Levo SL Gen 1 What I don't like about SL power delivery

[KeithR]

I guess that most of the people who react to the SL's noise are Levo riders - the belt drive in the Brose motors is always going to be quieter than the geared motors from Shimano and Bosch.

 

[jimslade]

re: noise: I realize I'm complaining about a fantastic bike I'm quite happy with...

I most often ride in the early morning, in the forest. I can hear my panting breathing, and chipmunks scurrying away ahead of me.
the motor noise is quite noticeable, not terrible on eco but pronounced to me, especially when the motor is working harder than eco.
I wasn't overly bothered by it until I turned assist off, then it was hard to 'unhear the silence'.

on a near-perfect bike (for me), a quieter motor would be my first ask, and eliminating (or mastering!) the power overrun is the other.

 

[KeithR]

Oh, you speak as you find, Jim - nothing wrong with that.

 

[jwrx]

I guess that most of the people who react to the SL's noise are Levo riders - the belt drive in the Brose motors is always going to be quieter than the geared motors from Shimano and Bosch.

I would say the SL is in between the 2018 and 2019 levo in noise levels.

 

[KeithR]

I would say the SL is in between the 2018 and 2019 levo in noise levels.

That's interesting - I've no first-hand knowledge of the Brose motor, but I know it's considered the quietest of the FF motors, and for the SL 1.1 to fall between them rather suggests that it's not too bad, really.

 

[jimslade]

OVERDUE UPDATE: Specialized read my original post and reached out privately asking to send a diagnostic report to them, which I did. On the basis of the diagnostics, they recommended a motor torque offset calibration at my LBS. Turns out the SL has this torque offset calibration which tunes power delivery/timing (only relevant for the SL bikes). Once my LBS had the calibration tool (which took a few months to get into the hands of my LBS), the calibration was simple... 45min at my LBS and I was off.

I've found the bike's behavior post-calibration to be much better: less overrun, and a much more natural match of on/off timing.

My recommendation: if you have excessive overrun to the point of annoyance, contact your LBS and ask about getting your 'motor torque offset' calibrated.

Note there still is a bit of overrun, but it's no longer annoyingly pronounced, and I've learned to use it to avoid pedal strikes, etc. My bike rides like a 'better me' vs a 'better bike'. Happy.