Levo SL Gen 1 Official Levo SL Thread

KnollyBro

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Dec 3, 2020
1,015
2,373
Vancouver
I can't provide with a method to quantify the difference, but GCN once did a climbing test where they added a few kg and it was absolutely a difference there. Interesting and entertaining test!
From my experience, weight reduction of a bike itself significantly changes the handling of the bike. You will definitely get more pop, improved turning e t c from a 1.4 kg reduction in weight. In terms of faster speeds when just pedalling on a fire road, I don't thing there is much of a difference on an eMTB but as soon as you hit the trails and start flying over things...

EDIT: As an answer to your question(s), there are improvements in the handling of the bike that you will not get from losing a few kg in body weight instead. It's a weird thing that I cannot properly explain with physics.

Thank you for the road bike video as it actually does attempt to provide data that can be observed and retested. Unfortunately, for most mountain bikers, climbing is NOT the most important element of their ride. For me, the down is far more important than the up. As for your experience of a change in 1.4 kg providing a significant change in the handling of a bike, I would have to disagree as there are several other variables involved such as: type of trail, rider skill and fitness and the of course, bike setup. Having ridden Whistler, Squamish and the North Shore for over 10 years on a 43 lb DH bike (Knolly Podium) and a 34 lb All mountain bike (Knolly Chilcotin and Warden), it is my experience that having durable, mid range parts that are correctly serviced and setup makes much more of a difference than the 10 lb difference in weigh of bikes. I will be the first to admit that one can get bounced around and shaken up more on the lighter bike but that comes down to skill and fitness and your choice of trail.
In the end, we are riding ebikes here and they will weigh more than an All mountain/Trail bike but if they are setup properly, you shouldn't have to have the latest, greatest and lightest to have fun. Save your money and take a road trip to a new place to ride, once the pandemic is over.
 
Thank you for the road bike video as it actually does attempt to provide data that can be observed and retested. Unfortunately, for most mountain bikers, climbing is NOT the most important element of their ride. For me, the down is far more important than the up. As for your experience of a change in 1.4 kg providing a significant change in the handling of a bike, I would have to disagree as there are several other variables involved such as: type of trail, rider skill and fitness and the of course, bike setup. Having ridden Whistler, Squamish and the North Shore for over 10 years on a 43 lb DH bike (Knolly Podium) and a 34 lb All mountain bike (Knolly Chilcotin and Warden), it is my experience that having durable, mid range parts that are correctly serviced and setup makes much more of a difference than the 10 lb difference in weigh of bikes. I will be the first to admit that one can get bounced around and shaken up more on the lighter bike but that comes down to skill and fitness and your choice of trail.
In the end, we are riding ebikes here and they will weigh more than an All mountain/Trail bike but if they are setup properly, you shouldn't have to have the latest, greatest and lightest to have fun. Save your money and take a road trip to a new place to ride, once the pandemic is over.
If you are only looking at downhill performance, that extra weight clearly does not matter. Most analogue DH bikes weigh, as you already know, around 20 kg and are focused towards high speed stability rather than pop and play on "normal" trails. Downhill is an entirely different category. My point is, maybe you should have specified "downhill" in your post?
 

SquireRides

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Sep 4, 2018
540
557
UK
Got another question RE: Range Extender...

It seems that when Mission control is set to "discharge range extender first", when I get to 10% it goes into limp mode and only until range extender depleted can I get back the power of main battery. Does turning this toggle off in MC make the bike pull from both batteries simultaneosly or does the main get to 10%, and then go to limp before starting on the extender?

(Late reply)

My experience is that if you set MC to drain the RE first you will literally drain the RE to more or less nothing and in doing so the bike will reduce power massively as it goes below 10% - as you observed.

However at that point MC has refused to switch to 'drain both together' mode. I suspect because the voltage available from a full main battery and an almost dead RE is not compatible.

At that point the only solution I found to get power back was to physically unplug the RE, thus forcing a switch to main battery.

This is a PITA and has stopped me relying on 'drain RE first' mode. It would be great if this mode intelligently switched to the main battery at the point it would otherwise throttle power on the RE.

99% of the time it makes sense to drain both together. You only go in to limp mode when both batteries are depleted. However there are situations where I want to drain the RE first - On very very long rides where I either carry a second RE or I have the charger (easier to charge the RE inside the cafe then wheel my bike in!)
 

squeegee

Well-known member
Aug 19, 2019
373
281
USA
On a wide open day at the right trails, I like the idea of spending the RE first and if I'm near the car or a safe place, dropping off the RE to pull the 2.2lbs off the bike. It would be ideal to be able to do this without having 20-30 minutes of forced Eco mode. Why can't MC detect low charge on the RE and then kick in the main? Clearly this should be possible. Nit picky I guess but hitting the limp mode in the middle of a ride is a buzz kill. Stopping to pull out your phone to change modes and power cycling the bike to avoid limp mode is on RE is also a buzz kill.

May be a worthwhile suggestion to Specialized.
 

ridingintheoc

New Member
Dec 15, 2020
7
4
California
On a wide open day at the right trails, I like the idea of spending the RE first and if I'm near the car or a safe place, dropping off the RE to pull the 2.2lbs off the bike. It would be ideal to be able to do this without having 20-30 minutes of forced Eco mode. Why can't MC detect low charge on the RE and then kick in the main? Clearly this should be possible. Nit picky I guess but hitting the limp mode in the middle of a ride is a buzz kill. Stopping to pull out your phone to change modes and power cycling the bike to avoid limp mode is on RE is also a buzz kill.

May be a worthwhile suggestion to Specialized.
I agree. You should write an email to them and hopefully they update the firmware to fix this issue!
 

KnollyBro

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Dec 3, 2020
1,015
2,373
Vancouver
If you are only looking at downhill performance, that extra weight clearly does not matter. Most analogue DH bikes weigh, as you already know, around 20 kg and are focused towards high speed stability rather than pop and play on "normal" trails. Downhill is an entirely different category. My point is, maybe you should have specified "downhill" in your post?

To be clear, the OP started with the question of whether it was worth buying an aluminum SL vs a carbon SL mentioning that the £1500 difference in cost was worth it in terms of durability and weight savings "which is roughly £1 per gram in weight saving". From my experience and my use of my mountain bikes, I think it is ridiculous to spend THAT kind of money of such marginal weight savings (for example: XO1 cassette @ $500 to save 200 grams!).
I am not sure what you mean by "normal trails" but I expect a bike that I paid $10k to be able to handle all the trails I care to ride. We don't have categories assigned to trails that specify or require a specific bike to be able to ride them. Any All Mountain bike (a bike you can ride up a climbing trail but still has plenty of pop, when pointed downhill) bike should be more than capable of handling the Black and Double Black trails around here. It comes down to skill and fitness, not bike weight. I bought an ebike to continue to ride the trials I enjoy while recovering from an injury. I may be way off for those that like to ride XC all day, flat out in turbo, but that is an entirely different category. ;)
 

MLX John

Active member
Jun 20, 2020
88
111
albuquerque, nm
A X01 cassette will last somewhere around 4-6k miles, where as a GX will get you 1500 miles if you're lucky. Also carbon doesn't have fatigue like steel and aluminum bikes.

Some people may not notice (or care) about the ride/dampening quality of a carbon frame, but it's real. Then there's the bling factor, although those raw aluminum Levo frames are dope.
 

Killswitch73

Well-known member
Sep 15, 2018
373
231
West Midlands
Will just put this here , 17,4kg .

A83582CB-F333-4AD4-A54C-3BE43672668A.jpeg
 

motivio

Member
Apr 30, 2020
13
0
Germany
Can anybody tell me which spacer size is in the Fox Racing Shox Float DPX2 on the Levo SL?
Is it the standard 0.6 Spacer or a smaller size?
 

KnollyBro

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Dec 3, 2020
1,015
2,373
Vancouver
Two Exits. The entrance to this rock is a 6" skinny with 10" drop and a half wheel space cut out of it (Squirrel catcher) to a 12" by 4 feet setup bridge. Getting on to this feature is the most difficult. Getting off, is easy. Slippery when wet ;). Long live the mullet :cool:.

Pangor Rock. Mount. Seymour. North Shore, Vancouver.

Pangor.jpg


If you would like to see the entire trail, check out the link below:

 
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Mtbvkk

Member
Feb 21, 2020
120
79
Seattle, wa
Just picked up my new frame build (purchased frame at old price). Love the raw carbon. Used invisiframe since ridewrap isn’t available for a small frame. Have to say I prefer ridewrap from previous experiences. Seams are not well designed with invisiframe and very visible. But it will protect this investment. I’d posted earlier about the frame and build and wanting to source parts myself but I since learnt that custom builds at this shop were too good to pass up if you bought the frame from them and went for it. Discounted parts at 6-9% and no labor.

C7BC1F72-DD79-49CD-956F-7AD459B2C301.jpeg

D01B1E50-B4E6-4D67-A618-2E318C5D676C.jpeg
 
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KnollyBro

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Dec 3, 2020
1,015
2,373
Vancouver
Just picked up my new frame build (purchased frame at old price). Love the raw carbon. Used invisiframe since ridewrap isn’t available for a small frame. Have to say I prefer ridewrap from previous experiences. Seams not well designed with invisiframe and very visible. But it will protect this investment. I’d posted earlier about the frame and build and wanting to source parts myself but I since learnt that custom builds at this shop were too good to pass up if you bought the frame from them and went for it. Discounted parts at 6-9% and no labor.

View attachment 55060
View attachment 55061
How much for just the frame? Where did you get it?
 

Mtbvkk

Member
Feb 21, 2020
120
79
Seattle, wa
Thanks for info. I have been to Fanatik before. Good LBS. I see that it is an SWORKS frame. What it the difference between an SWORKS frame and a Comp Carbon frame?
Same frame - but it comes with carbon cranks, range extender and fox factory dpx. At current prices I spent less than a new expert, with components I like and invisiframe installed and a range extender battery.

The only other difference is that raw carbon seems to be available only in the higher priced variations. Frankly, I’d have bought a comp if it was available at the older price but this was the only thing I saw in my size anywhere. But in the end it turned out to be a better deal at current prices and availability. I wasn’t looking for an s-works necessarily, just a small frame. But now that I have it I do love it. LOL
 
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Chicane

Active member
Nov 11, 2020
367
321
SoCal
Same frame - but it comes with carbon cranks, range extender and fox factory dpx. At current prices I spent less than a new expert, with components I like and invisiframe installed and a range extender battery.

The only other difference is that raw carbon seems to be available only in the higher priced variations. Frankly, I’d have bought a comp if it was available at the older price but this was the only thing I saw in my size anywhere. But in the end it turned out to be a better deal at current prices and availability. I wasn’t looking for an s-works necessarily, just a small frame. But now that I have it I do love it. LOL
The Large SL frame has been sold out for several months now. What size of frame did you get?
 

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