Levo Gen 3 UPDATE: Need opinion on Cascade Linkage + extend fork travel.

[Santa]

Hi I've had a YT Decoy for 2.5 seasons and have loved it to death. However it was beginning to show it's age and I felt it was time to try something new. Anyhow, my riding buddies convinced me to get a Levo, so I got a 2022 Pro model.

First ride yesterday has left me with mixed feelings. I enjoyed the quicker handling I guess, but I felt like I missed out a lot suspension-wise. The Decoy is a 170/165 Mullet, whereas the Levo is 160/150 Mullet. I did not expect such a small difference in travel to make such a big difference in riding, but wow on tech trails the Levo was just very harsh and erratic. I could barely keep it on the ground, and my arms were going to explode from all the shaking! In addition, whenever I cased jumps or landed on flats, the hit felt so hard on my poor knees.

One of my buddies strongly suggests that I modify my Levo for 170mm travel on the fork and add a Cascade Linkage to get 160mm travel in the rear. He says it's a whole different bike once you do that.

Before making this investments I'd like to get true unbiased opinions from those who have tried the above modificaiton. Is it really worth it?. Because right now my other choice is to just sell the Levo and stick with the old Decoy until I find something else.

I've never really believed in "Frankenbikes" so I have strong doubts about the above modifications. Change my mind please.

UPDATE 07-29-2022: I had the fork extended to 170. Makes a night and day difference. So much more plush and mellow, but still the bike did not lose it's playful character. Cascade Linkage on the way, will update then...

 

[Cb750stu]

I would say the harsh erratic feeling is coming from the forks and the way they are set up , the Decoy and the Pro are totally different bikes so what works on the Decoy might not work on the Pro , I have the exact same Levo and I've gone full coil and it's amazing

I really can't see what 10mm difference will make in handling but hey I'm probably wrong

 

[Durrti]

I had a 2022 levo with the cascade LT and a 170mm fox 38. I loved the setup, but wound up selling because of motor reliability Worries. I still have my decoy and am back riding it again. Going back and forth between the two the Decoy is a bit more fun downhill, but that 540wh makes it hard to keep up anymore.

 

[ebikerider]

This sounds more like a set up issue imo. 10mm of fork travel difference isn't the difference between plush and uncontrolled.

But yeah, the cascade link seems like a good thing to help with bottom out control.

 

[militantmandy]

As others have said, spend some time working on your suspension before throwing money at it. A good setup makes a huge difference. Work at it systematically through bracketing. E-bikes have a big advantage here as it's so much easier to lap a bit of trail.