NED: New eBike Day - short travel, full power, modular battery options. The new Levo R unveiled.
I like it, looks like a nice halfway house between the Gen 4 and the SL.
I would have been very interested had I not just bought an Orbea Rise.
Arse, that is very nearly what I want (*full power, lightweight xc bike), it’s not quite light enough (but very, very close, is battery removable and non headset cabling ?). 5 or so years on my existing levo with only 1 power cable replaced is making me brand loyal ( apart from liftability my levo does everything I want and can be mainly rebuilt and you can easily get bits for it) , irritatingly just bought a cube 144/sx/400 - 16.2 kg , but in a couple of years time when it’s massively discounted …….
Looks great.
Claimed build weights from 18.6 kg
Which build and size weighs 18.6kg?
Levo R creates a new category
No, it doesn't.
– Electric Rally
Stops reading.
Looks great.
Claimed build weights from 18.6 kg
Which build and size weighs 18.6kg?
From Kestevens video the large S-Works weighs in at 21.5kg. There's an optional aftermarket battery that reduces the weight by 1kg so perhaps 18.6kg is a small with only the range extender battery fitted.
Specalized must know it appeals to someone, but it's not me.
Specialized claiming 21.16kg for the £12.5k S-Works in size S3, to 22.34kg for the £6.8k Comp. Guessing that'll be without pedals. For 'only' 140/130 travel I'd want lighter than that, even with full power and big battery.
Clearly I'm not the target market as I'm happy on a RWW (Real World Weigh: inc pedals, mudguard, bottle cage etc) 20.6kg for my XXL 170/150 travel Heckler SL with a chunky build. Very clearly not comparable given my much weaker motor and smaller battery, but even still I'd have hoped a shorter-travel bike would be lighter even with bigger battery.
looks ideal for anywhere not that gnar - which is the majority of this country!. with a 600 battery it will be lighter again. i like the idea of an hour session with just the range extender - would be dead light and fun to ride!
lots of eebers (like me!) dont need a long travel bike. I just need something strong enough to take a few hucks to flat and a replaceable battery for lunchtime swaps on my odd trip to wales. I have a 150mm eeb bike at the moment and for most trails locally its way too much. ithe travel is only really useful on my trips away.
I dont understand why you would want a long travel eeb monster unless you lived in the alps nowhere near a chairlift.
the problem i have is most short travel eebs are not rated for jumps or are class3 frames which i`ll probably just snap.
Er...
I saw that pic and thought, hey, I've got one of those, with Cannondale writ down the tube!
So, they're heavier than the Rise, which arguably did create this category, and is now available in all sorts of variants in terms of travel, frame material and battery size. Which is fine, weight isn't all with ebikes, and weight distribution is arguably more important than total weight in term of how it'll ride. But the headline 18.6kg is going to make people think... oo... like a Rise but lighter... and then do some digging... and then go elsewhere. Interesting marketing approach.
looks ideal for anywhere not that gnar - which is the majority of this country!. with a 600 battery it will be lighter again. i like the idea of an hour session with just the range extender - would be dead light and fun to ride!
lots of eebers (like me!) dont need a long travel bike. I just need something strong enough to take a few hucks to flat and a replaceable battery for lunchtime swaps on my odd trip to wales. I have a 150mm eeb bike at the moment and for most trails locally its way too much. ithe travel is only really useful on my trips away.
I dont understand why you would want a long travel eeb monster unless you lived in the alps nowhere near a chairlift.
the problem i have is most short travel eebs are not rated for jumps or are class3 frames which i`ll probably just snap.
See I don't understand this. Travel costs nothing.
On an analogue bike you'd compromise depending on what you ride as you'd have to ride it uphill or on flatter terrain. But a motor can reduce the need to compromise so you can run more. And there are no downsides to having a bit more travel. Need to reboot thinking on travel on ebikes tbh. Don't need to mirror the usual categories of trail bikes etc
orbea rise has a fixed battery - which isnt ideal. My current eeb has a fixed battery and its a pain in the arse sometimes when going away for trips with hotels etc.
Also a normal rise is about 20kg so similar ish weight if you consider like for like batteries. A bigger battery will always be heavier.
I've never understood the obsession with over-genre-ising bikes by suspension travel. I mean why is 150mm travel "way too much" but 130mm is just right? Its 20mm difference. With a well damped shock and fork you can dial out a lot of the movement.
The build of the bike makes far more difference to how it feels, especially tyres.
150 mm makes some of teh local trails to me fairly boring. something more sprighly (or something with no suspension) is WAAY more fun to ride. i can add damping to the shock and forks but its not the same.
I feel i`m fairly unique rider class though! haha. if i could get a fun light and strong HT ebike that rode like a normal HT i would. but with teh battery weight it just doesnt work. i miss riding HTs but pushing steep uphills sucks.
Travel does cost something though, weight and warranties. People like to ride bikes far outside their intended use cases then complain when their 130mm bike snaps on the big lines at dyfi. So now we all get to ride overbuilt tanks.
“Where Levo 4 is our full-power Electric Trail benchmark, Levo R creates a new category – Electric Rally – for riders who favor a downcountry-style ride. It’s lighter, sharper, and more instinctive, without giving up the muscle and range riders expect from Levo.”
What a load of b@ll@cks
So its not quite as heavy as their full fat bikes or as light as there light bike. ie its the same as any other emtb in the middle.
And christ I am so out of date, I ride my bike. What is a downcountry-style ride ?
Looking at weight its 22kg. for half decent spec. So again just like any other modern ebike. In looks similar to my Rise LT except quite a bit more power for roughly 1kg more in weight.
I like how the Levo SL rides, would be interested to know how this rides in comparison.... id imagine more like my Rise LT
On an analogue bike you'd compromise depending on what you ride as you'd have to ride it uphill or on flatter terrain. But a motor can reduce the need to compromise so you can run more. And there are no downsides to having a bit more travel. Need to reboot thinking on travel on ebikes tbh. Don't need to mirror the usual categories of trail bikes etc
enduro-style head angles and chainstays etc can make a bike boring on tamer terrain. As does big suspension travel although that is faily easy to stiffen up to suit the application, even if it means you will never get full travel. Yes I guess adding a bit of extra speed with e-assisted pedalling can negate some of those felt downsides - but all of it?
This forum will often have people posting that "a hardtail is fine for any trail in england" or "my gravel bike is a do-it-all machine". Not comments I agree with but I can understand the sentiment that so-called under-biking is an enjoyable experience when the aim is a fun interaction rather than stopwatch beating.
It's all slightly odd. For perspective, my accidental 2017 Levo has the same travel - 140mm front and rear - and supposedly weighs around 22-23kg depending on the spec. I'm sure the Levo R is a nicer ride and has way more power, but it's all a bit 'back to the future'.
My Moterra has 160mm travel and I can upcountry, downcountry, uphill, downhill, in my ladies chamber on it. It's also lighter than the Levo R. Not sure how Rally it is though.
“Where Levo 4 is our full-power Electric Trail benchmark, Levo R creates a new category – Electric Rally – for riders who favor a downcountry-style ride. It’s lighter, sharper, and more instinctive, without giving up the muscle and range riders expect from Levo.”
Christ, I thought I had a non-job, then I realise that it's someone's job is to come up with stuff like this and it makes me feel better
Ignoring all the marketing fluff (no worse than the usual spiel from Specialized, or any other big brand), I just watched Dario's video on Pinkbike and it does seem like a very fun bike.
Haven't watched Guy's video yet.
“Where Levo 4 is our full-power Electric Trail benchmark, Levo R creates a new category – Electric Rally – for riders who favor a downcountry-style ride. It’s lighter, sharper, and more instinctive, without giving up the muscle and range riders expect from Levo.”
Christ, I thought I had a non-job, then I realise that it's someone's job is to come up with stuff like this and it makes me feel better
It is one serious marketing pill they're trying to get you to swallow, that is for sure...
Don't get me wrong, they'll sell a few... It says "Specialized" on the downtube after all... But it's a very weird way of coming at an eBike right now, in a maturing market, where everyone is settling on the 150-170mm travel E-Enduro type bike with full fat motor and 800ish Wh battery (which Spesh's Levo already occupies that market and sells well), or they're going for the "mid power" setups with sub 20kg real world weights (builds people can afford, even if only just!) with motors the likes of Bosch SX and TQ HPR60 and 400-500Wh batteries along with 130-150mm of suspension... The longer travel, full fat market is overwhelmingly the larger section of the market, probably 90% of eMTB's sold I'd say, with the lower power, lighter market barely counting for 10% I believe...
Of course, you then get bikes like the AmFlow PL Carbon that confuse the market, coming in around 21kg with full power motor, 800Wh battery and 150-160mm of travel... But all the criticisms of that stem from it not being beefy enough, that a kilo or so extra weight in the frame and beefier components along with a bit more travel, would be the ideal recipe, rather than for it to be shorter travel and with even lighter components...
It just seems a VERY odd move... Especially when Spesh's main rival, Trek, already have the Trek Powerfly, which is a very similar "full fat, short travel" bike (Spesh seem to have ignored this of course!) and it really doesn't sell well at all... Anyway...
Expect to see them at 50% discount in your local Spesh concept store in 18 months time, much like Levo SL's and Kenevo SL's were during COVID...
But "Electric Rally"... Seriously... There's a marketing man out there that needs a hit round the back of the head, with a shovel, and this is coming from someone who's spent more than 2 decades working in the industry themselves!
It’s being slaughtered in the Pinkbike comments! Not an e-biker and unlikely to be for some time yet, but I don’t really get it. Despite the terrible marketing slogans, Spesh do typically know what they are doing and it will probably sell well, but I can’t see why you’d buy it over the competition or even their normal Levo. I’d personally rather they updated the Enduro / Kenevo - ideally at the same time with a similar long travel design.
But it's a very weird way of coming at an eBike right now, in a maturing market, where everyone is settling on…
Full torque motor paired with a choice of batteries and shorter travel absolutely is an (existing and already well served) category that people want. Just like (normal) bikes there is plenty of riding, and plenty of riders, who don’t need/want big travel. Many of those rides/riders will still benefit from full torque for steep proper off road crunch climbing moves. The popularity of both the low power and big travel options doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for plenty of bikes inbetween.
Also, remember this isn’t necessarily aimed at the UK market, which itself seems increasingly polarised into “XC” or “winch and plummet”, at least amongst people who most like to talk about bikes on the internet. Some of that is down to the UK’s geographical divide.
This bike looks like a great option. But having to pay extra for the smaller/lighter battery rather than being able to spec a bike with it fitted, and the headline weight in the marketing spin missing the real world bike weights by so much, seem like odd decisions.
And there are no downsides to having a bit more travel.
Yes there are. On certain terrain they're dull, sluggish, too easy and boring. Though I guess we're talking about eebs here and perhaps those are a given anyway...
Full torque motor paired with a choice of batteries and shorter travel absolutely is an (existing and already well served) category that people want. Just like (normal) bikes there is plenty of riding, and plenty of riders, who don’t need/want big travel
Fully prepared to be proven wrong, but I don't really see it much myself, at least not in UK shops... Mostly I see people given the choice, but still go for the biggest capacity batteries they can get and mostly on long(er) travel bikes. Too much choice can cause severe choice anxiety, and certainly peer pressure often has a significant influence on people's buying decisions too... There is always some level of disconnect with what the manufacturers are pushing and what the end users are actually buying too, that always means some bikes are in high demand and sell at or near full RRP (even if only for a short time), whilst other bikes spend much longer on the shop floor and end up only actually selling when heavily discounted.
It's worth noting that manufacturers often make the mistake of only measuring the sales from themselves to the shops, not from the shops to the end user... It's something I would argue causes a lot of disconnect between market hype and market reality, and often has very little to do with buying the right type of bike for the use it will get...
On a purely personal level, I would always rather be slightly underbiked than overbiked, I prefer a lighter more responsive bike than one that feels more glued to the trails in general... But the motor and battery system come into that consideration for me too, forming part of the overall package, to me everything is intrinsically linked... In much the way a Mazda MX5 has a 2L engine, and it feels like an incredibly well balanced package, a Porsche 911 GT3 with its 4L engine feels like one too, but they are roughly 600kg apart and the Porsche engine in the MX5 would feel overkill and though it would be very quick it would prove a handful to all but the most skilful of drivers, and the 911 would feel really dull and uninteresting with the 2L MX5 engine in... I'm a big fan of the Bosch SX motor myself, I find the high cadence pedalling style that it warrants more involving and subjectively more fun to ride than a higher torque, lower cadence, motor system... But I accept that whilst it feels great on a sub 20kg 140mm travel full 29er trail bike, it wouldn't feel as appropriate on a 160mm travel 25kg Enduro bike.
Also, remember this isn’t necessarily aimed at the UK market, which itself seems increasingly polarised into “XC” or “winch and plummet”, at least amongst people who most like to talk about bikes on the internet. Some of that is down to the UK’s geographical divide.
Fair point... Specialized are designing for a global market, and we do have quite a unique dichotomy of what actually constitutes a Mountain Bike to the end users these days in the UK...
If you watch Dario's video on PB he does comment that it doesn't make a lot of sense on paper, but does when you ride it.
As others have commented above, it seems a bit odd to not spec or offer the bike with a 600Wh battery from new - especially when they bang on about the weight! Personally, I get the feeling it’s a rushed response to the Amflow and forthcoming Avinox equipped eebs.
If I was spending ~£10k on a ebike, I'd want it to be as versatile as possible and therefore 160/150 ish travel. If you're lucky and wealthy enough to have more than one ebike then maybe this bike makes sense.
This bike is heavier, less power, smaller battery, less travel and more expensive than the Amflow, so feels like an own goal to me. I know a bike rides differently to the vital statistics, but those are some pretty significant differences.