Levo SL Gen 1 Official Levo SL Thread

Kiwi in Wales said:
Hey Rob,
Really good info to digest.
Out of interest, what settings were you on for Eco, Trail and Turbo?
Also, is it possible to download the CSV file and look at column J which should be called ‘Battery Current (A)’ as this will tell you what Amps the motor was drawing for each second during your ride ;)
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Stock mode other than I changed ECO to 30 / 100 as its a nice fluid mode that enables upto 100% assistance.

I checked the CSV. I get up to 6.4 Amps / 48.2 Volts / 300w motor power.
 
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miPbiP said:
hilly!

so that was a full SL battery without extender? how hard did you work?
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Not entirely sure battery was 100% as I'd faffed about earlier in day setting bike up from shop before I went out, this was my first ever ride on an ebike, so I was probably maxing out where I should've have but that's what a demo was all about isn't it? No battery extender was harmed in this ride.
How hard did I work? Legs were aching afterwards, so still needed to put the effort in to get up some of the bigger climbs, its not a sit and spin bike. Had done the same ride 2 days previously that took about 45 mins longer to do and I was more tired afterwards.
 
Blinkie said:
Not entirely sure battery was 100% as I'd faffed about earlier in day setting bike up from shop before I went out, this was my first ever ride on an ebike, so I was probably maxing out where I should've have but that's what a demo was all about isn't it? No battery extender was harmed in this ride.
How hard did I work? Legs were aching afterwards, so still needed to put the effort in to get up some of the bigger climbs, its not a sit and spin bike. Had done the same ride 2 days previously that took about 45 mins longer to do and I was more tired afterwards.
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Did you like it??
 
Keen to learn owners experience with the motor noise level.

I demo’d an Expert SL this afternoon, the bike is everything I’m looking for except for one thing, the constant whining noise from the motor.

I currently ride a Kenevo which is quiet, and have several friends riding both 2019 and 2020 Levo’s, and they are both a little bit louder, so I know to expect some motor noise, but the SL this afternoon was in a different league. At some points I turned the motor off for a bit of peace and quiet.

I have other friends riding both the Shimano and the Bosch and in my experience these are both louder than the Brose, but the SL I rode (which I appreciate isn’t Brose) was louder than these too.

I’m very taken by the riding dynamics of the SL, but the noise doesn’t seem right to me as I’m sure there would be more conversation about it if they were all at this level.

What have others found? We tested another bike in the shop and it was definitely quieter, so are some coming out the factory louder than others? Do they get quieter as they bed in (though probably too early to answer that one).
 
I had a demo of a brand new SL... which had never been ridden before.
My own bike is a Trek Rail with a Bosch Gen4 motor - and is the only other eMTB I’ve ever ridden.

I rode mainly in Trail, and would say that the SL was quieter than the Bosch in this mode. When I ramped it up to Turbo for an uphill climb, the volume increased - and was maybe fractionally louder than the Bosch.
Not much in it though.

I ride with AirPods in - albeit at a very low volume and in passive mode... so the noise doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is the clattering noise the Bosch motor makes when coming down a rooty or rocky section at speed. It sounds like it’s going to fall apart!!
 
Saxon said:
Keen to learn owners experience with the motor noise level.

I demo’d an Expert SL this afternoon, the bike is everything I’m looking for except for one thing, the constant whining noise from the motor.

I currently ride a Kenevo which is quiet, and have several friends riding both 2019 and 2020 Levo’s, and they are both a little bit louder, so I know to expect some motor noise, but the SL this afternoon was in a different league. At some points I turned the motor off for a bit of peace and quiet.

I have other friends riding both the Shimano and the Bosch and in my experience these are both louder than the Brose, but the SL I rode (which I appreciate isn’t Brose) was louder than these too.

I’m very taken by the riding dynamics of the SL, but the noise doesn’t seem right to me as I’m sure there would be more conversation about it if they were all at this level.

What have others found? We tested another bike in the shop and it was definitely quieter, so are some coming out the factory louder than others? Do they get quieter as they bed in (though probably too early to answer that one).
Click to expand...

remind me - didn't the Levo have an issue at one point with random noisy motors?
 
miPbiP said:
remind me - didn't the Levo have an issue at one point with random noisy motors?
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Yes, quite a few of the first run of 19 Levo's had faulty motors which made more noise than they should
 
Saxon said:
Keen to learn owners experience with the motor noise level.

I demo’d an Expert SL this afternoon, the bike is everything I’m looking for except for one thing, the constant whining noise from the motor.

I currently ride a Kenevo which is quiet, and have several friends riding both 2019 and 2020 Levo’s, and they are both a little bit louder, so I know to expect some motor noise, but the SL this afternoon was in a different league. At some points I turned the motor off for a bit of peace and quiet.

I have other friends riding both the Shimano and the Bosch and in my experience these are both louder than the Brose, but the SL I rode (which I appreciate isn’t Brose) was louder than these too.

I’m very taken by the riding dynamics of the SL, but the noise doesn’t seem right to me as I’m sure there would be more conversation about it if they were all at this level.

What have others found? We tested another bike in the shop and it was definitely quieter, so are some coming out the factory louder than others? Do they get quieter as they bed in (though probably too early to answer that one).
Click to expand...


I found the same whirr/ whining noise a distraction. Motor was quiet at first but gradually got worse as the ride went on it did level out, not sure if its heat related.
Coming from a bike that is almost silent (non ebike) it was very noticeable for me.
 
TheBikePilot said:
Did you like it??
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Yes and no.

Liked the ability to climb hills I did 20 yrs ago, felt like cheating tho. Not sure I'd be allowed to ride with my non ebiking buddies at that rate and speed :giggle:

If I did get I'd probably use for the solo rides I do when they are working and I'm not.

Bike was less nimble than my other bike for obvious reason. I could get used to that.
 
Blinkie said:
I found the same whirr/ whining noise a distraction. Motor was quiet at first but gradually got worse as the ride went on it did level out, not sure if its heat related.
Coming from a bike that is almost silent (non ebike) it was very noticeable for me.
Click to expand...

It was definitely a distraction for me too, and that’s as an existing ebike owner. The feel of the SL is fantastic, just like a ‘natural‘ bike, but the whirring is a constant reminder to you, and everyone in your riding group, that it’s not.

If the SL is the bike to attract riders off natural bikes, the demo bike shouldn’t sound like an electric scooter.

I’m suspecting that it varies from motor to motor, but with no set dB level, will Spesh acknowledge a noisy motor as a warranty item?
 
Saxon said:
I’m suspecting that it varies from motor to motor, but with no set dB level, will Spesh acknowledge a noisy motor as a warranty item?
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As you say what would be the base noise that is acceptable? any dealer is probably gonna say, Nah thats fine its an ebike that's to be expected and may vary from dealer to dealer
 
Blinkie said:
As you say what would be the base noise that is acceptable? any dealer is probably gonna say, Nah thats fine its an ebike that's to be expected and may vary from dealer to dealer
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Thankfully my local dealer ‘ACE BICYCLES’ are brilliant and I know they will look after me if there is a concern. After the demo bike this is the only comfort / peace of mind that would give me the confidence to pull the trigger.
 
Blinkie said:
As you say what would be the base noise that is acceptable? any dealer is probably gonna say, Nah thats fine its an ebike that's to be expected and may vary from dealer to dealer
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there were noise issues with some Levo motors and I believe some were changed under warranty - but that was before I was in the emtb loop so maybe someone can confirm with info.

@Saxon My Levo is from Ace too. Where did you do your SL demo?
 
miPbiP said:
there were noise issues with some Levo motors and I believe some were changed under warranty - but that was before I was in the emtb loop so maybe someone can confirm with info.

@Saxon My Levo is from Ace too. Where did you do your SL demo?
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I spoke nicely to Toby, and spent the afternoon pedalling in the hills, in the sunshine.
 
TheBikePilot said:
I rode with ACE Bicycles owners Bro at the Merida, top blokes..Heard a lot of good things about Ace.
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His bro’s a top lad too. Don’t want to turn this thread into an Ace fan club, but they really focus on the customer rather than volume sales at discounted prices. As my LBS that gets my support every day of the week!
 
@Rob Hancill would you say that the fit of the xl SL is identical or close enough to your old xl levo? I am on the fence between large and xl, heavily leaning xl due to wanting the extra reach and stack. Rode an xl levo around the parking lot today (local doesn’t have the sl in stock yet) to get a feel
on paper they are pretty much identical for the numbers that matter on fit. Other than stand over
 
How about pedaling without support/motor off vs levo? Climbing without motor?
 
jcmonty said:
@Rob Hancill would you say that the fit of the xl SL is identical or close enough to your old xl levo? I am on the fence between large and xl, heavily leaning xl due to wanting the extra reach and stack. Rode an xl levo around the parking lot today (local doesn’t have the sl in stock yet) to get a feel
on paper they are pretty much identical for the numbers that matter on fit. Other than stand over
Click to expand...
Yes very similar. But the big difference is the short chainstay so balance on the bike feels different.
 
So stripped mine down to frame and now off for dipping?‍♂️
Motor is diddy, so small & light in comparison to Levo. Nice cable routing, much better connections, all looks extremely well thought out.

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