# Specialized Levo 2.0 - which one - upgrades and options



## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 1996)

I believe that the Specialized Levo 2.0 is the best ebike today. It's based on a good bike, the new Stumpy and the motor and ergonomics is the best today. It is so quiet and smooth with a big battery and an awesome app.

But which one do you buy? The $4900 or the $12000 one? Or something in between

Should you buy the base model and upgrade or get the top dog? Big 700 battery or small 500 battery?

What are the weak links? Is the suspension good enough? Is the wheelbase too long? Dropper? Tires? Display? 11 speed???

And how do we make the best better? I think it's the best but it's far from perfect.

https://reviews.mtbr.com/2019-specialized-levo-ebike-first-ride


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

Their price points are not competitive and I seem to hear of more mechanicals, probably because they sell more.


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## 33red (Jan 5, 2016)

Within 2 weeks i hope to do a demo with them and Shimano 7000 and 8000.
So for now i will read and later offer my feedback.
Presently i enjoy my Yamaha 2017 PW but looking for +1


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## 3034 (Apr 12, 2006)

I bought the base model and added a dropper post. It’s a 45-50 lb bike. Weight savings when spending more were not worth it to me
I assume in 5 years we will see double range at the same price so I would buy the same bike again instead of an sworks now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## motoadve (Nov 14, 2004)

Bought one two days ago.
Carbon comp, paid $7,200, very nice bike.


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## nilswalk (Nov 26, 2014)

S-Works Levo. Loving it so far, will probably see if I can get my local shop to get me the 500Wh M2 battery which will be plenty for most days. Also will try out the 27.5+rear wheel from the Mrs.' Mojo 3.

If I had my wish for the perfect Levo it would be the S-Works but:

- decent quality aluminum rims like EX 471
- Maxxis DHF WT front
- a 27.5 rear wheel with something that rolls a little better
- a non-stupid (read:industry standard) seatpost diameter and a decent long-travel dropper with a Wolf-tooth remote
- a big 50T pie plate cassette
- it should come with both the 500Wh and 700Wh packs 
- Specialized would buy the BLEvo app or just pay the guy to do the official one


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 1996)

nilswalk said:


> S-Works Levo. Loving it so far, will probably see if I can get my local shop to get me the 500Wh M2 battery which will be plenty for most days. Also will try out the 27.5+rear wheel from the Mrs.' Mojo 3.
> 
> If I had my wish for the perfect Levo it would be the S-Works but:
> 
> ...


Absolutely brilliant. What version is your Levo? On my Pivot Shuttle, I had 27.5 Plus. I switched it to 29er. Then I ended up with with a 27.5 Plus rear and 29er front. This provides quickness on the rear with an agile tire. An ebike is heavy so a long wheelbase, slack bike will be a hair slower on the slow, tight stuff. 29er front wheel because there are so many vertical feet to descend. Chunder eater.

The small cassette is very unfortunate. It makes 'eco' difficult to use. Specialized did it because they banned their Eagle drivetrain for ebike use (except for the NX). Specialized had to go with 11-speed just so they could hit their quality and weight goals. Usability is compromised.


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## 33red (Jan 5, 2016)

fc said:


> Absolutely brilliant. What version is your Levo? On my Pivot Shuttle, I had 27.5 Plus. I switched it to 29er. Then I ended up with with a 27.5 Plus rear and 29er front. This provides quickness on the rear with an agile tire. An ebike is heavy so a long wheelbase, slack bike will be a hair slower on the slow, tight stuff. 29er front wheel because there are so many vertical feet to descend. Chunder eater.
> 
> The small cassette is very unfortunate. It makes 'eco' difficult to use. Specialized did it because they banned their Eagle drivetrain for ebike use (except for the NX). Specialized had to go with 11-speed just so they could hit their quality and weight goals. Usability is compromised.


One way to look at it is in 2 years they will be able to say buy our Great New Much Improved ..., forget about the **** stuff we were selling the last 2 years.
I think that is what they just did?
My fat is a Specialized, they can build some good ones, did they this time?


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## nilswalk (Nov 26, 2014)

fc said:


> Absolutely brilliant. What version is your Levo? On my Pivot Shuttle, I had 27.5 Plus. I switched it to 29er. Then I ended up with with a 27.5 Plus rear and 29er front. This provides quickness on the rear with an agile tire.


My Levo is the 2019 S-Works. Question about the 27.5 rear - I get the idea of the bigger wheel in the front, better rollover, and lifting up the front or dropping the rear changes the head angle and makes it better for descending but why the 27.5+ instead of 27.5? Like I've always thought it's ok to be a little loose on the back wheel and have more grip on the front, rather than the other way around. So why wouldn't you just run a regular 27.5 with fast-rolling tire?


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## 33red (Jan 5, 2016)

nilswalk said:


> My Levo is the 2019 S-Works. Question about the 27.5 rear - I get the idea of the bigger wheel in the front, better rollover, and lifting up the front or dropping the rear changes the head angle and makes it better for descending but why the 27.5+ instead of 27.5? Like I've always thought it's ok to be a little loose on the back wheel and have more grip on the front, rather than the other way around. So why wouldn't you just run a regular 27.5 with fast-rolling tire?


Ghost is selling **hybrids** that is what they call them. The rear needs more grip due to more power. I agree that with my bikes the rear is the fun side, play part but with my Ebike i like a plus in rear. Plus for a HT it adds some cush. 29 front is for precision, well that is what they write on their website and obviously rollover.


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 1996)

nilswalk said:


> My Levo is the 2019 S-Works. Question about the 27.5 rear - I get the idea of the bigger wheel in the front, better rollover, and lifting up the front or dropping the rear changes the head angle and makes it better for descending but why the 27.5+ instead of 27.5? Like I've always thought it's ok to be a little loose on the back wheel and have more grip on the front, rather than the other way around. So why wouldn't you just run a regular 27.5 with fast-rolling tire?


That's a good question. More grip and less disparity between wheelsizes an answer.

Also, a lot of these bikes are not made for this purpose so if you put a 27.5 on the rear instead of a 29er or a 27.5+, the BB is too low and the angles become too slack.

I'm not a big Plus fan so I put a 2.6 on 27.5 rear on my Pivot shuttle. Works really well for me and that bike.

Note that the quickness advantage of a Mullet bike (smaller rear wheel) is not really realized if the bike is not made for it as the rear will still have 29er length chainstays. The YT Decoy, is made for 27.5 or 27.5+ rear only with 29er front. So it gains the advantage.

So with that said, I'm not really sure I'll put a smaller rear wheel on my Levo. Won't do much i'm afraid since the wheelbase and chainstay length will be exactly the same.


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 1996)

ohhhhhh snap!!


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## rwdbkr (Jan 24, 2008)

fc said:


> ohhhhhh snap!!


Very interested to hear what you think about the coil on the Levo. I inquired about putting one on mine shortly after I bought my Levo and the shop owner seemed to think the Levo was better suited to air from his experience riding one. Also, would you need to compensate for the weight of the bike when determining coil size? I'm a buck 55....what size coil you riding there?
Thanks for any feedback!


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 1996)

rwdbkr said:


> Very interested to hear what you think about the coil on the Levo. I inquired about putting one on mine shortly after I bought my Levo and the shop owner seemed to think the Levo was better suited to air from his experience riding one. Also, would you need to compensate for the weight of the bike when determining coil size? I'm a buck 55....what size coil you riding there?
> Thanks for any feedback!


I have one ride so far it's one of the best rides ever. Ever! The front Pike needs to be upgraded a bit.

This is coming off a 2019 Stumpy Evo so everything is perfect.




































Glad I lost some bike weight since looks like I'll be adding some here.

And I don't know why my brakes are suckin! I have Codes on another bike and they seem fine. They're no XT 4-piston or Magura MT7 but shouldn't be this bad.


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## rpnz (Jun 17, 2020)

Brakes first. Shimano XT Saint brakes are my first upgrade. Brilliant.


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## rpnz (Jun 17, 2020)

Who has switched to a 27.5 rear wheel. I would love to hear how this changes the ride?


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## 33red (Jan 5, 2016)

rpnz said:


> Who has switched to a 27.5 rear wheel. I would love to hear how this changes the ride?


It is a personal thing, some love 29, some love 27.5.
For what i do 27.5x40mm/2.8 is real fun but i alternate with older bike 29x2.3 on narrow rims. I use 165 arms because i hate pedal strikes.


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## Whiterabbitt (May 16, 2020)

Dumb question. Does going to 27.5 mean you can put a shock with extra length and stroke (~7mm) to push the bb back to normal height, fixing the geometry?

One could imagine doing the same up front, going 27.5 and a fork with 19mm longer a2c (and again more travel!)

Perhaps end up with a more nimble 180/180?

google mullet levo and you can find other forums discussing ride quality, but they keep the OEM air shock and deal with the geo change. I don’t see why that can’t be fixed?


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## 33red (Jan 5, 2016)

Whiterabbitt said:


> Dumb question. Does going to 27.5 mean you can put a shock with extra length and stroke (~7mm) to push the bb back to normal height, fixing the geometry?
> 
> One could imagine doing the same up front, going 27.5 and a fork with 19mm longer a2c (and again more travel!)
> 
> ...


My guess is you might get all kind of answers. Personaly i have no problem making small changes.
- After 2 years on a 100mm HT i switched to 120 and loved it.
- Last season my bike came with 3.0, after a month i switched to 2.8(rear) and loved it.
- That bike had 175mm arms, i switched to 165 and loved it.
- Now my new bike is on 2.6x27.5 and i am shopping for2.8x27.5

We ride in different places so the ***best bike*** is the BS from some BS **review**

I know i like a short bike, not too low. Just do not do upgrade to be cool. Investing can be improving a bit.


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## Whiterabbitt (May 16, 2020)

All kind of answers are better than no answers, or the worst answer "you'll put your eye out, kid!"

I found one candidate shock yesterday. OEM shock seems to be 210x52.5 (8.25x2). The DVO Jade X coil shok comes in a 215x63 (8.5x2.5). Assuming a standard 3:1 ratio at the bottom of the stroke and that the linkage can go negative for 5mm, that will push the rear wheel down 0.75" to roughly push the BB height back to normal when dropping from a 29 to 27.5 wheel (nominal dimensions here of course). 

The added benefit assuming the wheel clears the seat tube is that if you get a total ratio of average 2.8:1 across the full stroke, you get 7" of rear travel, or 178mm. Also the benefit of coil if you are like me and prefer that 

Some people report better handling after mulleting the Levo. But none replaced the shock, only turned the mount points to max adjustment inside the eyelet. So I have to wonder...

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If one is willing to put over a POUND on an already heavy bike, there are 180mm forks out there (36 and 40mm) with an extra 20mm A2C that could compensate for putting a 27.5 on the front too. But that idea is NEVER talked about online.

(although now that I think about it, putting a coil shock on a Levo will already put more than a POUND on an already heavy bike!)


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## Whiterabbitt (May 16, 2020)

Well, the idea must have merit. The law of internet bulletin boards says a good idea gets no responses, but a bad idea presented as fact or a good solution gets pounced on like a cat on a laserpointer.


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## HouseNotes (Aug 18, 2012)

motoadve said:


> Bought one two days ago.
> Carbon comp, paid $7,200, very nice bike.


Looking at buying this bike SL comp carbon Levo. Like the lighter weight. How has been your experience with this bike and any advice on upgrades. How's the motor holding up?

thanks


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