I started riding my 1989 Rockhopper Comp again, regularly, a couple of years ago. I'm 1/2 mile away from a regional park with tons of fireroads, quite a bit of single track, and hills, hills, and in case I didn't mention it enough, massive hills. I love it!
One of the mods I did to the bike 30 years ago was add a quad ring (a 16 tooth FRONT sprocket) giving me half a chance at some of those hills. I can climb them at a 1 to 2 mph pace. Two years ago, it was often less than 1 mph, so I had to add a second spoke magnet and halve the wheel circumference on my bike computer because at less than 1 mph it assumed I had stopped moving.
While on vacation and hiking in the Sierras, I witnessed two women riding up a grade at considerable speed (far faster than I could have) and just chatting amiably. I was shocked. I did a quick google and discovered e-assist bicycling. I looked for local bike shops and went to check them out. The 2019 Levos were on the shop floor. They were GIGANTIC. I was shocked! I looked at the price stickers. Wham! Lightning strike? Getting tired of all these shocks. The S-Works was more expensive than any motorcycle I had ever purchased, and even some cars. That tempered my enthusiasm, at least for a year.
But I continued to read about emtbs. Joined a forum or two, slowly got educated.
Last summer I thought I might be ready to buy. I was heavily leaning towards another Specialized bike, so the Levo was in my sights. Reading about the BLEvo app made it just that much more enticing. The control available is quite stunning. I had exactly zero interest in derestricting. So I finally rode a demo Levo, a medium since a large was not available. My biggest concern was would it enable me to ride all those hills that I just could not peddle up. Just for reference, I had just reached the age of 70. That very first ride on a 90+ degree F, I utilized the GoPro and in watching it back was surprised by the number of 'oh my god' comments immediately followed by laughter. While not exactly breezing up the steepest hills on some of my more regular routes, I didn't have to get off and push. Woohoo!. The following day I did two more rides, testing routes never attempted by me before. Stunningly able to climb some 25 degree sections. The last ride was 24.5 miles, 5000 feet of climbing, about 4 hours, using 37% of the 700wh available. I ride with assistance off anytime the climb is less than I guess 5 degrees. I downshift to first and go as long as I can and then use eco, trail and infrequently turbo. I reduce the assist as soon as I am able, switching to off if I can. I am happy to report I did not have to dismount on any slope. I was exhausted when I finished, but a VERY HAPPY exhausted. I had explored some new to me sections of the park. This was another goal I had, to open up more exploration possibilities. Looking at a trail/road dropping down a substantial distance made me hesitant to try it, wondering if I might have to push the bike back up. Fears overcome.
After reading a whole series on Brose motor failures, I concluded that many of the issues seemed like the riders in many cases seemed to be abusing the design. Some derestricted, some hammering around in turbo, one person did a study and thought there were less issues with the aluminum frames than carbon, so perhaps the aluminum helped dissipate the heat in both the motor and the battery. I had been thinking Expert, but opted for the Comp, saving around $1000.
So I ordered a 2021 Comp, large, in Spruce. Paid the entire amount, less the $100 already paid for the demo with delivery expected within a month.
That month came and went, as did the next. My LBS offered me an SL to demo for free for two days. I figured, why not? My riding style of using minimal power MIGHT be a good fit, but I was concerned that half the battery and half the power might be insufficient for the hills that I ride. I have also noticed that no matter how much I ride, the next year I don't SEEM to have the same strength, but since much of my riding success depends on how many times I have to stop, or dismount, coupled with riding time, it is hard to pinpoint. With the BLEvo app I will have all sorts of statistics to track and see.
The first ride on the SL I could not climb the hill that I have never climbed without assistance. I got higher, but ran out of leg power and had to dismount and WALK the bike up. Walk mode was nice to have. In this first short ride I was also unable to climb a section in turbo that I was able to climb on the 2020 Levo. Hmm.
I did two more rides. The 2nd ride I had mounted my phone on the handlebars and was delighted with all the feedback data, until about 2 hours in my phone completely died because I had the screen on full time. I estimated that was a 20+ mile effort and I explored 11 new sections of fire road. The final ride was 19.3 miles with 4600 feet of climbing. I had to dismount four times.
So I returned the bike and let them know that for, the better long term solution was the bike I had ordered.
Just a couple of observations. Going from eco to off always felt a bit sluggish (quite understandable), but as soon as I picked up the cadence it felt immediately better. My riding style in the hills really does not expose me to the dreaded 'cutoff' at around 20 mph, so I cannot say how that feels on the SL.
A week later my Levo arrived. I immediately ordered the invisiframe kit, and don't want to ride it, especially in the dirt, until that is installed. However, I did do a brake bed-in according to LBS instruction: 20 hard braking applications from 12 mph, and 10 hard braking applications from 20 mph. I utilized turbo for those and when going slightly uphill, the dropoff in power was VERY noticable, less so on a decline, the steeper the decline, the less the effect is noticeable.
So, completely happy so far, can only imagine what my ride will be like a week from today on the Levo. I might be regretting this next week's 2 or 3 rides on the old Rockhopper, hah!
