Reign E+ vs Levo? Chasing owners experiences!

[Oldhack79]

So I am pretty much sold on the Reign. Depends on the spec they bring to Oz in 23. But I do keep comparing these two as ‘my top 2’ So, has anyone here come over from the Specialized Levo? And if so, why?
I am weighing up pro’s and con’s for my next Ebike purchase and would love to hear peoples experiences that have owned or ridden both! Looking at the ‘comp alloy or comp carbon’ vs ‘E+1’ and cost for the spec is an obvious difference but I am really interested in peoples real world riding experiences/comparisons that have ridden both.
Thanks in advance…

 

[ilostmypassword]

From what i've read here - the Specialised has some reliability issues vs the Giant that seems to be pretty trustworthy.

I'm not on a Reign- but a Trance- and loving it 6 months in. I would have preferred the Reign- but happy with the performance of the Yamaha motor and feel of the ride.

 

[jeanmarc]

Funny, Reign vs Levo were my top two choices as well beginning of 2022.
I went with Reign E+2. Both bikes can be tuned to a very similar geometry with advantage Levo on configurability and weight. In the end, components/price ratio, availability and LBS location made the difference for me. I absolutely don’t regret the purchase at all.
If I was to buy a new bike in 2023, these two would probably be again top of list. Some riding buddies have Gen2 Levos, they had issues with motor (more than once) yet Spesh warranty took good care of them. Cheers!

 

[Oldhack79]

Thanks for the responses

 

[jeanmarc]

I’m surprised by so little answers, this is a comparison many must have done prior to purchase…?

 

[Oldhack79]

Y

I’m surprised by so little answers, this is a comparison many must have done prior to purchase…?

Yeah I thought so too!

 

[Rando_12345]

I would absolutely love the same feedback, but I think you will have more luck finding people going from Giant to Specialised than the other way around. I have had bikes from both (mtbs rather than emtbs), and generally Giant are a great bargain, decent bike, whereas Specialised are an expensive, less good value but unique features kind of bike. So in some ways it could be considered as a downgrade.

In this case, I was really getting serious about selling both me ebike and regular mtb to get a levo, but having participated in a race recently, I got so much feedback from riders with horror stories from the spesh motor there is no way I am willing to pay so much for bad specs and unreliable motor. One guy was telling me 5 motors in a year, the other one had just had his motor die the week before on a 2 month old bike.

 

[Oldhack79]

Than

I would absolutely love the same feedback, but I think you will have more luck finding people going from Giant to Specialised than the other way around. I have had bikes from both (mtbs rather than emtbs), and generally Giant are a great bargain, decent bike, whereas Specialised are an expensive, less good value but unique features kind of bike. So in some ways it could be considered as a downgrade.

In this case, I was really getting serious about selling both me ebike and regular mtb to get a levo, but having participated in a race recently, I got so much feedback from riders with horror stories from the spesh motor there is no way I am willing to pay so much for bad specs and unreliable motor. One guy was telling me 5 motors in a year, the other one had just had his motor die the week before on a 2 month old bike.

ks for the response and you make some good points. I am just looking for any feedback I can get because as you say, Spesh are very expensive by comparison and then there are the horror stories…

 

[malc101]

Giant has had water issues and spesh has had motor failures. Both seem to be mostly sorted. I’ve put a few thousand miles on 21 and 22 levos with no issues. I like the smooth and quiet if the spesh motor over my 21 Trance E+. I think that the spesh comp models are better equipped. Spesh is constantly improving their app and firmware Giant not. My 700wh Levo is way lighter than my giant trance with 625 +240wh booster and gets the same range because the Giant booster is ineptly integrated. As a company spesh seems much more dedicated to improvements and customer service.

 

[Kingerz]

I have a 2018 Kenevo (now used for lending to friends), and switched to a Trance for the 2021 model. It was just WAY better value, it's not even comparable, I am talking about AU$10500 vs AU$7500 for comparable specs at the time. I had no problems with the Kenevo, mind you. It's a great bike, but so is the Giant. I could go into quite a few differences, but then the Kenevo is an older bike with a 500Wh battery and 27 wheels, so it's not really important. They just are overpriced to the point of being left out of my picture. Giant needs better paint quality, though, I will mention that. The Giant app is poor but I never use it as all the info is on my Garmin. The Specialized app always says the battery is "100% health" which is a pure lie as I only get about 20k from it these days.

There is just no need for Specialized to charge so much more EXCEPT for ONE big thing. The warranty is 2 years on Giant and 4 years on Specialized (In Australia). This is actually a big thing.

The decider was Giant has shops much closer to me, they had lots of stock in the lockdown era and offered $1K off straight up (it would have been $8500 otherwise). The 2022 models I would have avoided as they are new and I would not be a Bata tester on any new model, but the 2023 bikes are looking great. At this point, I'll look to get a new Reign or Trance in 24 or 25. Specialized would not be in the picture unless they became real about prices. Trek are too much in Australia as well. I would also look at Cube and Scott maybe? I won't touch a Shimano-motored bike but there are Merida and Norco if you want to go that way.

 

[Sherman]

I've had Levo 2017 and Kenevo 2020, currently riding Reign E+2.

Although I never had the need to change the motor, there were almost always some smaller or bigger issues. Faulty battery, creaking, broken covers. I have to say after sales support was excellent with Specialized, faulty battery was exchanged even after the warranty had expired.

Major need for Giant was that a removable battery makes my life so much easier. Also, I never really connected with the Kenevo. The Reign just works for me, geometry, handling and suspension are spot on. Yamaha motor has been flawless so far. After a year I'm still very happy and I have no urge for a new bike.

I have to say Brose motor is sooooo creamy smooth. In the league of its own, as long as it works. But overall, Reign for me works much better.

 

[Oldhack79]

Th

I have a 2018 Kenevo (now used for lending to friends), and switched to a Trance for the 2021 model. It was just WAY better value, it's not even comparable, I am talking about AU$10500 vs AU$7500 for comparable specs at the time. I had no problems with the Kenevo, mind you. It's a great bike, but so is the Giant. I could go into quite a few differences, but then the Kenevo is an older bike with a 500Wh battery and 27 wheels, so it's not really important. They just are overpriced to the point of being left out of my picture. Giant needs better paint quality, though, I will mention that. The Giant app is poor but I never use it as all the info is on my Garmin. The Specialized app always says the battery is "100% health" which is a pure lie as I only get about 20k from it these days.

There is just no need for Specialized to charge so much more EXCEPT for ONE big thing. The warranty is 2 years on Giant and 4 years on Specialized (In Australia). This is actually a big thing.

The decider was Giant has shops much closer to me, they had lots of stock in the lockdown era and offered $1K off straight up (it would have been $8500 otherwise). The 2022 models I would have avoided as they are new and I would not be a Bata tester on any new model, but the 2023 bikes are looking great. At this point, I'll look to get a new Reign or Trance in 24 or 25. Specialized would not be in the picture unless they became real about prices. Trek are too much in Australia as well. I would also look at Cube and Scott maybe? I won't touch a Shimano-motored bike but there are Merida and Norco if you want to go that way.

View attachment 101618

Thanks for the detailed response and I agree with many of the points you make

 

[Oldhack79]

Tha

I've had Levo 2017 and Kenevo 2020, currently riding Reign E+2.

Although I never had the need to change the motor, there were almost always some smaller or bigger issues. Faulty battery, creaking, broken covers. I have to say after sales support was excellent with Specialized, faulty battery was exchanged even after the warranty had expired.

Major need for Giant was that a removable battery makes my life so much easier. Also, I never really connected with the Kenevo. The Reign just works for me, geometry, handling and suspension are spot on. Yamaha motor has been flawless so far. After a year I'm still very happy and I have no urge for a new bike.

I have to say Brose motor is sooooo creamy smooth. In the league of its own, as long as it works. But overall, Reign for me works much better.

Thank you for this info. Good to hear the pro’s and con’s.
Any issues with BB height creating pedal strike issues with the Reign? I read in a few places this is one of the main gripes with the current model.

 

[Oldhack79]

I have a 2018 Kenevo (now used for lending to friends), and switched to a Trance for the 2021 model. It was just WAY better value, it's not even comparable, I am talking about AU$10500 vs AU$7500 for comparable specs at the time. I had no problems with the Kenevo, mind you. It's a great bike, but so is the Giant. I could go into quite a few differences, but then the Kenevo is an older bike with a 500Wh battery and 27 wheels, so it's not really important. They just are overpriced to the point of being left out of my picture. Giant needs better paint quality, though, I will mention that. The Giant app is poor but I never use it as all the info is on my Garmin. The Specialized app always says the battery is "100% health" which is a pure lie as I only get about 20k from it these days.

There is just no need for Specialized to charge so much more EXCEPT for ONE big thing. The warranty is 2 years on Giant and 4 years on Specialized (In Australia). This is actually a big thing.

The decider was Giant has shops much closer to me, they had lots of stock in the lockdown era and offered $1K off straight up (it would have been $8500 otherwise). The 2022 models I would have avoided as they are new and I would not be a Bata tester on any new model, but the 2023 bikes are looking great. At this point, I'll look to get a new Reign or Trance in 24 or 25. Specialized would not be in the picture unless they became real about prices. Trek are too much in Australia as well. I would also look at Cube and Scott maybe? I won't touch a Shimano-motored bike but there are Merida and Norco if you want to go that way.

View attachment 101618

Thanks for that. You make good points both on the value proposition and the warranty support!

 

[ironmanalishi]

My reign (2022) has been back with the major supplying dealer for a month with all sorts of weak excuses for not getting it sorted….my mates with Spesh seem to be in and out within a couple of hours,even with catastrophic issues….wish I’d spent the extra now as a month off the trails with no immediate end in sight is getting old!

Giant if you are watching this forum pm me and ask why I’m so dissatisfied !

 

[jeanmarc]

Seems more of a dealer issue than a Giant issue..?

 

[Basek]

It's a Giant issue. The motor are getting overheated in every climb when is outside temperature over 22 degrees. Before service update you see how the power of support is automatically lowered on the indicator lights, now it's yust cut the power and indicators are like everything it's ok