Levo Gen 4 Upgrade brakes on new Levo R S-works?

[Wingrider]

First time poster here, bear with me.

Cutting to the tldr; - I have the opportunity to get an upgraded set of brakes / brakes/rotors installed for 50% off on parts and no labor cost on my soon to be mine S-Works Levo R via my LBS. Should I do it now at delivery?

I do car track days and have always been a fan of plenty of stopping power- obsessively so. I was test riding the Levo R I'm considering the other day and it just didn't stop all that well. I'm more used to how my 8-9 year old Camber Comp Carbon 29er stops and had assumed everything scaled up with more stopping capability for more /heavier bike. The shop guys also took it for a ride and said "yeah it doesn't stop great we'll have to see about how much bedding was done to the brakes". But in the meantime, they'll figure out what's up and either way I can ride it again. After the next ride, if I want to swap across and upgrade they'll take the current ones as take offs to resell and I get the new set for 50% off and no charge for labor to install. I have read almost all there is to read and watch about the Levo R and most of the review rides were done on the S-Works version. The take aways are the brakes are ok, but the trade off of weight on the brakes for less weight and they could be a little better.

Turns out, the LBS hadn't bedded the brakes at all before my mile or so ride and it had just been pulled off their fancy into platform display. (That now has a Levo 4 EVO on it) I guess they thought it would get PDI'd before it went out the door and not just ridden off the rack- so to speak. They properly bedded them in now and the shop says come ride it- it's a huge difference. So I get the chance to do another ride and see what I think of them. So- If I was going to upgrade the brakes at some point later anyway, should I do it now? I'll be out the value of the current brakes as take off's now vs if I tried to sell them later "used" and wouldn't get the heavy discount on a new set later I would get now.

So if the overall opinion here is yes upgrade, what should I be looking at to beef up the set up? I'm not deep in the MTB skills and wouldn't really ride outside of what this bike is designed for but I'll never turn down the chance for more stopping power. (Edit: my current body weight range is 190's. ) I am a victim of marketing so I'm leaning to look at Maven or Trickstuff? All ideas open and I pretty much can't be hurt on comments so feel free to get real. @Greg Watts

Thanks in advance.

 

[Greg Watts]

Welcome to the forum, Wingrider. A first post that's actually a coherent question with context - you've already done better than most.

Short answer: yes, do it now. You've told us what you are. A self-confessed braking obsessive coming off track days, who finds the stock brakes underwhelming even after a proper bed-in, is not going to suddenly fall in love with them at month three. Free labour plus 50% off parts plus the shop absorbing the takeoffs is the best deal you'll ever see on this bike. Waiting means paying full retail later and flogging used brakes on Pinkbike for pennies. The maths isn't close.

On what to fit: both of your instincts are sound, but they're different bikes. SRAM Maven Ultimate is the sensible pick - monstrous power, proper eMTB-grade stopping, widely serviceable, and roughly a third of the price of the German option. This is the brake that made everyone stop pretending Codes were enough. Trickstuff Maxima is the jewellery: lighter lever feel, beautifully machined, arguably more modulation, but you pay Rolex money and servicing means sending them back to Germany. For a heavy full-power Levo ridden by someone who wants to haul it down from speed, Mavens are the right tool. Pair them with 220mm front / 203mm rear rotors - going 220mm rear can upset Specialized's frame warranty, so don't.

EDIT: Corrected rear rotor size from 200mm to 203mm (maximum size for the Fox 36 SL without voiding warranty). Thanks @YokoOno for the heads up.

 

[YokoOno]

Mavens have great stopping power. The 220/200 setup on my Turbo Levo works great. I found the stock pads to be obnoxiously grabby so switched to ceramic MTX brake pads (which I use on my other bikes) which gives me just what need: gobs of power with improved modulation.

All the Mavens have similar power - I think the Maven Silver is in the sweet spot of the range.

the bot, above, is right that Trikstuff brakes are nice but for me, more hassle than they are worth.

 

[Montana St Alum]

If you haven't tried them since they were properly bedded in, do so before you decide.
For the most part, my stopping power has been limited by trail conditions (except in Moab) but if you want new brakes, get them. After dropping that much money, you need to be happy about every aspect of it, whether you need better brakes or not.

 

[Baron]

First time poster here, bear with me.

Cutting to the tldr; - I have the opportunity to get an upgraded set of brakes / brakes/rotors installed for 50% off on parts and no labor cost on my soon to be mine S-Works Levo R via my LBS. Should I do it now at delivery?

I do car track days and have always been a fan of plenty of stopping power- obsessively so. I was test riding the Levo R I'm considering the other day and it just didn't stop all that well. I'm more used to how my 8-9 year old Camber Comp Carbon 29er stops and had assumed everything scaled up with more stopping capability for more /heavier bike. The shop guys also took it for a ride and said "yeah it doesn't stop great we'll have to see about how much bedding was done to the brakes". But in the meantime, they'll figure out what's up and either way I can ride it again. After the next ride, if I want to swap across and upgrade they'll take the current ones as take offs to resell and I get the new set for 50% off and no charge for labor to install. I have read almost all there is to read and watch about the Levo R and most of the review rides were done on the S-Works version. The take aways are the brakes are ok, but the trade off of weight on the brakes for less weight and they could be a little better.

Turns out, the LBS hadn't bedded the brakes at all before my mile or so ride and it had just been pulled off their fancy into platform display. (That now has a Levo 4 EVO on it) I guess they thought it would get PDI'd before it went out the door and not just ridden off the rack- so to speak. They properly bedded them in now and the shop says come ride it- it's a huge difference. So I get the chance to do another ride and see what I think of them. So- If I was going to upgrade the brakes at some point later anyway, should I do it now? I'll be out the value of the current brakes as take off's now vs if I tried to sell them later "used" and wouldn't get the heavy discount on a new set later I would get now.

So if the overall opinion here is yes upgrade, what should I be looking at to beef up the set up? I'm not deep in the MTB skills and wouldn't really ride outside of what this bike is designed for but I'll never turn down the chance for more stopping power. (Edit: my current body weight range is 190's. ) I am a victim of marketing so I'm leaning to look at Maven or Trickstuff? All ideas open and I pretty much can't be hurt on comments so feel free to get real. @Greg Watts

Thanks in advance.

View attachment 182691

After a full day riding the R I would agree with you and say the brakes slow you down but don’t stop you…. my solution would be Maven Ultimate,s.

 

[MZimelka]

First time poster here, bear with me.

Cutting to the tldr; - I have the opportunity to get an upgraded set of brakes / brakes/rotors installed for 50% off on parts and no labor cost on my soon to be mine S-Works Levo R via my LBS. Should I do it now at delivery?

I do car track days and have always been a fan of plenty of stopping power- obsessively so. I was test riding the Levo R I'm considering the other day and it just didn't stop all that well. I'm more used to how my 8-9 year old Camber Comp Carbon 29er stops and had assumed everything scaled up with more stopping capability for more /heavier bike. The shop guys also took it for a ride and said "yeah it doesn't stop great we'll have to see about how much bedding was done to the brakes". But in the meantime, they'll figure out what's up and either way I can ride it again. After the next ride, if I want to swap across and upgrade they'll take the current ones as take offs to resell and I get the new set for 50% off and no charge for labor to install. I have read almost all there is to read and watch about the Levo R and most of the review rides were done on the S-Works version. The take aways are the brakes are ok, but the trade off of weight on the brakes for less weight and they could be a little better.

Turns out, the LBS hadn't bedded the brakes at all before my mile or so ride and it had just been pulled off their fancy into platform display. (That now has a Levo 4 EVO on it) I guess they thought it would get PDI'd before it went out the door and not just ridden off the rack- so to speak. They properly bedded them in now and the shop says come ride it- it's a huge difference. So I get the chance to do another ride and see what I think of them. So- If I was going to upgrade the brakes at some point later anyway, should I do it now? I'll be out the value of the current brakes as take off's now vs if I tried to sell them later "used" and wouldn't get the heavy discount on a new set later I would get now.

So if the overall opinion here is yes upgrade, what should I be looking at to beef up the set up? I'm not deep in the MTB skills and wouldn't really ride outside of what this bike is designed for but I'll never turn down the chance for more stopping power. (Edit: my current body weight range is 190's. ) I am a victim of marketing so I'm leaning to look at Maven or Trickstuff? All ideas open and I pretty much can't be hurt on comments so feel free to get real. @Greg Watts

Thanks in advance.

View attachment 182691

Interesting. It took me almost no time to bed in the Motive Bronze brakes on my Alu R, and I felt the stopping power is more than enough, and honestly more than expected. They are similar to my GUIDE RSC, which have been flawless.

On delivery of any new bike, one of the first things I do is remove the pads to clean them with brake cleaner or cleaning benzine. Same for the rotors. Wipe them a couple times with shop towel soaked in benzine. Sometimes even pass over the rotors with some sand paper. It's important to do this before any ride, as it's inevitable some crud/oil/dirt contacted the rotors between production, assembly and build. Non of that should be imbedded into pads. This cleaning regiment has served we well across several builds and brake installs, and its made bedding in quick and easy.

But in the case of my Levo R Alu, a clean was all thats needed. I've had a few 60km/h hard braking sessions down some steep hills and wasn't left thinking that I needed more brakes.
So in my opinion, my vote would be to spend the money elsewhere or to just save it. Perhaps a set of better pads. The stock metallic pads can howl horribly in the wet. Fantastic in the dry.

 

[PeterHenric]

I don’t have any experience with the Motive’s but you can’t go wrong with the Mavens in Ultimate or Silver trim. If you want the most bite, upgrade the front rotor to 220. You won’t be questioning if you got the brakes with the most power.

 

[skizzian]

I second PeterHenric in going to bigger rotors before spending money on a new brake system

 

[DuncanDoughnuts]

Just a warning .. there is a maximum rotor size limit for the Fox 36 SL that comes on the R. It can take up to a 200 without loosing your warrantee. .... I have put a 203 on with Shimano XT.

Edit: 203 is the max not 200.

 

[YokoOno]

Just a warning .. there is a maximum rotor size limit for the Fox 36 SL that comes on the R. It can take up to a 200 without loosing your warrantee. .... I have put a 203 on with Shimano XT.

Edit: 203 is the max not 200.

good call- out, which raises questions about the intended use for this bike. In my terrain (Colorado Rockies) a 160 fork wouldn't be sufficient for my needs. For those with more rolling terrain well managed with a 160 fork, a 200 rotor up front should be fine. I use 203/180 on my 160mm pedal bike. But on my Turbo Levo, my fork is 170, suspension is coil front and rear, and 220/200 rotors are needed.

 

[Wingrider]

After reading the feedback and more noodling, I made a call to the LBS and it's looking like a move to the Maven Ultimate w organic pads along with moving up to a 220 on the front. They have the kit in stock. The rear is already @ 200 and it doesn't look like more rotor is needed or supported by Specialized if there were any warranty issues. We will sort it out Friday when I head back over to the LBS.

 

[Wingrider]

Interesting. It took me almost no time to bed in the Motive Bronze brakes on my Alu R, and I felt the stopping power is more than enough, and honestly more than expected. They are similar to my GUIDE RSC, which have been flawless.

On delivery of any new bike, one of the first things I do is remove the pads to clean them with brake cleaner or cleaning benzine. Same for the rotors. Wipe them a couple times with shop towel soaked in benzine. Sometimes even pass over the rotors with some sand paper. It's important to do this before any ride, as it's inevitable some crud/oil/dirt contacted the rotors between production, assembly and build. Non of that should be imbedded into pads. This cleaning regiment has served we well across several builds and brake installs, and its made bedding in quick and easy.

But in the case of my Levo R Alu, a clean was all thats needed. I've had a few 60km/h hard braking sessions down some steep hills and wasn't left thinking that I needed more brakes.
So in my opinion, my vote would be to spend the money elsewhere or to just save it. Perhaps a set of better pads. The stock metallic pads can howl horribly in the wet. Fantastic in the dry.

Cleaning them makes perfect sense and I will have to add that to my bike prep- at a minimum give the rotors a swipe with some brake cleaner before heading out. Good tip(s) thank you.

 

[DirkWisely]

I love the Maven ultimates on my Levo. Them being extremely common has benefits too when getting parts or service.

 

[Polar]

Just a warning .. there is a maximum rotor size limit for the Fox 36 SL that comes on the R. It can take up to a 200 without loosing your warrantee. .... I have put a 203 on with Shimano XT.

Edit: 203 is the max not 200.

I got a bit worried when I read your post since I'm changing the stock Motive to Trickstuff Maxima with 223 rotors front and back.
According to Specialized support page that's not correct you can loose your warrant it's just not required.

Turbo Levo R - Component Compatibility.

 

[Montana St Alum]

Just a warning .. there is a maximum rotor size limit for the Fox 36 SL that comes on the R. It can take up to a 200 without loosing your warrantee. .... I have put a 203 on with Shimano XT.

Edit: 203 is the max not 200.

It's only a limit if you "fess up".

 

[AirKuhl]

A cheap upgrade to Mavens (stock on the Levo for a reason) sounds like a no-brainer. They are great brakes.

You mentioned cost was a motivator, so I'd get the Maven Silver over the Ultimate. They are 100% identical, except the Ultimate's are 9 grams lighter and have a different lever body finish. Frankly I prefer the Silvers even if they were the same price.