Very Disappointed with my 2019 Specialized Levo

[Tamas]

how the motor casing issue in particular was not found during testing is completely inexplicable.

Probably most of the testing was done in labs not in 'real world'... it's much cheaper.

 

[MattyB]

Probably most of the testing was done in labs not in 'real world'... it's much cheaper.

It would certainly appear that is the case, but it does make paying EMBN to feature your shiny alpine development centre (plus all the other paid online promotion) rather questionable - more field testing would have been a better use of that cash...

 

[Silato]

Hi all.
I'm in the Lake District at moment and called into bike treks just outside Windermere, specialized dealer. They were telling me that every levo they sell there mechanics fit a improvised crud catcher mud guard. Saying that there May deliverys should have a different housing designed by specialized. I asked if any old ones would be called back to have this changed, he said he didn't believe that would be the case! Seems specialized are addressing the issue, they should put out a statement to reassure users though.

 

[R120]

If nothing else it demonstrates how in this day and age the good local bike shop is still very much in need, and a shame to see so many disappearing

 

[All Mountain Coaching]

Good dealer support is all well and good, but what if you bought from Berkshire Cycles to ensure the best support and it’s a 2 hour drive away (or more)? You’ve either got to take take time off work or lose riding time to get issues rectified on the “most developed eBike ever”...

Ok, so what happens in my case of anything goes wrong? I bought it mail order and the shop is 6 hours away.

The local spesh dealer is only 9 miles away. Do they have to fix it despite not buying it there?

 

[MattyB]

Ok, so what happens in my case of anything goes wrong? I bought it mail order and the shop is 6 hours away.

The local spesh dealer is only 9 miles away. Do they have to fix it despite not buying it there?

UK law is pretty clear that your contract is with the retailer not the OEM, so by law any fault should be dealt with by the dealer you bought it from. In practice if Specialized reimburse dealers for warranty work then your LBS might be willing to do warranty work for you, but from memory @Al Boneta stated many months ago that Specialized don't pay for time spent conducitng warranty work on bikes, at least in the US.

 

[Wiltshire Warrior]

Doh! shouldve used a reputable company like this one that provides a free new wheelset if you want to convert to tubeless on their Slate bike: Recalls

Seriously though I am not using my EMTB in winter - good job kept my clockwork bikes

 

[Doomanic]

Ok, so what happens in my case of anything goes wrong? I bought it mail order and the shop is 6 hours away.

The local spesh dealer is only 9 miles away. Do they have to fix it despite not buying it there?

UK law is pretty clear that your contract is with the retailer not the OEM, so by law any fault should be dealt with by the dealer you bought it from. In practice if Specialized reimburse dealers for warranty work then your LBS might be willing to do warranty work for you

Even if Spesh do reimburse the dealer they are under no legal obligation to do the work for free. IIRC, there was a proper drama queen valued contributor on here a while back who returned his 2018 over this very issue.

 

[mark.ai]

Anyone got any suggestions as to a suitable product to fill the honeycomb matrix in the plastic cover and battery handle? Not sure if that expanding foam would be right, it's made of tiny bubbles it may just trap the water still.

Maybe some mastic / sealant in a black colour? Never used this brand, but it came up on a search on Amazon:
Test whatever you try first that it will stick to the plastic though.

 

[neils]

Maybe some mastic / sealant in a black colour? Never used this brand, but it came up on a search on Amazon:
Test whatever you try first that it will stick to the plastic though.

That stuff will be tricky to work with being so super sticky, I'll need to get a nice smooth even finish. Imagine wax when melted is very liquid, you pour it in to the honeycomb matrix and then it sets with a nice flat finish or can then be shaved/rubbed to get the correct linear height. It'll need to set a lot harder than wax though. There must be something out there ?? I'll have a good think when I get time later.

 

[ccrdave]

there is some stuff called aquasure sold by dive shops. if you warm it a little its quite runny and its self leveling, sticks like sh1t to a blanket and goes hard but not brittle

 

[Silato]

Really in two minds now. I would already have a levo if not for all these problems being raised. Looking at the £5000 model after some consideration but it's alot of cash to pay for something that is going break. Considered a giant trance e+Pro? Wanted the levo though?

 

[Doomanic]

@neils I would think carefully about making such a significant and irreversible modification to your bike. I'd be concerned that if there was an issue with the motor caused by overheating it might work against you. @All Mountain Coaching has the right idea, IMHO, just ride it and lean on Spesh's warranty if/when required.

 

[Peter Hill]

Has anyone tried to contact Specialised direct via ridercare? I’ve not had any replies for well over a week now? I guess they are probably getting hundreds of inquiries relating to these issues.
I seriously hope any modified motor casing, power cable etc are available at no cost to early 2019 customers. These are great bikes but we need to ‘feel the love’ from Specialised themselves?

Amendment:
I've now had a reply from 'rider-care' and they apologised for the delay and have agreed to send out all the parts to the dealer in order for them to upgrade the bike. So I'm happy now.

 

[Doomanic]

Really in two minds now. I would already have a levo if not for all these problems being raised. Looking at the £5000 model after some consideration but it's alot of cash to pay for something that is going break. Considered a giant trance e+Pro? Wanted the levo though?

What are you basing your buying decision on? Have you had a test ride of either?

 

[Silato]

What are you basing your buying decision on? Have you had a test ride of either?

Not tried the trance e+ but the specs for the cash are better than the levo. It will be my first e mtb and always fancied the levo, looks great feels great, the horror stories on here have put me off. Bike shop in Windermere were I'm currently staying swears by them, they acknowledge the issue of crud into the housing by fitting a guard on every bike they sell. At moment I don't want a current one, if I'm going for levo I'll wait until April, may for the next batch with new housing, but was hoping to get an emtb before then hence the giant which gets great reviews and for 4 grand gives you great specs, fox susp forks etc?

 

[Troutwrestler]

The Specialized UK Warranty Policy states "How do I start the Warranty process? The first step is to visit your nearest Authorized Specialized Retailer. Your retailer will inspect the Product and contact Specialized for next steps. Contact information for your nearest Authorized Specialized Retailer can be found on www.specialized.com."

This seems to indicate that your closest Specialized Dealer should deal with warranty issues. I specifically checked this before purchasing.

 

[R120]

The problem is that some dealers are not aware of the issues.

In the UK you have companies like Berkshire Cycles, Race Co, and others who are proactive at finding solutions, even beyond looking at what Specialized recommends, and others who are not even up to date with the problems, or the fixes.

I guess a lot of it comes down to how much time a shop is willing to give to customers on resolving it, as from what I understand they don't get reimbursed by Specialized for the time they spend on it, but then again the shops that are proactive are finding that through reports of good service, such as member feedback on this forum, are shifting a lot of bikes as a result, Berkshire being the biggest example of this.

 

[Doomanic]

Just to add: Berkshire have been to known to charge for their excellent service. Personally, I don't have a problem with that, but others may.

 

[ccrdave]

Yes the first time i went there they charged me 60 quid to strip out my motor, allow me to try two different motors, replaced motor, power lead ,sensor lead replaced my broken remote bar unit and indexed my gears run a full diagnostic on my battery. I didnt buy my bike from them i bought it from evans.
I was happy to pay 60 quid for that.
Since then i have bought bikes from them and any further work there has been no charge

 

[Swissrider]

I agree with points made so far and it is extremely disappointing when a company like Specialized seems to have dropped the ball so badly. We have seen other companies both small and large make similar mistakes and it can take years to re-establish a good reputation. I have Kenevo and my wife a Levo. Both are great bikes hampered by silly design flaws and poor reliability (see my full report in the Kenevo thread). My feeling is that Specialized have rushed to get these bikes to market without sufficent beta testing and they do look poor compared to other companies. My wife and I also have a Bosch powered KTMs and in a combined mileage of 5000k, we’ve had no problems, nor heard of any from anyone else. I wonder if Specialized only test their bikes in dry conditions. It’s hard to believe that they would not have noticed the problem of water ingress if they had ridden the bikes in typically wet U.K. conditions. Maybe they just don’t like getting muddy! In most countries consumer protection law says goods must be able to perform the purpose they were made for. It seems from the comments above that the 2019 Levo cannot cope with wet and muddy conditions. If I was George, I would be tempted to take his bike back and insist on being refunded under consumer law as it seems his bike is simply “not fit for purpose”. If this leads to negative publicity for Specialized then maybe this is the kick in the arse they need to sort out their bikes problems. Otherwise they may end up with the same reputation that LOTUS had for a while - “Loads of Trouble, USually expensive”!

 

[SteveVentoux]

I agree that the "testers" seem to have adopted a fair weather approach to checking the product, or so it would appear. I have a 2018 Levo and have not yet ridden it in muddy conditions, keep the traditional hardtail for those duties, sad state of affairs I know, but I do not want to put my expensive purchase at risk, warranty or not...other than that worry, it's been fantastic so far.

 

[R120]

I think EMTB's really come into their own in the winter, I am enjoying getting out in the mud and crud more than ever, you can plough through stuff!

 

[Norange]

I agree that the "testers" seem to have adopted a fair weather approach to checking the product, or so it would appear. I have a 2018 Levo and have not yet ridden it in muddy conditions, keep the traditional hardtail for those duties, sad state of affairs I know, but I do not want to put my expensive purchase at risk, warranty or not...other than that worry, it's been fantastic so far.

I've done about 1000km in filthy conditions on my 18 Levo. Only issues I've had are grit getting into the charging port area a couple of times. Have not removed the motor covers but I'd suspect it's pretty full in there. I get what you mean, I still have a winter bike (SS or hug geared hardtail). But I prefer the Levo! I know the shop will look after me if I have any issues.

 

[Mina08]

get a 2018 levo instead

 

[GeorgesEBike]

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to give an update on my 2019 Levo.

Mikes Bikes (Pleasanton, CA) and Specialized have taken care of me. They went above and beyond to warranty the dropper posts on my 2019 Levo and also my 2019 Stumpy with brand new Bike Yoke Revive Dropper posts which retail for $500 each. This was my dropper of choice and very satisfied. I also returned my Levo and received full store credit which I'm 100% satisfied with.

I'm now a happy customer and looking forward on continuing my relationship with Mikes Bikes and Specialized.

Thanks for everyone's feedback and concerns! At the end of the day everything worked out.

Thanks,
George

 

[Standingwaves]

Glad they finally made good on a flawed product.

 

[Doomanic]

I also received full store credit for my 2019 Levo which I'm 100% satisfied with.

Does this mean you effectively got it for free?

 

[MattyB]

Does this mean you effectively got it for free?

I think he means he returned the bike and got a store credit to spend that amount on something else; is that correct @GeorgesEBike?

 

[Silato]

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to give an update on my 2019 Levo.

Mikes Bikes (Pleasanton, CA) and Specialized have taken care of me. They went above and beyond to warranty the dropper posts on my 2019 Levo and also my 2019 Stumpy with brand new Bike Yoke Revive Dropper posts which retail for $500 each. This was my dropper of choice and very satisfied. I also received full store credit for my 2019 Levo which I'm 100% satisfied with.

I'm now a happy customer and looking forward on continuing my relationship with Mikes Bikes and Specialized.

Thanks for everyone's feedback and concerns! At the end of the day everything worked out.

Thanks,
George

Did you return the bike then, if so are they that flawed?