Article Specialized Levo SL is a 16.9KG Super Light emtb

[miPbiP]

Surprised that no one has commented on the Levo SL tires. There is absolutely no way I will ever go back to 2.3 inch tires ever again with our frequently wet greasy off-camber roots. 2.8 was too cumbersome but 2.5/2.6 is the sweet spot for me with a Hillbilly front and rear presently. Can run lower pressure which softens the trail chatter considerably and the new hillbilly sidewalls are quite stiff with good support.
Problem is they're heavier than 2.3 inch tires, and then you need a 200 mm rotor on that rear brake for our long, high speed downhill runs and most of my rides would need the second battery, all of which is going to push the weight up to where is maybe only 4-5 pounds lighter than my present 2020 Levo Sworks. Yawn. And only time will tell whether our frequent top of the mountain six hr rides would possibly need a second booster battery in a pack as well. Yikes 2-3 lbs lighter.
Our mountains are steep and I repeatedly need every single one of those 90 Newton meters in Turbo to make it up the section even being one of the strongest climbers in our area. In fact we have run out of juice on the early rides with even the 700 Wh hour battery and I have had to boost trail mode up to maxing out at 75% to try to stay out of turbo mode more in order to make the battery last the whole ride. The problem with the smart function is it won't even let you access turbo mode on steep climbs for that length of a ride, and so it's not very useful for us.
No way this bike would work for me, which is really nice because I just bought the sucker this year ha ha. So really nice bike to drool over but it's just not for me and I'll bet that'll turn out to be pretty common actually among aggressive ebike riders. I'll be watching to see how many others say the same. Seen a few comments already.

yeah sneaky weight save on the tyres.

I think the SL is not so suitable for mountainous terrain or winch and plummet riding.

But where I live is hilly not mountainous and my riding is "aggressive XC" with flow and singletrack - I think it'll be great. Still think I'd put 2.6 on!

 

[Fivetones]

If you ride in trail. This is not the bike for you

I have Trail set to low and I’m light so are you saying that the SL would be like Shimano’s Eco mode all the time? I’m not sure that holds does it?

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Rob how tall you areand wichsize the sl on test,ty

6’3” / 191cm and I rode the XL

 

[iainc]

So for height of 5ft 9 and inside leg of 30, medium or large ?
Definitely going to get a demo on one of these..

 

[Fivetones]

So for height of 5ft 9 and inside leg of 30, medium or large ?
Definitely going to get a demo on one of these..

I’m about that size. When I was in the market for the Levo I demo’ed the medium. It was a little small for my tastes. I think large might be more fro my taste at least. It depends how long you like the reach. What’s the reach on your current bike?

 

[Blinkie]

So for height of 5ft 9 and inside leg of 30, medium or large ?
Definitely going to get a demo on one of these..

I'd say a Large, Medium felt too cramped

on a good day I'm 5'8" sat on a M and L yesterday. Got a L booked to demo over weekend. Will see how that goes.

 

[Blinkie]

Can anyone clarify what the angles are on the HT with flip chip?

owners manual say 66 /66.5

Elsewhere say 66/ 65.5

View attachment 25499

View attachment 25500

@Rob Hancill any clarity on this?

or anyone else ?

 

[iainc]

. What’s the reach on your current bike?

447 and 445, which would say I should be on large, but think I’d have to get the dropper sized down to a 125mm as currently bikes have seat tubes of 440 and I can just get a 150 dropper in..

 

[Fivetones]

I have Trail set to low and I’m light so are you saying that the SL would be like Shimano’s Eco mode all the time? I’m not sure that holds does it?

“The Turbo Levo now features 5 different modes, Eco, Trail, Turbo, as well as two further modes which are accessed directly from the Mission Control app, Stealth and Shuttle.”

Does anyone know if this still holds for the SL? What’s Shuttle mode like? I’d like to know the extent of the compromise.

The reason for these questions? I’ve recently had a change in the extent of my disability and the lighter bike would really help (I’ve always built very light bikes), however due to the nature of my disability the ability to power up a hill helps on my bad days. Shimano’s Boost is always overkill so I know I can compromise but it would be nice to understand more before I have a test ride (which is a must, of course).

I know there’s a few other people on here with disabilities, whether that is arthritis, post-op, etc. People’s requirements are wide and complex but that’s the beauty of ebikes!

 

[Beekeeper]

Selecting your desired heart rate and the bike adjusting assistance to maintain this rate is a fantastic feature for fitness training. Surely all manufacturers must follow suit on this. Come on Cube!!! ?

 

[Santa]

Ñ
36 factory: +100grs
X2: +200grs
2 Eliminator black dmnd: +200g
Extender 160w: 1kg
----> Levo Sl alloy: 20.9, but the extender you can put in the bag for downhill. 19.90... change cassete NX for X01. 350grs. 19.65kg And tubeless off course, another grams..
Your welcome!

Interesting, thanks for putting in the research. So 20.9 kg (because you’re still carrying the extender even if it’s in your pack) + 1.5 kg is 22.4kg compared to 23.1 kg for the Decoy.

In all cases, probably still an apples to oranges comparison. Those are two bikes with very different purposes/intended markets. Plus so many other factors will affect how the bikes fells and rides. But you gotta give it to Spech, this is a very well executed big step that will open up a new segment in the industry.

 

[SquireRides]

OKay, final question before I go order one, I promise:

Can anyone give me the down tube dimensions? If I'm gonna get this bike it needs to replace my eeeb and acoustic bike. One of the more esoteric requirements being it can be transported on the roof rack. So does it fit in a Thule ProRide with the downtube grippy arm thing? Apparently the grippy arm thing will fit 80mm wide by 100mm deep...

Thule ProRide

EDIT: Fudge it, i could always just buy the £180 Thule UpRide if i have to...

 

[p3eps]

I'd say a Large, Medium felt too cramped

on a good day I'm 5'8" sat on a M and L yesterday. Got a L booked to demo over weekend. Will see how that goes.

How do you get a weekend demo with EBC? I was going to go in on my way home from work for a look. I'd love to try one at Pitfichie or something to see how the power compares to my Rail. I'm somewhere between 6ft 1 and 6ft 2 - and judging by the reach etc, the XL would be almost the same as my L Rail.

 

[Fivetones]

“The Turbo Levo now features 5 different modes, Eco, Trail, Turbo, as well as two further modes which are accessed directly from the Mission Control app, Stealth and Shuttle.”

Does anyone know if this still holds for the SL? What’s Shuttle mode like? I’d like to know the extent of the compromise.

Ok I can answer my own question here for the Shimano e8000. The reason I couldn’t is that I’m 5 weeks post major operation however went out for the first time (light duty!). Anyway, in case anyone else is interested.

I fired up Stepsunlocker and adjusted Trail and Eco modes to 240 watts, 35nm torque. These will behave differently as Steps Trail mode responds to input more - like the Levo does in the main assist modes.

Most of my usual running is in the Calder Valley but I’m not there right now so only small hills but I can confirm that choosing the right cadence I think I might be able to live with the reduced level of assistance if the bike is more nimble.

Only a test ride will confirm so that might be a few weeks yet.

 

[ccrdave]

ok so I sort get the weight thing but unless you can afford the 10k for the s works SL what actually is the weight difference between say a levo carbon expert and the SL carbon?
Isn't the pop and flick effect of the SL more down to the shorter chainstays than the lighter weight?

 

[miPbiP]

“The Turbo Levo now features 5 different modes, Eco, Trail, Turbo, as well as two further modes which are accessed directly from the Mission Control app, Stealth and Shuttle.”

Does anyone know if this still holds for the SL? What’s Shuttle mode like? I’d like to know the extent of the compromise.

The reason for these questions? I’ve recently had a change in the extent of my disability and the lighter bike would really help (I’ve always built very light bikes), however due to the nature of my disability the ability to power up a hill helps on my bad days. Shimano’s Boost is always overkill so I know I can compromise but it would be nice to understand more before I have a test ride (which is a must, of course).

I know there’s a few other people on here with disabilities, whether that is arthritis, post-op, etc. People’s requirements are wide and complex but that’s the beauty of ebikes!

presumably you can still power up hills, you just may go slower for a given pedal effort.

there are probably edge cases where a full gas Levo will get a rider up something an SL won't. do they matter? (not to me, it's right out on the edge of the envelope).

 

[Fivetones]

ok so I sort get the weight thing but unless you can afford the 10k for the s works SL what actually is the weight difference between say a levo carbon expert and the SL carbon?
Isn't the pop and flick effect of the SL more down to the shorter chainstays than the lighter weight?

16.95kg for S-Works. 17.7kg for Expert Carbon. (I expect this is with tubes in).

Expert Carbon source: Specialized Levo SL Expert Carbon on test – mountain biking will never be the same! | ENDURO Mountainbike Magazine the S-Works is here: Exclusive review: New sub 17 kg Specialized S-Works Levo SL 2020 with a brand new motor concept – a new way of riding bikes? | E-MOUNTAINBIKE Magazine

Rob’s thread on his XL Comp Carbon is something like 18.5kg with pedals and tubeless.

Levo SL Owners Thread - EMTB Forums

 

[Fivetones]

presumably you can still power up hills, you just may go slower for a given pedal effort.

there are probably edge cases where a full gas Levo will get a rider up something an SL won't. do they matter? (not to me, it's right out on the edge of the envelope).

Yes, I’m pretty confident no incline will be a problem in my case. Just slower and maybe being more conscious of cadence (which matters less on the SL compared to the e8000 anyway - Specialized pride themselves on the flatter torque curve - see Rob’s interview with Marco Sonderegger here: Specialized Levo SL - Is the motor tough enough? - EMTB Forums).

 

[ccrdave]

16.95kg for S-Works. 17.7kg for Expert Carbon. (I expect this is with tubes in).

Expert Carbon source: Specialized Levo SL Expert Carbon on test – mountain biking will never be the same! | ENDURO Mountainbike Magazine the S-Works is here: Exclusive review: New sub 17 kg Specialized S-Works Levo SL 2020 with a brand new motor concept – a new way of riding bikes? | E-MOUNTAINBIKE Magazine

thank you, so add the range extender to the expert and you get what 18.5kgs? my wifes s works levo with a 500w battery is under 19kgs

 

[Fivetones]

thank you, so add the range extender to the expert and you get what 18.5kgs? my wifes s works levo with a 500w battery is under 19kgs

18.7kg as I think the 160watt extender is 1kg. That sounds low for the S-Works full fat Levo but if so that’s impressive.

 

[Blinkie]

How do you get a weekend demo with EBC? I was going to go in on my way home from work for a look. I'd love to try one at Pitfichie or something to see how the power compares to my Rail. I'm somewhere between 6ft 1 and 6ft 2 - and judging by the reach etc, the XL would be almost the same as my L Rail.

went into shop and arranged it with them. Only had M and L in demo I think

 

[ccrdave]

its a medium, tubes chucked and lightweight tyres fitted. Plus a couple of other tweaks including a 500wh battery.
I think factory specced its 20.5kgs with a 700wh battery

 

[miPbiP]

Black SL Expert in the window of Ace Cycles, Merrow. Lush. (Not the best photo).

I'm currently researching second hand values for my 6 month old Carbon Comp. I could be in trouble here.

 

[p3eps]

went into shop and arranged it with them. Only had M and L in demo I think

I'll ask when I go in tonight. Which models do they have?
I assume you have to leave a credit card or something?

 

[Levo Laland]

I think the title on the thread should make it clear that the the16kg bike is £11k!

 

[Levo Laland]

Anyone know the weights for the 3 lower models, I’ve only seen them for the S Works and Expert. Base must be pushing 20kg with extender battery?

 

[Blinkie]

I'll ask when I go in tonight. Which models do they have?
I assume you have to leave a credit card or something?

Display was expert and comp I think.

Demo coming up from somewhere and is an expert, yes they take a swipe of credit card, refunded on return

 

[Jim25]

Interesting, thanks for putting in the research. So 20.9 kg (because you’re still carrying the extender even if it’s in your pack) + 1.5 kg is 22.4kg compared to 23.1 kg for the Decoy.

In all cases, probably still an apples to oranges comparison. Those are two bikes with very different purposes/intended markets. Plus so many other factors will affect how the bikes fells and rides. But you gotta give it to Spech, this is a very well executed big step that will open up a new segment in the industry.

You can get the Trek rail 9.9 that weighs in at 21.33kg.
Bigger battery, better range.

 

[p3eps]

Display was expert and comp I think.

Demo coming up from somewhere and is an expert, yes they take a swipe of credit card, refunded on return

£50 a day for the demo? I wonder if they have more than 1 available. Might ask for a midweek one as the trails would be empty.

 

[Whizz]

Take a 2020 Levo S-Works with same equipment than the SL and 500Wh battery => 19,6kg

Take a Levo SL with extender (total 480Wh)
18, 2kg

Less power, less autonomy and flexibility for only 1,4 kg, non sense for me