I went back to the dark side today....and in a strange sort of way - it was great ?

[Taffyteg]

Took my old faithful 2006 Schworks out for a spin today, first time I have done a proper ride on it in years.
What I noticed was
- how light, made such a difference,
- little wheels, it turns in so quickly - no effort needed,
- the gears, 3x9 Shimano XT setup and they shifted so smooth compared to the SRAM, I could not get over the difference,
- brakes, the brake feel and stopping power from the Hope M4 are so much better than the Guide R
I love the Levo, but these silly little things let it down.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Nice bike! I’m out on the Stumpjumper soon, I’m sure it will feel light as a feather!

 

[Slowroller]

Nothing shifts as well as Shimano XTR 8/9 speed, perfect every time in any condition. If we could only stop engineers from trying to stuff more cogs into the same space with massive gear ranges, we could stop fiddling with drivetrain adjustments. I mean, I love my 1x setups, but they're picky as hell.

 

[ccrdave]

Nothing shifts as well as Shimano XTR 8/9 speed, perfect every time in any condition. If we could only stop engineers from trying to stuff more cogs into the same space with massive gear ranges, we could stop fiddling with drivetrain adjustments. I mean, I love my 1x setups, but they're picky as hell.

Agreed in fact i am considering putting a 1 x 9 speed xtr set up on my levo at the moment it has 1 x 11 sram which is clunky and i find mysely only using half the cassette

 

[Taffyteg]

Agreed in fact i am considering putting a 1 x 9 speed xtr set up on my levo at the moment it has 1 x 11 sram which is clunky and i find mysely only using half the cassette

EX1???? Potentially great but expensive

 

[ccrdave]

EX1???? Potentially great but expensive

Nope wouldnt touch that apart from the stupid money the levo works best when the cadence is consistent i think that 8 speed has too bigger gaps between the gears

 

[Taffyteg]

Nope wouldnt touch that apart from the stupid money the levo works best when the cadence is consistent i think that 8 speed has too bigger gaps between the gears

I agree with that. Got a sunrace 11-46 on order, looking forward to trying that with the 30T chainring.

 

[hjscm]

I am finding that on my levo i need a higher gear. Has anyone changed out the front to something bigger? thinking of doing this. was on a rode ride today and was in the top 2 gears the whole time. felt like i needed one more gear. i don't think i have used the lowest gear on a climb yet.

 

[Biscuit]

I am finding that on my levo i need a higher gear. Has anyone changed out the front to something bigger? thinking of doing this. was on a rode ride today and was in the top 2 gears the whole time. felt like i needed one more gear. i don't think i have used the lowest gear on a climb yet.

I’ve just ordered a Hope 38t for my levo, after speaking to a couple of guys, who have convinced me it will be the best upgrade I’ll ever do ! Will let you know soon.

 

[Taffyteg]

I’ve just ordered a Hope 38t for my levo, after speaking to a couple of guys, who have convinced me it will be the best upgrade I’ll ever do ! Will let you know soon.

32 to 38 wow, you will give the motor a hammering on single track climbs

 

[Taffyteg]

I am finding that on my levo i need a higher gear. Has anyone changed out the front to something bigger? thinking of doing this. was on a rode ride today and was in the top 2 gears the whole time. felt like i needed one more gear. i don't think i have used the lowest gear on a climb yet.

Try turning the motor power down, you want to use all your gears ?
I'm down to 15% in ECO now and about to drop down to 10% with the new cassette.

 

[hjscm]

I am at 5%,25%,45% but using the blevo levo app. It is only when im on the road i need the other gears, on the trail i am fine with what i have but don't use the lowest gears on the trails. was thinking of trying a 34t on front. please let use know how the 38t goes.

 

[Lazy Biker 84]

I own one of these, a full Carbon Genesis Race bike, compared to my Levo its a feather at 7.8kg lol I love going back to the dark side!

 

[Neilvx]

I am finding that on my levo i need a higher gear. Has anyone changed out the front to something bigger? thinking of doing this. was on a rode ride today and was in the top 2 gears the whole time. felt like i needed one more gear. i don't think i have used the lowest gear on a climb yet.

I run the Hope 38T and the Levo doesn’t struggle at all.

 

[Mabman]

Nope wouldnt touch that apart from the stupid money the levo works best when the cadence is consistent i think that 8 speed has too bigger gaps between the gears

Back in the day when I rode MX on a 125 2smoke there was only one way to ride it and the common term was "keeping it on the pipe". This meant to keep the rev's as high as possible and shift, no clutch, around to keep it at peak rpm's. The 125's of the era, dare I say the late 60's, didn't put out much h.p. but riding it this way you could get around most tracks as fast as a 250 using this method.

These days dealing with eMtb's that have less than 1hp on tap I am finding it is about the same thing. Performance, especially on climbs, is best letting the motor rev and using a high cadence to assist it. Or is it the other way around....Anyway overall in order to "keep it on the pipe" it helps to have a tight gear range rather than one spread out I find. My bike has a 10spd 42/11-42 so the lowest gear is only one to one and sometimes when doing something crazy steep it helps to have good nm on tap as it is not possible to keep a high cadence and as it goes down keeping consistent pressure on the pedals is what makes it over the top. It helps to be on your shifting game in order to not stress out the drivetrain but really it is not that much harder to do so than on a dino mtb and in fact much the same. If you anticipate the trail and don't let the motor bog it is amazing how such a small motor can perform.

 

[JimD]

Took my old faithful 2006 Schworks out for a spin today, first time I have done a proper ride on it in years.
What I noticed was
- how light, made such a difference,
- little wheels, it turns in so quickly - no effort needed,
- the gears, 3x9 Shimano XT setup and they shifted so smooth compared to the SRAM, I could not get over the difference,
- brakes, the brake feel and stopping power from the Hope M4 are so much better than the Guide R
I love the Levo, but these silly little things let it down.

Agree on the Hope brakes vs. Guide R. I switched mine to the Hope tech3 v4 and I’m pretty happy with the results.

 

[Taffyteg]

Agree on the Hope brakes vs. Guide R. I switched mine to the Hope tech3 v4 and I’m pretty happy with the results.

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I have the Hope Tech 3 E4 on my Levo with floating rotors, love them ?