he grabs the SL everytime.

It's a niche product. If you want the ultimate poppy, flowy, fighter jet experience then the SL is for you. But if you want to blast up and down and don't mind manhandling the bike a bit then, of course, the Levo. If you want to just Deathgrip down a trail at warp speed and not enjoy any of its features apart from big jumps, Kenevo. Effectively, there's a bike in the range for everyone. I love both the bikes for different reasons, and that's really all down to you!

We are of course only talking Spesh here, there's so many others that are just awesome fun..!

 

[MrBrownstone]

If you live in the States where we get power to 20mph then the full fat will drop LEVO SL on pretty much ANY pedally sections flat, rolling, and up.

 

[jcmonty]

I have seemed to average about 1-1.5mph slower on singletrack climbs on my SL compared to my Kenevo (2019 variant) on comparable climbs. However, on one climb in particular - ~6% grade, techy, tight switchbacks - I have a PR on my SL since it's easier to maneuvar on switchbacks. That's both in "trail setting" than both bikes have non-stock settings. YMMV

It really does feel like a trailbike with help.

Both are fun

 

[iyoon]

Sorry for the low res photos. Here are the photos again (full size). Size of the frame is medium. List of mods:
1. Renthal bars
2. Syntace megaforce2 stem 30mm
3. Magura 1893 brakes 203 front 180 rear storm discs
4. RS Pike ultimate
5. Derby carbon rims with project 321 hubs
6. Bontrager xr4 2.4 team issue tires
7. One up 180mm dropper post with wolftooth trigger
8. XX1 eagle cassette with X01 derailleur, XX1 shifter and XX1 chain
9. Sqlab saddle
10. Canfield brothers all mountain pedals

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Bencab,
How do XR4 29x2.4 tires ride on Levo sl? I assume they are mounted on the stock wheels. No clearance issue, front and rear? Thanks!

 

[TomH79]

Fitted today the extender. Last time i used it was about 2 weeks ago.
Mc setting is like i use both main and entender at the same time.
Still when connecting it and power on, there 5 blue and 5 green bars in tcu. Tried to change it from mc but no change.

So went for a ride, and like assumed, bike died after extender was used. Needed to take the cable off from the bike to be able to ride again.

Anyone had this? I still wanna use both batteries at the same time.

 

[SquireRides]

Fitted today the extender. Last time i used it was about 2 weeks ago.
Mc setting is like i use both main and entender at the same time.
Still when connecting it and power on, there 5 blue and 5 green bars in tcu. Tried to change it from mc but no change.

So went for a ride, and like assumed, bike died after extender was used. Needed to take the cable off from the bike to be able to ride again.

Anyone had this? I still wanna use both batteries at the same time.

I was running the range extender today, set to drain it first.

I hit a steep long climb with about 15% on the RE but still a full main tank. Attacked the climb in Trail mode. Twice on the climb I felt the motor assistance drop. Very noticeable step drop. After the second drop there was virtually no difference between Trail and Boost support compared to Eco. When I checked at the top of the climb the RE was at 7%.

At this point I went in to MC, set to drain both batteries together, rebooted the bike, and set off again.

Still had restricted support.

Eventually the final green bar of RE juice disappeared and immediately normal Trail support resumed.

So, I think we need a firmware update to improve RE integration, otherwise you have to physically disconnect the RE to avoid it forcing the bike in to low support mode.

 

[iainc]

Not so good to read about these extender issues... I bought one with my bike 3 weeks ago and have not used it yet. I haven’t used mission control to adjust any defaults and don’t plan to. I only use it to look at battery stats at the end of a ride as everything else is on Garmin and Strava.

I charged it up full when I got it home, so was planning to use it on a ride soon to hopefully leave both extender and main pack at about 50%, after which I’d take the extender off for storage until doing a bigger ride sometime after lockdown eases.

Is it likely to work properly ?

 

[apac]

I’m assuming you will only be able to drain either both at the same time from full charge or one at a time. If you have one battery at a fully charged 54v state and the other at a much lower State of charge such as 45v the cells will not be able to drain equally at the same time. The cells will drain at differing rates/speeds due to the energy left on them. However, I do not own SL to try for myself.

 

[iainc]

errr..no...I was planning to ride with both main battery and extender fully charged. The default is that they both discharge at the same rate..

 

[Moe Ped]

I found that when I set it to use range extender first there was a few minute period where the bike went into a low power mode when it was going flat and trying to switch over, typical it was right at the start of a climb. I have now put it back to use both at the same time.

 

[apac]

errr..no...I was planning to ride with both main battery and extender fully charged. The default is that they both discharge at the same rate..

so what’s your issue? your RE is currently sitting at full charge and hasn’t been discharged for a few weeks?

 

[MLX John]

Here's my 2 cents on my experience with the Levo and Levo SL.
Originally bought the Levo Comp. They are hard to find, bought the demo from my local lbs. Rode for 3 weeks. Liked it overall, but could not put much of a dent in the battery, and it's a handful on the descents. 52 pounds w/pedals.

Would do some big rides, 25-30 miles 3000 ft of climbing. Mostly in a dialed down eco mode, I'm still a masochist, have grown to embrace the suffering of a good climb in the 30 years I've been riding. I would end up with 50+ battery life. I also had a Hightower 2 cc with a pretty tight component group. I began to long for the assistance of a motor when riding the HT, and long for the agility and nimbleness of the HT when riding the Levo. I though to myself "Why am I carrying around a 700wh battery and a 565watt motor that I don't need?"

Since it was a demo, and they are good friends, the LBS agreed to take the Levo back (I took very good care of it, I'm a professional bike mechanic) and I bought an Expert Carbon SL they had in stock.

After 2 rides, I sold the Hightower. It's that good, and feels like a good long travel trail bike. It also has more than enough power, I'm a relatively fit/strong old man (50 years). Put my Spec Roval carbon/350 dt wheelset on the SL, added a Next R handlebar, and a 210x52.5 Factory DPX2. 39.35 pounds with XT pedals. I"m somewhere around 190/195 pounds ready to ride depending on how much water I'm carrying.

Here's an excerpt I posted on another bike enthusiast website describing my latest experience w/ the SL (High altitude/mountainous New Mexico terrain. Started the following ride @ 6200 feet)

Did another big ride on the Levo SL this weekend. Went with two friends, one on a Spec Epic hardtail, the other on a Santa Cruz Blur. Super fast guys, they would usually have to wait for me at certain points on rides.

They really pinned it this time, partly, I think, because I was on the SL. There's no way I would have been able to hang with their pace on a normal bike.

Rode mostly in eco, towards the end of the ride I was using more trail and occasionally turbo. All of these modes were dialed down using the Mission Control app. The stock power settings are 35/35 60/60 100/100
Here's a screenshot of the power setting I've been using:


Here are a couple of screenshots of the ride on Strava:



I was able to stay with them the whole ride, I was pretty tired at the end, but relatively fresh. I usually feel like I've been hit by an 18-wheeler at the end of these long rides.

Needless to say, I did drop them on the descents, and even though the Blur has a 120mm Sid w/35mm stanchions, and those guys are evenly matched with me on descent handling skills, no match for a 150/150 trail bike. The SL was a joy on the descents.

22% battery left, no range extender.

 

[LeeBoy]

No from my experience riding an SL and owning a 70nm bike, you will not get that WOW feeling from the SL compared to a full power bike. Nor will you be able to climb as fast or as steep as you can with full power. Riding with my equal ability friend Thursday on the 1st big climb I waited 5+ minutes for him to catch up and we were maybe halfway up the 4 mile climb. And I was holding back so I wouldn’t get further ahead and have to wait longer. This climb required me to ride in Boost a fair bit and I lost my 1st bar out of 5 only 3 miles into the ride/climb. He lost almost 30% of his 320wh battery in that distance. When he caught up with me while I was waiting he said he couldn’t believe how easily I pulled away on the steeps with my BMC.

The SL is a super nimble great handling machine and he was crushing the steep techy descents. I just could never give up the capability of full power and he mentions his curiosity of a regular Levo after every time I pull away literally leaving him in the dust on any climb.

I have a BMC Amp 2 and it is a great bike !

 

[TheBikePilot]

When we got the presentation from Specialized in South Africa they said that draining the RE first was not the optimal way of using the battery and there would be a significant drop off in power nearing the end of the RE's battery. Hence, don't do it.

Even on a standard Levo at 3-4 bars the power output is less as the Voltage drops from the battery.

The idea of using RE first is that if you have more than one, to use RE first and loop back and swap out for another. It's not recommended if your going to ride a normal loop with a RE to use that first, then switch to Main Battery. Go for dual discharge. You do need the Y lead to charge both.

Always go for dual discharge in MC if you have a single Range Extender plugged in.

Unless you're a machine I can't see a need to use 2 Range Extender's and the Main Battery, your're talking about a 50-60 mile loop and just swap the RE out when it drops if that's your bag. Rob and I rode and his discharge rate was almost identical to mine on the FF Levo.

@TomH Were both batteries fully charged? The software is smart and from what they said at the presentation it will balance them, but I would assume it needs them to be somewhere near equal to their full capacity or it might not handle the discharge of each efficiently. From what I remember of the talk they said with more than one Range Extender the logic should be in MC to use RE, RE, Main battery. Otherwise, with a RE and Battery, it was discharge both at the same time. That would imply, and I'm speculating, they all need to be at full capacity.

 

[MrBrownstone]

I have a BMC Amp 2 and it is a great bike !

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Amazing bike!!!! Awesome that you have one!!!!?