The Official BLEvo Thread

[ccrdave]

I think its a misconception that people use Blevo to just derestrict their bikes, it does do so much more than that.
If you want to just derestrict a simple bluetooth editor is all you need.
I would be interested in your opinion as to how using a third party app places any liability on specialized,
I do understand you have a very litigious system in the U.S

 

[bekolu]

All of my carbon bikes are sold out and it’s going to be months before we get more.

I think the reason for that is that demand is by far higher than the number of bikes availble for sale - as simple as that. But this situation will not last forever and in future software to setup your bike individually will be one of the key selling points. Bike stores will have to invest in key staff having software know-how, too. Until now this rarely happens...

 

[R120]

99% of people looking to buy a levo wont have a clue what BeLevo is - i very much doubt ability to use it will have any impact on sales.

More likely people buy a levo, and then discover about BeLevo after though forums like this.

 

[Gatano]

Trust me, an app that can potentially open them up to liability and litigation is nothing for them to rejoice over.
I am sure there were riders that weren’t going to buy a 2019 until they found out if BLEvo would work on the new bike, but I didn’t have anyone not buy one because of that reason. All of my carbon bikes are sold out and it’s going to be months before we get more.
Of course our shop is in North America where the top speed limiter isn’t set to 25kph

32kph is far better than 25kph, but that's not the point, many HW solutions to speed limit are available for most motors, if there is demand there will be soon one also for Specialized bikes, the good thing about Levo bikes is the ability to change, within it's range, the parameters with different apps instead than just MC, removing speed limit is just the cherry on the cake.

When I ordered mine, I saw the shop list of their ordered bikes in advance (and besides seeing how much lower are the prices for them) most of the bikes were not allocated to any buyer, I also know so many riders that didn't ordered their 2019 waiting for a working version of Blevo, I'm in Italy where the app was born and there is a huge demand to have it working at least as good as on 2018 models.

Once you buy the bike, at least in Italy (but I'm pretty sure is just the same all over Europe) the responsibly of any change to the bike HW or SW is in the hands of the owner, it's not responsibility of Specialized nor of an app like Blevo or similar, for the same reason it's legal to sell all the HW that can change the speed limit for most bikes (and they sell many of this things like hot cakes).

 

[Gatano]

99% of people looking to buy a levo wont have a clue what BeLevo is - i very much doubt ability to use it will have any impact on sales.

More likely people buy a levo, and then discover about BeLevo after though forums like this.

You must not live in Italy or in Germany or in France or in other European countries

I was going to my bike shop often recently, days ago I saw a client that asked about the speed limit of the new Levo and the dealer answered, not yet sorry... and what about that one (a Giant).. yes I can already remove the speed limit on that one ... how much? ... that's the way most buy an ebike in Italy.

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

99% of people looking to buy a levo wont have a clue what BeLevo is - i very much doubt ability to use it will have any impact on sales.

More likely people buy a levo, and then discover about BeLevo after though forums like this.

100% agree with you, I did not know Blevo existed until I joined the forum.
I use it mainly because of the information output it gives you not just during your ride but also after your ride and if you wish, it will upload to Strava as well.

The screen shot below is what I have my display configured to. However, There are so many other options and configurations you can choose just for the display output. What you see below is what I personally want to see but there are loads of other outputs you can configure and change and move about on the display to suit what YOU want to see.

You can also configure the App to talk to you while you are riding to remind you of a huge number of things like, how much battery you have left, what mode you are in, kilometres or miles completed, elapsed time, phone battery left, how many meters or feet climbed, heart rate etc etc. You can even set the interval when it talks to you from 1 to 20 minutes

It really is a great App if, like me, you like your bike information

 

[R120]

You must not live in Italy or in Germany or in France or in other European countries

I was going to my bike shop often recently, days ago I saw a client that asked about the speed limit of the new Levo and the dealer answered, not yet sorry... and what about that one (a Giant).. yes I can already remove the speed limit on that one ... how much? ... that's the way most buy an ebike in Italy.

It’s more that I think that the majority of Levo buyers are not hardcore mountain bikers - Specialized has essentially locked down the market for your average guy or girl with a bit of money who wants an E-MTB.

Look how many members on here haven’t riden an MTB for years before being lured back in by an EMTB.

Most of their sales are people walking into a store, saying the want an EMTB and buying the model that fits their budget.

Some of them once they have spent time on the bike may want to investigate tuning, but most people are not going to buy a bike based on if it can be tuned.

In fact I reckon a majority of Levo, or even bike sales in general are as much influenced by the bike looking cool as much as anything else.

 

[ccrdave]

99% of people looking to buy a levo wont have a clue what BeLevo is - i very much doubt ability to use it will have any impact on sales.

More likely people buy a levo, and then discover about BeLevo after though forums like this.

yes but there is still a fair number of people thinking aboout upgrading, the comments about not buying til bleveo works is more from those guys than from new emtbers

 

[R120]

No and I get that, just saying I don’t think Specialized care!

It’s certainly one of the things that would make me seriously consider switching to a Levo

 

[ccrdave]

funnily enough its one of the things thats making me want a vitus, of course no blevo for that unless @PaoloBLEvo can work his magic with shimano.
I am going to the bike show on Friday if the new vitus ebikes are on display I am going to be very tempted

 

[R120]

Yes a Shimano version would be awesome. I have no interest in derestricting the bike but the ability to customise further would be great.

 

[drewsy]

Great forum everyone - really interesting read having just bought a new 2019 Levo. I will wait until IOS app is updated before taking the plunge.

Can I ask a quick question? A bit like marmite, the opinions I get on derestricting vary from 'fine(ish)' through to being being sacrificed to the wolves for my sins. One guy from my local bike shop said all data gets sent to Specialized on any service so they know what you have been up to (specially changing wheel size to de-restrict).

As I don't want to share my personal ride data with them (or lose my warranty), is there anyway to reset the data the boke has on me (not just current parameters) so they are unable to see historically any adjustments I have made?

Thanks all

D.

 

[VaseLEVO]

Great forum everyone - really interesting read having just bought a new 2019 Levo. I will wait until IOS app is updated before taking the plunge.

Can I ask a quick question? A bit like marmite, the opinions I get on derestricting vary from 'fine(ish)' through to being being sacrificed to the wolves for my sins. One guy from my local bike shop said all data gets sent to Specialized on any service so they know what you have been up to (specially changing wheel size to de-restrict).

As I don't want to share my personal ride data with them (or lose my warranty), is there anyway to reset the data the boke has on me (not just current parameters) so they are unable to see historically any adjustments I have made?

Thanks all

D.

Ha ha this is an open forum. They are on here reading and will track you and guillotine you.

 

[Al Boneta]

I think its a misconception that people use Blevo to just derestrict their bikes, it does do so much more than that.
If you want to just derestrict a simple bluetooth editor is all you need.
I would be interested in your opinion as to how using a third party app places any liability on specialized,
I do understand you have a very litigious system in the U.S

That’s not been my experience. One of the questions I am always asked is how to make the bike faster. I explain that it’s possible, but the legal speed limit is 20mph for these bikes. I also explain that any tampering with the motor or software can void the warranty. After having said that most of them will do a quick google search when they go home and have BLEvo or another app in 5 minutes.
If I instruct how to de restrict their bike or recommend how to de restrict their bike, I can be held liable in a court of law for any injuries they could could receive or inflict on other trail users. If a rider hits someone with their de restricted bike, do you think they are going to accept personal responsibility for their actions? No, they are going to blame the bike, the people that sold it, the trail system etc.
I am not going to stick my neck out or my shops neck out for that.
I would also violate the terms of my dealer agreement with Specialized.
It’s the classic acoustic mountain biker argument. They say a lot of the riders that buy Ebikes are not experienced riders. That’s not always the case as we all know too well. But there are plenty of inexperienced riders getting Ebikes and de restricting these bikes is the last thing we all need.
As an app BLEvo has a many features
Mission control doesn’t. But for me personally, the mission control app was something I rarely ever used outside of changing the tune on my bike.
I have the BLEvo app and I never have a compelling reason to use its many features, when I barely find a use for the limited features of mission control.
The initial reason I really liked the Levo was because the lack of display made me forget I was riding an Ebike. I could focus on the experience and the trail without staring at yet another screen. Having all of that information is a big part of the riding experience for a lot of riders, not for me.

With trail access in the USA being outpaced by bike development, things are going to get interesting.

 

[Studo]

Great forum everyone - really interesting read having just bought a new 2019 Levo. I will wait until IOS app is updated before taking the plunge.

Can I ask a quick question? A bit like marmite, the opinions I get on derestricting vary from 'fine(ish)' through to being being sacrificed to the wolves for my sins. One guy from my local bike shop said all data gets sent to Specialized on any service so they know what you have been up to (specially changing wheel size to de-restrict).

As I don't want to share my personal ride data with them (or lose my warranty), is there anyway to reset the data the boke has on me (not just current parameters) so they are unable to see historically any adjustments I have made?

Thanks all

D.

From what I have read it would seem that there is much debate and speculation on whether Spesh logs your ride data to prove that a 3rd party app has been used and their warranty subsequently withdrawn.

Has this actually ever happened to many (any) people?

 

[VaseLEVO]

I understand the inexperienced user derestricting a bike being dangerous argument. I also would tell you self preservation reign supreme for most humans. Which means the likely people de-restricting or even riding at that over the limit speed are indeed the experienced bunch. A bike does not have the security or atleast the perception of such like a car. Believe me no one wants to fall of a bike at speed, its rather scary compared to wrecking in a car that will actually kill you a lot easier. So in a way, I doubt this is the much of a problem. From personal experience I can tell you am most riding way below the limit or what I really am capable of.

The responsibility and litigation thing in the US is beyond silly, but its is what it is. Hopefully some day that will change.

 

[Al Boneta]

32kph is far better than 25kph, but that's not the point, many HW solutions to speed limit are available for most motors, if there is demand there will be soon one also for Specialized bikes, the good thing about Levo bikes is the ability to change, within it's range, the parameters with different apps instead than just MC, removing speed limit is just the cherry on the cake.

When I ordered mine, I saw the shop list of their ordered bikes in advance (and besides seeing how much lower are the prices for them) most of the bikes were not allocated to any buyer, I also know so many riders that didn't ordered their 2019 waiting for a working version of Blevo, I'm in Italy where the app was born and there is a huge demand to have it working at least as good as on 2018 models.

Once you buy the bike, at least in Italy (but I'm pretty sure is just the same all over Europe) the responsibly of any change to the bike HW or SW is in the hands of the owner, it's not responsibility of Specialized nor of an app like Blevo or similar, for the same reason it's legal to sell all the HW that can change the speed limit for most bikes (and they sell many of this things like hot cakes).

That’s not the way it works in the USA.
All I was saying is that wether or not the 2019 would work with BLEvo, wasn’t or hasn’t been a major factor with my customers decision to buy the new Levo. Most people haven’t even heard of BLEvo and I think that has more to do with our bikes having a higher top speed than the European market, where 15mph would make me pull my hair out. For me if the bike went 25mph out of the box it would be perfect.
My other customers are far too paranoid about voiding their warranty to install the app.
Like it or not, increased speed puts more load on the motor and battery. I have had to replace two motors for customers that burned them up using the app. They told me they were using the app. I warrantied them anyway. But this can drive up costs.
I don’t care if people use the app, I’ve even tried it out, but there are not even 5000 people using it when there are tens of thousands of people riding Levos worldwide that have never heard of it, wouldn’t think of it or are indifferent to it like me.
There are plenty of Ebikes out there that don’t have an app and they still sell.

 

[Al Boneta]

I understand the inexperienced user derestricting a bike being dangerous argument. I also would tell you self preservation reign supreme for most humans. Which means the likely people de-restricting or even riding at that over the limit speed are indeed the experienced bunch. A bike does not have the security or atleast the perception of such like a car. Believe me no one wants to fall of a bike at speed, its rather scary compared to wrecking in a car that will actually kill you a lot easier. So in a way, I doubt this is the much of a problem. From personal experience I can tell you am most riding way below the limit or what I really am capable of.

The responsibility and litigation thing in the US is beyond silly, but its is what it is. Hopefully some day that will change.

A good friend of a member on this forum was killed riding his regular mountain bike. He was a very skilled rider whose sons were state champions. Things can happen even to the best of us. A miscalculation here or there can be the difference between life or death.
A rider hit a hiker in Laguna Canyon with his bike. This happens every now and then. When it was discovered he was riding an Ebike, the excrement hit the air conditioning and now we can get multiple fines riding an Ebike on any natural trail surface

 

[ccrdave]

How does derestricting put more strain on the motor and battery? The motor will not put out more than the designed limit restricted or not the bike goes faster becuse the assistance is maintained for putting effort into the higher gears. With assistance the bike speed limit is controlled by the gearing not by any extra motor power 500w is 500w.
What did i miss?

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

Has anyone tested Blevo on the new 2019 Levo yet?
I know @PaoloBLEvo is keen for some feedback.

Also, @Rob Hancill have you checked what your max motor power output is? I am really keen to find this info out before I purchase the 2019.

I have tried a few 1.3 motors recently using both Mission Control (old version) and Blevo 2.x and they were only pushing a max power output of 550-600 W which is less than my current 1.2 engine ?

 

[bekolu]

I´m using BLEvo now for while, still having two issues:

HRM: I cannot receive HR data either with a Samsung Gear 2 or a TomTom Adventurer. Both are recognized by BLEvo, but no HR data shown in the app. A standard Bluetooth HR belt works.

Using BLEvo w/o GPS: I´m using an old Galaxy mini as bike computer. Usually I track with BLEvo he full data of the ride but as I´m using a smart watch in addition I´m interested in using BLEvo w/o GPS. This would decrease battery consumption of the Galaxy mini. Is this possible and if so, how can I start BLEvo w/o GPS?

Many thanks.

 

[5teve]

Just installed the latest Blevo on Android phone, now it won't connect to my Kenevo,was working prior to this, any ideas please?

 

[ccrdave]

Have you got mission control on the same phone? If yes make sure its properly closed not sitting in the background. Also try the bikescan function in blevo i find that connects quicker

 

[PaoloBLEvo]

I´m using BLEvo now for while, still having two issues:

HRM: I cannot receive HR data either with a Samsung Gear 2 or a TomTom Adventurer. Both are recognized by BLEvo, but no HR data shown in the app. A standard Bluetooth HR belt works.

Using BLEvo w/o GPS: I´m using an old Galaxy mini as bike computer. Usually I track with BLEvo he full data of the ride but as I´m using a smart watch in addition I´m interested in using BLEvo w/o GPS. This would decrease battery consumption of the Galaxy mini. Is this possible and if so, how can I start BLEvo w/o GPS?

Many thanks.

The watches are not supported as heart rate monitor because they don't use standard protocol to send heart rate information..
For GPS, I think you can start the tour with gps active and thenthe disable it.. I don't know if works..

 

[PaoloBLEvo]

Has anyone tested Blevo on the new 2019 Levo yet?
I know @PaoloBLEvo is keen for some feedback.

Also, @Rob Hancill have you checked what your max motor power output is? I am really keen to find this info out before I purchase the 2019.

I have tried a few 1.3 motors recently using both Mission Control (old version) and Blevo 2.x and they were only pushing a max power output of 550-600 W which is less than my current 1.2 engine ?

If someone tested BLEvo on Levo 2019, it is very appreciated a feedback.. thanks

 

[bekolu]

The watches are not supported as heart rate monitor because they don't use standard protocol to send heart rate information..

Thanks @PaoloBLEvo . But the Apple Watch works? If so only with the IOs BLEvo version or for the Android BLEvo version, too?

 

[Brezza]

If someone tested BLEvo on Levo 2019, it is very appreciated a feedback.. thanks

When will an iOS update be available so one can connect to the bike?

 

[PaoloBLEvo]

Thanks @PaoloBLEvo . But the Apple Watch works? If so only with the IOs BLEvo version or for the Android BLEvo version, too?

Apple watch works only with ios version..

 

[Gary]

@PaoloBLEvo
Do you have any intention to do a similar app for any other systems?
A Shimano BLE-Tube app would be awesome

 

[PaoloBLEvo]

@PaoloBLEvo
Do you have any intention to do a similar app for any other systems?
A Shimano BLE-Tube app would be awesome

In the future maybe.. but I don't have much free time and I have a family, a job and a bike.. I hope you can understand me..