Favorites and fails

Fav — Power climbs: Simply put, you can now do things that were impossible on a MTB before. Previously steep hills deemed impossible are now a hoot, given proper technique. These are the times that give me the biggest grin, the type of grin that turns into laughter and incredulity. “Did I really just climb that insane hill?!” Yes, yes you did.

Fav — Looks: It’s just stunning. The overall build quality is truly excellent, and contributes to taking my breath away every time I ride. I even like the fatty size of the downtube! I find myself keeping the bike extra clean, just so I can admire the design.

Fav — Stealth: The Levo does not scream “I’m an ebike”, and I love that. Specialized took great care to make the “e-” aspects of the bike as stealthy as possible. The motor is likewise nice and quiet. Via the app, you can further disable all audio signals from the bike and even turn off the LED display. The Levo is probably the most likely eMTB to fly under the radar. That suits me just fine.

Fav — Ergo: It’s hard to overstate how perfect the ergo on the Levo is. I’m not sure that I’ve ever felt more attuned to a mountain bike before. It fits like a glove. A glove that climbs boulders and slides down steep washouts. A super-powered glove. The ergo is just that good.

Fav — Tuneability: Specialized’s “Mission Control” app has a lot of features, and most of them don’t matter. What does matter is you can easily and quickly change the output of the three power settings on the bike (eco, trail, and turbo). It’s a really good thing. I’ve turned most of my settings back (the bike is perhaps too powerful on default settings, even in eco), and find myself regularly making small adjustments on each ride. Doing so is easy and simple. I’m glad Specialized got this right.

Fav — Range: So, confession time, I sprang for the pricier 700wh battery. That said, I’ve only once had a single ride where I used more than 500wh (the default battery size). After my first ride and mental adjustment period, all range anxiety evaporated. Even the used older Levo I rented in Santa Cruz (500wh) performed beautifully and gave me just over 5 hours of ride time (with 30% left over). On relatively flat terrain, I suspect it’s possible to push 100 miles in eco mode. In practice, unless you’re running turbo mode non-stop, you’ll have plenty of battery for whatever the day throws at you.

Fail — Specialized’s dropper post: Ugh, I just do not like this post. I’ve spent more time fiddling with it than anything else on the bike, and it’s very difficult to get it right. I find actuation to be stickier than I like, the dropper settings effectively useless (other than “full up” or “full down”), and the thumb control disappointing in design and function. It does work, but not reliably enough that I can say I truly trust the dropper. Instead, I find myself adjusting the post well in advance of changing conditions, often when I’d prefer not to, simply to avoid being caught out.

Fail — Brakes: The brakes are actually great, but overall it seems that eMTBs may need a different paradigm here than our human-powered brethren. I want bigger brakes, stronger brakes, brakes that don’t squeal or bend so easily. The weight constraints of the past are gone, so let’s get these bad boys upgraded even more. I’m sick of brakes being a squeaky pain in the butt.

Fail — Computer sold separately: Given the price point, it’s pretty ridiculous that you have to shell out an extra $89 for a monochrome computer that looks like it’s from 1996. I think specialized could have done better here without compromising on the stealth look of the bike.

Fail — Paint chipping: The aftermath of nearly every ride includes one to three pocks or chips in the paint, revealing carbon fiber underneath. I generously lined the most exposed areas with protective plastic armor, and yet there’s always a new battlefront against the paint. Perhaps this is simply the cost of owning a carbon fiber bike (this is my first), but I find it moderately upsetting. Again, I’d happily trade an extra few ounces in weight for a stronger and beefier paint.

Fail — Motor casing: Oh jeez, perhaps one of the greatest annoyances is the poor fit of this casing. As delivered, there is a very large open air gap between the rear suspension pivot points and the interior of the motor casing. Given the proximity to the rear wheel, the gap will quickly be filled with dirt, mud, and any other detritus you pick up on the trail. Additionally, the left hand side of the motor casing isn’t exactly flush against the bottom of the skid plate, so you’ll quickly see all the gunk start to peak out from inside the motor casing! When I finally opened up my casing, I was alarmed to find nearly a cup worth of mud and gunk in there. Now, the motor is actually further sealed inside the casing, and the wires down there are also well protected, so this doesn’t pose an immediate physical threat to proper operation, but certainly such prolonged build up spells certain doom in terms of moisture exposure, heat dissipation, and even potential biological growth. I solved this relatively easily by cutting some large-cell foam to shape and filling the suspension gap(certain type of aquarium pre-filters work great here). Voila, no more expressway from my rear tire to the motor casing.