# 2019 Levo, apparently radically revamped.



## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

Revamped frame, integrated down tube battery like my Focus. 29” wheels, 700 watt battery and supposively way lighter. They say expect a 12% price jump. Don’t hold me to these specs, just what I’ve read. Released this month.


----------



## MikeTowpathTraveler (Aug 12, 2015)

The thing that always turned me off to the Specialized Ebikes was the absence of a display to read how many miles you've done, odo, pretty much everything that most every display on an ebike will show, except for the specialized brand. If they have since had a display available or installed on this bike, I retract this statement!! That and a very premium price.

Just never could get a handle of having to use your phone to set your riding parameters. I have a TracFone, so you can see the level of my sophistication when it comes to cell phone technology!


----------



## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

Supposively adding display to the top tube. These bikes are gonna get radical. I expect Trek and Giant are brewing some goods... It’s a money race.


----------



## MikeTowpathTraveler (Aug 12, 2015)

Gutch said:


> Supposively adding display to the top tube. These bikes are gonna get radical. I expect Trek and Giant are brewing some goods... It's a money race.


Good to know Specialized has finally coming around to putting something on their bikes that should have been there since day 1! 

I can't believe the prices of some of those higher end bikes, though. Good grief. We've now reached an end game of 10-11 grand plus. The thing is, the drive systems are no better than your average garden variety Bosch, Yamaha or Shimano powered e-mtb.

I'm just hoping my Yamaha PW system is still viable some 10 years from now; with a vendor out there that can rebuild the battery pack, while the OEM manufacturer has some parts and bearings and the like still available, etc.


----------



## Walt (Jan 23, 2004)

MikeTowpathTraveler said:


> while the OEM manufacturer has some parts and bearings and the like still available, etc.


I think you should go try to find parts for a 10 year old frame and get back to me...

There will not be replacement parts. The average high end bike is owned by it's original owner for _18 months_. There is zero incentive for the manufacturers to keep supporting that bike a decade later, so they don't.

It not them, though, it's us. I get a new bike every few years too.

-Walt


----------



## MikeTowpathTraveler (Aug 12, 2015)

Walt said:


> I think you should go try to find parts for a 10 year old frame and get back to me...
> 
> There will not be replacement parts. The average high end bike is owned by it's original owner for _18 months_. There is zero incentive for the manufacturers to keep supporting that bike a decade later, so they don't.
> 
> ...


Must be nice to be that financially fluid, Walt. Though I try to buy the best, I make sure not to beat the **** out of what I paid good money for. No air born jumps for this rider, putting tremendous stresses on a tube frame not made for this kinds of abuse year in and year out.

Just a few years ago, the bushings on the rear shock of my original owner Trek 9000 mtb were worn so I wanted to replace them. So I emailed Trek. And waited. And waited some more. Emailed them again and they said basically, Sorry, we don't carry anything for that bike anymore. So, I had to make my own.

So too was about 2 autumns ago; I bought an aluminum Fatboy fork from a member on this site; just so I can get some rivnuts attached to it in order to mount a front rack and dyno lighting on the front end on my newish Fatboy with the carbon fork. Emailed Specialized for a set of those yellow decals Specialized uses on the carbon fork. "Sorry, we don't carry them". I believe one has to go to Europe if they wish to purchase Haibike battery decals for a new battery install.

Planned obsolescence is what they call it.

As you can detect, I'm a new bike manufacturer's worst kind of customer...


----------



## Walt (Jan 23, 2004)

Ah, I build them myself. So for me a new bike just costs a day in the shop plus maybe $500 worth of new parts. Not a big deal.

But the industry is very focused (and rightly so, they are trying to make money) on the very profitable high end segment, in which people *mostly* upgrade/replace their bike every 1-2 years. 

You're the exception, unfortunately. But if you can make your own parts, you're golden!

-Walt


----------



## alexbn921 (Mar 31, 2009)

Walt said:


> I think you should go try to find parts for a 10 year old frame and get back to me...
> 
> There will not be replacement parts. The average high end bike is owned by it's original owner for _18 months_. There is zero incentive for the manufacturers to keep supporting that bike a decade later, so they don't.
> 
> ...


Specialized definitely follows this mantra. Try getting your brain shock serviced on your 10 year old epic.

Some companies like santa cruz still stock bearings and linkages for there 20 year old frames.


----------



## Harryman (Jun 14, 2011)

FWIW, there are companies like this that can supply as good or better replacement bearings.

https://www.enduroforkseals.com/

Maybe we'll see places that pop up specifically to service older ebike systems? Dunno. I think the value of older ebikes will drop like a rock, the used market will be more complicated.

Anyway, Specialized likely knows what they are doing, and there must be some sized market for +$10k bikes and ebikes. I'm not in it, that's for sure.


----------



## Walt (Jan 23, 2004)

Harryman said:


> Maybe we'll see places that pop up specifically to service older ebike systems? Dunno. I think the value of older ebikes will drop like a rock, the used market will be more complicated.


I think today's e-bikes in a decade will be roughly equivalent to, say, a 1989 stumpjumper. Still fun to ride in the right situation, but basically a museum piece. Resale value approximately zero (or, as per the usual homeless-guy bike rules, $50 as long as the tires hold air).

-Walt


----------



## Bigwheel (Jan 12, 2004)

If the new line doesn’t include 2170 cells i’d wait a year


----------



## smoothmoose (Jun 8, 2008)

Bigwheel said:


> If the new line doesn't include 2170 cells i'd wait a year


That's a nice to have. Is the additional range of 2170 really something you need? As for futureproofing. Cells will degrade anyway. So when it's time to replace the battery in 3-5 years - you'll be getting new cells with them.


----------



## figofspee (Jul 19, 2018)

You forgot to include that it looks even less like an ebike.


----------



## Bigwheel (Jan 12, 2004)

18650 and 21700 cells are as the numbers suggest different sizes of cells and the 21700 cells will not retro in integrated systems like the LEVO has.

It’s not just range improvement but a higher C rate, up to 7A charge, and more charge cycles.


----------



## smoothmoose (Jun 8, 2008)

Bigwheel said:


> 18650 and 21700 cells are as the numbers suggest different sizes of cells and the 21700 cells will not retro in integrated systems like the LEVO has.
> 
> It's not just range improvement but a higher C rate, up to 7A charge, and more charge cycles.


I never took a Levo apart - but all the cells directly installed in the frame, or is it wrapped in a battery pack first (like a laptop battery)? I suspect it's the latter. This what I found:
https://www.specialized.com/ca/en/turbo-levo-battery-w-rock-guard/p/130776


----------

