Total Weight:
50 lbs (22.67 kg)
Battery Weight:
6.7 lbs (3.03 kg)
Frame Material:
Specialized M5 Aluminum Alloy, Forged and Braced Motor Mount
Frame Sizes:
15.5 in (39.37 cm)17.5 in (44.45 cm)19 in (48.26 cm)21.5 in (54.61 cm)Frame Types:
High-Step
Frame Colors:
Gloss Warm Charcoal with Cyan Accents
Frame Fork Details:
RockShox Pike RC, 140 mm Travel, Tapered Steerer, 15 mm x 110 mm Maxle Ultimate Thru-Axle
Frame Rear Details:
Custom FOX FLOAT Factory DPS, AUTOSAG, Rx Trail Tune, Boost Valve, Kashima Coating, 197 mm x 47.6 mm, 12 mm Thru-Axle
Attachment Points:
Bottle Cage Bosses
Gearing Details:
11
Speed 1x11 SRAM XG-1180, 10-42 Tooth, SRAM X01 Carbon Cage DerailleurShifter Details:
SRAM Gx Triggers on Right
Cranks:
Custom Praxis, Steel, 32 Tooth Chainring, 104 BCD Spider
Pedals:
Nylon Platform, CEN Standard with Toe Clips
Headset:
Hella Flush, 1-1/ 8" and 1-1/ 2" Threadless, Campy Style Upper with 1-1/ 2" Lower, Cartridge Bearings
Stem:
Specialized XC, 3D Forged Alloy, 4-Bolt, 6-Degree Rise
Handlebar:
Specialized Butted 7050 Alloy, 8-Degree Backsweep, 6-Degree Upsweep, 10 mm Rise, 31.8 mm Diameter, 750 mm Length
Brake Details:
SRAM Guide RS Hydraulic Disc with Metallic Pads and Centerline Rotors, 200 mm Front Rotor and 180 mm Rear Rotor, SRAM Guide RS Alloy Levers with Reach Adjust
Grips:
Specialized Sip Grip, Light Lock-On, Half-Waffle, S/M: Regular Thickness, L/XL: XL Thickness
Saddle:
Body Geometry Henge Comp, Hollow Cr-Mo Rails, 143 mm
Seat Post:
Command Post IRcc, Cruiser Control Technology, Micro-Adjust Height Adjustable, Alien Head Design, Bottom Mount Cable Routing, Remote Adjust SRL Lever, Small: 100 mm Travel, M/L/XL: 125 mm Travel
Seat Post Diameter:
30.9 mm
Rims:
Roval Traverse 650b, Alloy, 38 mm Wide, 24/28 Hole
Spokes:
DT Swiss Revolution, Stainless Steel
Tire Brand:
Specialized 6Fattie Purgatory Control Front, Specialized 6Fattie Ground Control Rear, 27.5" x 3"
Wheel Sizes:
27.5 in (69.85cm)Tire Details:
60 TPI, 2Bliss Ready, Folding Bead
Tube Details:
Presta Valve
Accessories:
Plastic Chain Guide, Zee Cage II Right Bottle Holder, Optional Replacement Battery Pack $800, Optional 1.3 lb Portable 1.6 Amp Charger, Integrated Rubberized Slap Guard, Rubber Steerer Bumpers, SWAT Tool Accessory, KMC X11L Chain with 2 Reusable MissingLink in Stem Cap
Other:
Eurobike Gold Award Winner 2015, Locking Removable Battery Pack, Battery Stops with 4% at Top and Bottom to Avoid Straining Cells, 42 Volt 4 Amp Charger with Rosenberger Plug (Magnetic EnergyBus Standard), IP67 Water and Dust Protection Rating on Battery Pack, Internal Cable and Cammand Post IR Routing, 12 x 148 mm Spacing, Fully Sealed Cartridge Bearings, Roval Traverse Front Hub, Roval Traverse 148 Rear Hub with XX1 Driver Body
Jack
8 years agoHi Court, I’ve been following your videos. Thanks for all the insight and research. I’m considering the Turbo Levo comp vs Bulls FS3+. What would be your recommendation between the two?
ReplyCourt Rye
8 years agoHi Jack, I think they are both great but would probably lean towards whichever has a dealer nearby. I bought the Turbo Levo Expert for exactly this reason and have been very happy with it. I do like the display interface and Micro-USB charging port on some of the Bulls models but the stealthy no-display setup on the Turbo is also great. You’re getting a very similar drivetrain and both have frame mounted batteries… these are both excellent bikes in my opinion :)
ReplyJack
7 years agoHi Court, I just purchased a Turbo Levo Expert and love it. I’m looking for a pair of platform pedals. What would you recommend?
Jack
7 years agoHi court, my turbo expert is running great. However, when climbing, there is a click noise coming from within the motor casing. It sounds like something is making contact with the plastic. I took the bike in to the dealer, but he was not able to fix the problem. Apparently, Specialized has a tool that he does not have to get into the casing. He recommended that I do a search online to see if anyone else had seen this and what solutions there might be.
ReplyCourt Rye
7 years agoInteresting, I haven’t seen or heard this Jack but the Specialized forums would be a good place to post, I created a thread for known issues here that might serve you well. The interesting thing about the Brose motor is that it usually runs very quiet but there are times with demo models (that have been ridden hard) where I feel like it was louder and sort of sandy sounding vs. smooth and soft.
ReplyDan
7 years agoHi, My wife rented a Turbo Levo Comp. We went on a MTB ride, she followed me using the #2 (trail) setting (I rode my standard non assisted mtb). She was in the #2 trail setting the entire ride, except for the last 2.5 mile climb. Because the battery level was getting low, she switched to the Eco setting. She was only in this setting for a short time, because she could not keep up with me. So she switched back to the trail setting. After 2hr15min, her battery died. We know for sure the battery had 100% charge before we started. We rode 22 miles with 2,400 of gain. Does this battery life sound normal? I was expecting better range. I called Specialized, but they said they can not give battery life details. Unfortunately the person I talked to never has been on a Turbo Levo and was no help. Thanks for any input you can provide…
ReplyCourt Rye
7 years agoInteresting, that does sound a little bit low but if the terrain was rigorous and your wife weighs 150+ lbs then that would be close to the estimated minimum I have posted. I make the numbers up based on my own ride experience and feedback from a number of users and brands. Mid-motors are efficient and the Brose is a leader but if you’re riding in a high gear and really leaning on the motor for support it could definitely drain faster. The 504 watt hour battery is fairly large or on par with other systems (on par with the Bosch Powerpack 500). I believe Specialized has several battery pack sizes, maybe you had the smaller one? I hope other people chime in and maybe I need to adjust the range estimate here but I agree, the distance seems a bit low. I hope you both still had fun! Thanks for sharing here.
ReplyDoug
7 years agoGreat review, Court, Just to let everyone know, these bikes are unbelievably awesome and the battery is no problem. I was skeptical on the whole thing but i want to do week long XC trips and ride longer and more technical terrain without torturing myself, so me and my buddy just rented/tested two 2017 Comps in State college Pa where 10 minutes away are some of the nastiest trails you can imagine. These things powered us up the steepest rockiest trails ever. words cannot describe how well they worked, not just the drivetrain, the wheels and tires were amazingly smooth on the sharp rocks and had unreal traction. It was also the quietest bike i have ever ridden, no rattles anywhere. Remember when the first i-phones came out? Well its almost like that. Its not evolutionary, its revolutionary. The first day we rode 30miles and climbed 3000ft. The 460w batteries were blinking red the last few miles but still had enough charge to blast up a super steep hill near the trail head in turbo mode. This is normally an extremely hard ride called the coopers gap epic that has no flow only rocks and roots and requires training for even a fit rider to complete. The factory settings worked great and Eco mode at 30% was more than enough most of the time and we only needed to use trail briefly on the steepest of climbs. You still want to feel like you are riding a bike and getting a workout so you only use as much power as needed to take away that annoying painful edge that normally sucks the life out of you and drowns out the fun. I say “Ride to your hearts content”. The bike has waaay more power than needed if your a regular rider and it doesn’t even feel right if you use too much. We were still very tired at the end of the ride but our legs and lungs weren’t ruined and that was the plan because we wanted to do an even longer ride the next day (normally you would need a day or two off or do a short ride at most). we charged the batteries that night and started a different 36mile loop that went straight up 1000ft right at the start. Normally you wouldn’t even bother riding these trails, too steep and rocky to be fun. We were in trail mode a lot the first two miles. we had chain problems, my buddy bent his once then broke it (the chain guide is a problem). we had to shorten the chain twice so we cut out early at 15 miles before we got too deep into the backcounrty with no spare chain or derailleur hanger. the batteries still had over 50% left even after blasting up a few climbs just for fun. I think that draining the battery completely and giving it a full charge helped but really the battery is not meant to do all the work so don’t expect it to, you still have to pedal you ass off to make it through 30 miles of gnar. I thought i would last longer than the bike but that was not the case. Sure my legs and lungs weren’t fried but the rest of my body was. I had blisters on my hands, my arms and shoulders ached, i was tired but elated like a kid at Christmas. As a 52 yr old engineer who loves bikes and has garage full of them and competed in every type of MTB event from trials to DH i’m here to tell you that this bike is a friggin’ miracle on wheels. My 2018 comp alum in black ships monday and i couldn’t be more stoked. All i need now is to get my buddy to ante up and we are going to plan some long trips to some big mountains. What animal has two thumbs and loves to climb 4000 ft a day?……..THIS GUY!!
Rob
7 years agoHey Court, I love your reviews, always so thorough! Since you own this bike I wanted to ask your opinion. I have been debating on getting the HT version of this bike for my 15 mile commute to work. It’s all paved though (trails not street) but there is no other ebike frame I love more than this one. Do you think with some smoother tires that this would be a good bike for a commute like this or would I be better off with something like a Vado? The Vado is more practical but the frame is ugly and this one just has so much style! It is 2x as much as one of the discounted commuter bikes (like a 2016 Haibike Trekking model) so I don’t want to purchase if it’s too impractical for my main use. But I love the integrated battery. Luckily where I would lock it up is secure so I wouldn’t have to worry about the battery being stolen and I do love the simplistic style (no computer). Looking forward to your response and keep up the great work!
ReplyCourt Rye
7 years agoHi Rob, yeah, I’m in love with this design too… It sounds like you’re thinking about getting the Turbo Levo Hardtail like this? I wish they would have included rear rack bosses because that would have made adding gear a lot easier. I do not recommend using a beam rack because they can get pushed side to side when riding or adjusting the seat, instead, I’d pay more for something like the Thule Pack ‘N Pedal rack that attaches to the seat stays. I think you could use that and get some smoother (but still big and comfortable) tires like these Schwalbe Big Bens. I cannot say for sure whether the rack or tires would fit perfectly as I have not tried them, but that’s where I would start… and yeah, the clean cockpit, stealthy look of the bike, integrated battery and quiet mid-drive are all awesome. I do like the Haibike Trekking but it wasn’t as comfortable for me and the Vado was decent, but I agree that the style wasn’t nearly as cool. I hope this helps and welcome your feedback on whichever ebike you get!
ReplyDrewsky
7 years agoSpecialized Levo expert is my third e-bike (stealth bomber & specialized turbo road bike prior to the LEVO) & its amazing in many ways. its only downside to me is the gear change is a bit of an art, i.e. it requires good timing & backing off of the pedaling power & cadence while shifting. once you master that, this bike shines with awesome geometry, comfort, incredible adjustability in power, suspension absorption, geometry adjustments etc.
Don’t bother with lots of comparisons reviews test rides etc. just get one! it will reward you with a blissed out smile every ride. by the way I ride a large size am 6’1″ weigh 110kg & it works great for me. It even climbs well with my weight. The fat tyres are fantastic adding great traction while softening the ride. regarding geometry, it’s so in tune with your moves it’s almost telepathic. Sit up take your hands off the bars & stear via small weight shift & it just follows exactly as you would wish. that said I mean on good flat surfaces. Beautifully engineered, great looking go anywhere beasty. I Love IT! Truely a work of art thats state of the e-bike art.
Cheers Drewsky
ReplyCourt Rye
7 years agoFantastic! I enjoyed reading your comment Drewsky, so happy to hear that you’re loving the Turbo Levo and THANK YOU for sharing your height and weight so that others can relate. I owned a Turbo Levo for a bit (I try to buy a different bike each year for testing) and I loved it too. Very well balanced, quiet but also powerful, great geometry and bicycle design… not just electric
ReplyAlexa Biker
3 years agoSpecialized Levo expert is my third e-bike (stealth bomber and specialized turbo road bike prior to the LEVO) and it’s amazing in many ways. The only downside to me is the gear change is a bit of an art, i.e. I have brought it from Best Electrical Bikes. It requires good timing and backing off of the pedaling power and cadence while shifting. Once you master that, this bike shines with awesome geometry, comfort, incredible adjustability in power, suspension absorption, geometry adjustments etc.
Reply