Levo dropper cable routing.

[JabberingJimbo]

Hi all, went to raise my seat post to get the right fit, and dam cable disconnected.....
After removing the rear shock and the small cable guide/retainers, I still can’t get the cable to push up the seat post so I can reconnect.

Any advise or will I have to drop the motor out to get access?

 

[Mcharza]

At least in Kenovo helped to open the engine cover (non drive side) and I pulled the cable down until mechanics worked

 

[Specialized Rider Care]

Hi all, went to raise my seat post to get the right fit, and dam cable disconnected.....

Which year/model Levo?

 

[JabberingJimbo]

2019 comp alloy frame. See profile pic.

Will pop the cover off and see if that gives me wiggle room or a view of what’s up there.

 

[Specialized Rider Care]

 

[JabberingJimbo]

All sorted, thanks for the video.
Getting the motor out was quite simple and only way to find the dropper cable end.

 

[Loe Rider]

Old post but what a godsend that video is. Thanks @Specialized Rider Care - my lazy LBS (a specialized concept store!) didn't loop my cable round the shadow loop and just cut it short then bent if up from the sidearm at over 90 degrees. No wonder the dropper never worked properly from day one - they just said to grease it. Annoyingly, i broke the plastic lever on the manic x-fusion when I took it out to do the service so I had to buy a whole new one - it's been an expensive fix because of one lazy bike technician. At least I can rethread it myself now.... but i wonder what other shortcuts they did?

 

[DtEW]

Old post but what a godsend that video is. Thanks @Specialized Rider Care - my lazy LBS (a specialized concept store!) didn't loop my cable round the shadow loop and just cut it short then bent if up from the sidearm at over 90 degrees. No wonder the dropper never worked properly from day one - they just said to grease it. Annoyingly, i broke the plastic lever on the manic x-fusion when I took it out to do the service so I had to buy a whole new one - it's been an expensive fix because of one lazy bike technician. At least I can rethread it myself now.... but i wonder what other shortcuts they did?

This seems to be a somewhat common mistake.

I bought my '21 Levo this past December from a small-town LBS (read: they don't move many Levos) and it came the same way. Which meant for me that 1) the dropper didn't work right, 2) it stopped working at all when I began lowering the seatpost toward where I needed it, and 3) I couldn't get the seatpost down to where I needed it. In addition, the bolt that secured the rearmost cable securement flap (this is an aluminum-framed Levo) was missing, since, they couldn't get the cables to seat right and therefore get the securement flap into a position where the threads would engage.

In contrast, the other '21 Levo my significant-other picked up from a large chain LBS had everything set-up correctly, presumably because they move lots of Levos.

(Note: this is actually not an endorsement of the large-chain LBS. The small-town LBS ended-up being more than helpful and they are actually higher on my rank of where I will source my next bike. The after-sale relationship with the large-chain LBS ended up being more fraught.)

I also used this video to fix the issue. Fortunately, no major components were broken, so all it took was my labor (the small-town LBS provided all the necessary parts; not the labor because they were several hours from where I live).

Helpful note: follow the routing exactly as depicted in the video. This is to say that as you insert the housing from the left side of the motor, the leg that goes up to the dropper should be in the back (from the mounted rider's perspective, the right side of the hidden shadow loop holder), and the leg that goes into the SideArm should be in the front (from the mounted rider's perspective, the left side of the hidden shadow loop holder).

I actually did it first the the other way (a failed attempt at optimization), and it didn't work nearly as well as the video-depicted configuration.

 

[Loe Rider]

Thanks @DtEW good hints for my rerouting tomorrow. Gonna do the job properly!

 

[Loe Rider]

All done but a little tip for others. I was expecting the area under the shadow loop to be sufficient to allow the cable to drop down and pick up the slack from the dropper. At 7:45 it shows the dropper being inserted with the outer level with the top of the frame but you actually have to pull the cable from the other end as you slide it in (makes sense when you remember the earlier instruction to cut off more outer to accommodate the dropper insertion). Disappointing design though because that wouldn't be necessary if the shadow loop was a little higher and to remove the dropper you have to follow most of this video instead of just undoing a bolt.

Oh, and I found that everything inside the motor around the wires was thick with mud despite the foam seal and full mudguard set. Well worth a clean out every now and again.