Levo SL Gen 1 Rode an SL last night... WOW!

[ImSundee]

I personally agree the 34s are under forking this bike. I am trying to decide between lyrics and Zebs for mine. I'm thinking more Zebs.

 

[KeithR]

I don't know what other forks you have tried but maybe they are the best forks you have ridden?

You make a lot of assumptions about other people, I notice.

I've been riding mountain bikes of all sorts, in every MTB discipline, since the early '90s, and frankly there's not much I haven't ridden.

And yes, I may well be a smoother rider than you - when I started riding, suspension forks were crappy, flexy, low-travel things, and I learned long ago to be light on the front end - but that's beside the point.

You called 34s "flimsy", remember? It's a nonsensical description of them, and you were picked up on it: don't try "maybe I know more than you?" to justify what by any measure was an unsupportable, hyperbolic comment that deserved to be challenged.

Nobody disputes that there are stiffer forks out there, But how stiff (or "flimsy") in reality?

For example, the new 38mm Zebs are only 7% stiffer laterally, 2% stiffer front-to-back: these measurements will have been made with the fork extended, where they're not as strong (longer levers) than they are when they're packed into their travel - in other words, when being ridden in anger.

You can't feel 2 - 7% when you're hammering the bike. You just can't.

Yes, they're also 20% stiffer torsionally, but again, when the bike is being ragged and the forks are well into their travel (the very point when people tend to complain about their forks, in other words), this won't be nearly as obvious: the crown and brace will be more meaningfully involved in providing additional rigidity at this point than the bigger stanchions (which will be a long way into - and supported by - the lowers), which I'm happy to concede is likely to be felt by the rider - the lowers and the crown are delivering much of the measurable stiffness improvement at that point.

The bigger stanchions? Not so much. They'll help - and by definition, bigger stanchions = bigger, stronger crown and lowers - but of themselves, they're not the significant part of the equation. A Fox 34 with Zeb-standard crown and lowers would be more of an improvement, other things being equal, than a Fox 36 fork where nothing changes but the stanchion size.

In fact, I'll bet that there's as much difference in stiffness between two otherwise identical forks, where one has a lightweight QR, and the other comes with a bolt-in axle.

And TBH, the truth is that when most people complain about being under-forked, it's often the internals that are letting them down.

I'd agree that the Fox 34's internals aren't as sophisticated as other options, and I can see them being overfaced on an aggressive, big-hit run: but not because they're "flimsy." They're precisely where they need to be in terms of meeting their design brief, and the fact that some riders might prefer a stiffer fork does not mean that the 34 isn't just as stiff as it's supposed to be.

And - in particular - plenty stiff enough for most SL riders, I'll bet.

Specialized isn't new to this stuff - they know how to throw a a bike together...

 

[BigFoot]

Rode acoustics for years, but knee issues really took their toLe. Got a full expert levo last year. Really nice, but never could get comfortable on it, too long, too heavy, at least for me. As soon as I heard about the SL, I sold the full size and went SL. For me, it‘s just a better bike. I don’t need the big levo motor. Just enough to help keep me on the trails when my knees are hurting me. I ride with two guys who still have full size levos and I can keep up with them unless they are on full turbo, which they rarely do. When I ride my full size levo, I kept wishing I could have a stumpjumper with a motor and that’s basically what the SL is. Love it.

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Nice bike
Is that the James river in Richmond?

 

[BigFoot]

As a long time Levo owner I finally had a chance to put some miles on my buddie's SL Expert Carbon yesterday. We did a 16 mile ride through one of our local riding areas. The topography was moderate, 1,246 elevation gain. I was able to keep up with my buddy on his acoustic bike, who I would NEVER be able to keep up with on my acoustic. This location is pretty tight and riding my Levo there is a bit of overkill and a bit much to handle in the tight stuff. This felt like I was riding my regular bike and I was 30 years old, instead of 61. I'm not sure it's in the budget to add an SL anytime soon, but I'm going to guess that it's going to happen at some point, perhaps next model year.

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Hi Grantini
I like your post( when you know you have a problem )?
Nice bike.
I finally see someone who ride Ebikes that is not too far away, I haven’t ridden White Clay in years.
it would be fun to bring my Levo out and ride with you guys.

 

[grantini]

Hi Grantini
I like your post( when you know you have a problem )?
Nice bike.
I finally see someone who ride Ebikes that is not too far away, I haven’t ridden White Clay in years.
it would be fun to bring my Levo out and ride with you guys.

I rode wcmr tonight. Brandywine tomorrow!