Does this make sense ? (E-MTB mode on Levo)

ebikeZA

Active member
Apr 2, 2018
275
138
Cape Town
Taken from this article ...

The 5 best tips to get the most range out of your e-bike - Mtbr.com

A couple of years ago, Bosch came up with the e-mtb mode that allows the rider to get 100% of the motor’s power if the rider worked hard enough. This was a revelation since traditional modes on all motors only gave 100% motor power if the user went into the highest mode, called Boost or Turbo. This is the main reason riders go into these modes, on steep or fast sections, as eco mode only allows 30% of the motor’s power usually.
The revelation is this single mode is more usable and it saves about 20-30% battery capacity. The user has the power when they need it but they don’t get sucked in or stuck in Turbo mode, which admittedly is addicting.

Not all motors support this but it is available with different terminology. In Specialized bikes, the user has full control of each mode with 2 variables called ‘support’ and ‘peak power’. By default, Eco mode is set to 35/35 and Trail mode is set to 35/70. The great news is the user can set their own e-mtb mode by setting Eco to 20/100 for example and then Trail to 40/100. Eco will give the rider 20% support but go all the way to 100% peak power when called upon. The rider just has to work for it and it is configurable through the app. Trail mode is the same but gives the user more support. With this mode, the user rarely has to go to Trail mode or Turbo mode but still get the full benefit of the motor. This increases range and usability quite a bit.

I though having eco on 20/100 would really drain the battery fast ? ... Can someone please explain ?
 

Simoto123

E*POWAH Master
Patreon
Aug 6, 2019
265
368
North west
I have mine on 35/100. I rarely use other assistance levels except the last couple miles or so when I can hear the kettle. Or as a shuttle mode. I’ve tried a few low assistance settings and strategies, but this seems simples and doesn’t appear to adversely affect my range. I stand to be corrected but I believe spesh’s algorithm is very good.
Blevo smart power?
 

Waynetta

E*POWAH Master
Feb 11, 2020
189
177
Plymouth Devon
I took a demo Levo SL out and tried eco on 35/100. I found it felt too much like turbo all the time. Didn’t seem to have to put a lot of effort in to get it to full assist.
 

Paul Mac

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Patreon
Subscriber
Jul 9, 2018
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The Specialized system does not work the same as a Bosch EMTB mode, its vastly different.
 

Paceman

Member
Jul 8, 2019
92
59
Brighton
The tech at Spesh UK told me that high peak power settings drain the battery quicker as they draw a greater current, so I would assume 20/100 would reduce the range (although I’ve not tried it).
 

Waynetta

E*POWAH Master
Feb 11, 2020
189
177
Plymouth Devon
From my understanding 20 support and 100 power should mean you have to put a load of power yourself into the pedals to get the motor to deliver its max. Have I got that right?
 

salko

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Aug 29, 2019
1,235
835
SLO
With setting 20/100 you will get support up to 0,82 x rider input (assuming max. assist is 410%). So with Brose Drive S Mag you will have to input 683W with your legs to get full power (560W) from the motor.
 

Levo Laland

Well-known member
Nov 27, 2019
273
236
Surrey UK
I always have peak power set to max so that the bike power always increases in line with my output. I run assistance levels of 15 35 and 65 and can get almost 500w from the motor in eco at 15%. Running any less than max peak power is just creating another motor limiter, which is great for battery but not much fun.
 

NGreen

Member
Mar 15, 2019
20
30
Orange County, California
The Specialized system does not work the same as a Bosch EMTB mode, its vastly different.
What makes them so different?

i tried mess around with MC app settings and ended up going back to default settings. If there’s a setting that would work similar to eMtb mode that would be fun to try. I don’t know enough about either system to make that happen.
 

Levo Laland

Well-known member
Nov 27, 2019
273
236
Surrey UK
If you run peak power at 100% you will always have full motor power available if you put out enough power. This chart is useful to understand what the permutations are.

50AFBB33-5015-4DCB-BDB4-0A31BC744927.png
 

randycpu

Member
Nov 15, 2018
85
39
Silicon Valley, USA
If you run peak power at 100% you will always have full motor power available if you put out enough power. This chart is useful to understand what the permutations are.

View attachment 26508
This is a very useful table, but where did the data come from? As an engineer and 2016 Turbo Levo owner, I've always wanted this data.

My question: How does Peak Power come into play here? If you keep a constant Cyclist Input Power, it appears that PP only moderates (reduces) actual motor output.

This is the opposite of how I was told that PP worked. I was told that PP allowed additional power when Rider Input peaked, but unless set to 100%, all it does is reduces power.
 

Levo Laland

Well-known member
Nov 27, 2019
273
236
Surrey UK
This is a very useful table, but where did the data come from? As an engineer and 2016 Turbo Levo owner, I've always wanted this data.

My question: How does Peak Power come into play here? If you keep a constant Cyclist Input Power, it appears that PP only moderates (reduces) actual motor output.

This is the opposite of how I was told that PP worked. I was told that PP allowed additional power when Rider Input peaked, but unless set to 100%, all it does is reduces power.
Straight from the manual, PP restricts the max motor power available.
That’s why Specialized use it to restrict the default eco mode, which for reasons I don’t understand has assistance set at 35% the same as trail, the difference between the two modes is the PP setting. So the economy comes from reducing the motor power rather the the assistance level. I can’t take credit for the spreadsheet I found it on the forum some time ago.

1ACA2DFF-3701-431C-899F-719B3AF9F451.png
 

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