Curiousity has me asking, why are the specialized Levo so popular? what is it that makes these bikes appear to be the bike of choice over others, it is not like they are at a great price point to have what seems to be the masses buying over other brands. Is it ease of ownership, quality of the bike, more local dealers? They certainly seem to be the most popular bike on this forum which is great in that there is plenty of information and experience. I have a Specialized Camber comp as my only bike at the moment and have been researching and looking and test riding, teasing myself with thought of getting onto an Ebike to make my MTBing as much fun as i have trailbike/adv riding.
Thanks for any input, sorry if it has been covered before, i had a bloke look.
Good question Poppy. You're absolutely right, they don't represent the best value in an EMTB, that's for sure. I had done fairly exhaustive research into a purchase, and had settled upon the Merida E160-900E as the definite best bang for buck EMTB available in Australia.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be not available. I ordered in January and waited patiently for months, only to be fobbed off by the dealer and importer a number of times. Turns out it was out of their hands, the shipment numbers to Australia were being limited from the manufacturer in Taiwan. In the end, frustration got the better of me and I went for an available model - which was the Turbo Levo. I had ridden one before (rented one in Tasmania in Feb) and felt it was a very sorted bike, even if a bit more expensive.
My dealer sweet-talked me with a fat discount, and the bike was ready for me to pick up. I went for it - I didn't have to wait I could have a bike and ride, and forget my first-world problems.
Given they aren't the best value, they still represent reasonably good value against some of the other brands like Haibike, Focus, etc. And, the motor decoupling is very much worth it. Not having resistance past cutout is wonderful; you don't get this on many of the other motors . . . even the Merida has a bit (with the Shimano Steps).
With the market proliferation of the Levo (and now Kenevo) there is a great knowledgebase to tap into. There are many closed Facebook groups, forums, and other sources of very valuable information on the Levo. There are some great pieces of software from 3rd parties, which make tweaking and de-restricting very easy to do. There are users out there fabbing up some great range-extender options. There are people messing around with geometries, wheel sizes, chains, sprockets, blah blah blah and all the great modifications and farkles that go with bike ownership. It's so easy to tap into this as a Levo owner, just take a look at the thread count in the Specialized sub forum here on EMTB . . . compare it to the Merida subforum. In all consideration, I'm very glad I ended up with the Levo, instead of the Merida. I feel like *gulp* part of a brand community, if there is such a thing. It's good to chat to other Levo owners, shoot the shit via forums, and learn more and customize more.
Consider the resale on a Levo . . . with its proliferation it should hold value a bit better than some other EMTB brands. So while you might take more of a financial hit initially, you might get some $$$ back in the end.
Have you ridden one yet Poppy? Bigborett and I had a good spin out in the Grampians on our Levos just yesterday.
