Levo SL Gen 1 Replacing Butchers?

MBag85

MBag85

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Hey fellow Levo owners!

I'm looking at the over whelming choices for tyres and slightly drowning with confusion.

What are you running? Have you moved away from 2.3? If so what differences have you seen?

I ride all weather and can't wait to hit some bike parks from April!
 
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I too like the DHR/DHF, but there are so many tires out there these days. I wish you luck.

I ran a DHF with a High Roller 2 out back for a while, they were 2.8's and I liked the combo on another bike I had.
 
MBag85 said:
Hey fellow Levo owners!

I'm looking at the over whelming choices for tyres and slightly drowning with confusion.

What are you running? Have you moved away from 2.3? If so what differences have you seen?

I ride all weather and can't wait to hit some bike parks from April!
Click to expand...

Not a Levo owner but I recently replaced my Butcher 2.6 with a DHF 2.6. The DHF might have slightly less traction but has a lot better feel; the slightly staggered outside tread blocks make a big difference; I really like it.

About five years ago I replaced a Butcher 2.3 front with a Butcher 2.6 and noticed an improvement in traction but until I got used to it the tire seemed to be a bit bouncy; I run mine at 30 psi even though I could go lower so that the suspension is in the fork with damping; not in the tire without damping.

Edited to say DHF has slightly -less- traction.
 
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2.6 is great on the Levo. I run ~20 PSI, I'm ~185lbs.

I really hate the Butcher. Of course it depends where you ride. Where I am it's hard-pack, lose-over-hard, gravel, and sandstone. The Butcher (and also Eliminator) feel super sketchy to me on that stuff. I'm never sure when it will let loose and I don't like the transition to turning at all.

I have been riding the Purgatory for 5-6 years. I love the old design on the front, but they are getting harder to find. The new one works great on the rear, haven't tried it on the front. I would not claim they have the best grip, but they are super predictable. I generally feel like I know when they will let loose.

I recently decided to throw caution to the wind and get a Maxx Grip, DD casing DHF and DHRII. I have NEVER run a 1200-1300g tire, I have always tried to get away with the lightest tires I can. I'm starting to understand, the hype is real. I've only done two rides so far. The first ride I was too timid. The second ride I started to push things and found that I am absolutely no where near the limit on grip. I need to adjust my riding for sure.

For me I think the DD casing is overkill. The tires are too stiff for my taste. I could probably drop the pressure, but I think for next time I'll just go with a lighter casing in the front, and probably back to a Purgatory in the rear just to save 300g.

One unexpected side effect of the Maxx Grip compound: I have a constant peppering of sand and dirt flying into my face (and my mouth!), even with a huge front fender.

One other unexpected side effect of running 1300g tires; battery drain seems to be noticeably increased. The 25 mile ride I did today left me with 1 bar (all Turbo). The last time I did the same loop I'm pretty sure I had 2 bars left. It's not a HUGE difference, but certainly noticeable.
 
NorCalLevo said:
The tried, the true, DHF, DHR combo. There are better choices, maybe, but that combo there will get you thru 99% of use cases! It's like the Porsche 911 of tire choices. There are more comfortable, there are faster, there are lighter but hard to find a better all around combo.

Cheers
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Did you stick with the 2.3?
 
i replaced the rear butcher with a 2.5 maxxis aggressor. I liked the butcher well enough, grippy but squirmy , it did feel a bit draggy. Aggressor definitely rolls better
 
Magic Mary front and rear in 2.6 for me at the moment. I pop a rear Hans Dampf 2.35 on in the summer, the classic combo.

There isn't much between all of the top brands rubber, all will do you well.

I didn't find that the butchers were too bad. There is a feel of more control with the Mary on the front wheel on the slow, steep tech... nothing night and day though.
 
Replacing the Butchers on my Kenevo was definitely a must. Digging the Eddy Current's but I need to switch them out for the Michelin E wild's to see which one's I fancy ?
 
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MBag85 said:
It might be me or the camera angle but your bars don't look aligned with front wheel ?
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Probably the angle lol. Incidentally, I didn't read through the entire thread and misinterpreted that you were referring to your Levo. I'm running the Michelin E Wild's on mine in a 2.6 (27.5).
However, I have heard that Vittoria will soon be introducing E equivalent versions of their tyres and would be tempted to mess around with the Martello or Mezcal.
 
I replaced the Butchers on my Levo Comp with DHF/DHR 2.6 and it feels like a totally different ride. Way more grip going steep inclines and around corners. I live in Southern California and the terrain is very dry and rocky, so you tend to slide around a lot. The DHF/DHRs have made a huge improvement. Can’t recommend them enough.
 
I'm running a Butcher 2.6 Grid on the front and an Eliminator 2.6 BlckDnmd on the rear, both on Cushcore (20f/25r psi). No issues at all for my riding on everyday trails and intermediate bike park runs, good grip at relatively low pressures for my weight (125kg) without any squirm. Only thing I've noticed is the 2.6 Eliminator is actually wider in the casing than the knobs and the sidewalls are getting scraped, so I'll change to a 2.3 when it wears out, which will also improve mud clearance.
 
Summer time 2.5 WT Maxxis Assegai with DD casing

Winter time 2.5WT Maxxis Shorty with EXO casing

Specialized tyres are wank (Hillbilly being the exception to the rule) and should be burnt upon purchase of the bike!
 
I like my Butchers on my Levo SL Expert, I ride in Santa Cruz mountains, run at 20PSI, and after spending all that money I wasn't going to swap them out and have not notice much of a difference from the Maxxis that I rode on my Santa Cruz Bronson that I sold to buy the Levo.
 
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Reactions: EME
WTB Vigilante, High and Tough.... 2.8 in the front, 2.6 in the rear (sorry that’s on my Levo)

WTB trail masters 2.6. Fast and light on. My SL
 
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On the Levo SL, I like the 2.6 Eddy Current front and rear. We have lots of rocks in the area I ride and those sidewalls hold up to the abuse better than several of the above mentioned tires.
 
johnf0246 said:
On the Levo SL, I like the 2.6 Eddy Current front and rear. We have lots of rocks in the area I ride and those sidewalls hold up to the abuse better than several of the above mentioned tires.
Click to expand...

What does the change in width do to the bike? I believe the turbo levo comp comes with 2.6" width in the front and 2.4" width in the rear.

I kept getting flats and this guy in arizona recommended i switch to the EC and so i did. I have a pair of the EC 2.6 in the front and rear, have not put them on yet.
 
For me personally the 29’er 2.6” EC’s work great. Due to the thick casing you can run lower tire pressure, if that is important to you.

I actually run a 27.5 2.8” EC on my other Ebike and really like it also. I have had a flat due to a ripped sidewall with a light weight tire with no tube and had to push out my bike several miles. I learned the hard way.
 
both replaced with a pair of 2.5 assegai. huge difference. totally recomended on dry, rocky, antigrip terrain.
 
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