Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

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weeksy
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Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

Post by weeksy »

Spent the day at Cannock Chase today.

https://electricbikereview.com/speciali ... p-6fattie/

This looks like the bike but i think that's the faster/better version, the one i had was the SL version, so lighter and smaller battery

From the second i jumped on it i felt very at home, it's a Ford Focus of bikes, everything is where it's supposed to be, the steering is simple, the brakes are competent without being astounding etc. But it's a nice easy bike to get used to.

Cannock has everything from flat trails, to berms, to sweepy swoopy stuff and rocky bits. We also went over to Stile Cop and hit some of the DH trails, which again, the bike did really well.

The astounding part is that it's better than the sum of it's parts, everything on it is basic, even the tyres, which are a Specialized Ground Control and shouldn't have been as good in the slop as they were. Even the 29er wheels, which i've been a little 29er curious about were not even noticable and didn't distract me in any way.

Only minor fault i could comment on is that it doesn't have the kick of power the bigger bikes seem to have, but that's counteracted by not being as heavy and riding more like a normal bike to me. Ace.

Some of the DH trails were a bit droppy and rocky, but it didn't care and really, neither did I. I completely enjoyed it.

Lots of trails chasing the small boy (on the Liv ebike) and Couchy on his Trek Rail, trying to stay ahead on some and trying not to get dropped on others. We both failed to match the small lad, but we held our own and were far from humiliated. I think my cornering was on decent form and i was still working on certain aspects of my riding and think i was doing OK.

Did it convert either me or the lad to the Ebike fold.. Nope.. but you can sure as heck see the appeal of them, it was like being on an 1199 compared to a CB500 of a manual bike. Enlightening just how quick they are. But it does change the ride from a nice day out, to a flat out pinning it fest, corner to corner, tree to tree, berm to berm, pinned.... everywhere.
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Re: Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

Post by G.P »

What about climbing? For handling and DH stuff isn't it more about the geometry, wheels and set up rather than the motor?
What about climbing? how did it compare to the full fat motors (notwithstanding your legs are better than most).
What sort of mileage di you do? was it a trail ride with ebike assistance or an ebike version of Moto-X ?
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Re: Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

Post by weeksy »

It didn't fly up then for me, more ground up them. But you see the difference when you see how many pedal bikes you pass and how quickly you pass them. They're just destroyed by the Eeb.

The DH stuff is more geometry yes but also weight. The Specialized carried its weight well.

It was basically a trackday today, fast chat, fast, chat, fast
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Re: Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

Post by Couchy »

It’s not that bike, it’s the turbo Levo HT, I’ve fitted better 140mm forks but it’s very much a basic bike 👍
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Re: Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

Post by weeksy »

Got a link to it?
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Re: Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

Post by weeksy »

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Re: Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

Post by Couchy »

But great day with the weeksy’s. I’m happy on a couple of trails I kept on James back wheel for 4 or 5 corners till I had to brake but still kept him in sight 🤣
The HT is my commute bike and I’m amazed how well it did, it’s not as powerful as the Bosch bikes but it is more powerful than the lightweight ebikes. It’s not far off the Bosch and it’s lighter weight helps a lot I think. It’s around 6kg lighter than my trek as it has a smaller battery. It’s very much an entry level bike. But ignoring that it was very well suited to the trails. I set a few PB times chasing James abs keeping ahead of weeksy despite the sloppy conditions. Great fun 😄👍
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Re: Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

Post by Couchy »

That’s it, I think the forks are rockshox Judy 140mm I’ve fitted 👍
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Re: Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

Post by G.P »

Sounds ace,
Thanks for all the intel, reckon I'm going for this Bosch motored Cube..

Image

https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/Electric-B ... er=85,9,15
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Re: Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

Post by Couchy »

You won’t go wrong with the cube, try to buy from a local dealer if you can 👍
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Re: Demo ride, Specialized Levo SL hartail

Post by Skub »

I keep opening this thinking Weeksy's bought a chopper. :shock:

Damn pedaly bikes. :(
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