Levo SL Gen 1 Shorter Levo SL (size small) riders....can you measure your standover height for me?

[Jeffsy29]

Can anyone with a Levo SL (Small) provide some physical measurements of their standover? Maybe at the seat-tube junction and front of the saddle horn? Hearing some differences of opinion on this number. No LBS has a small in stock for IRL measurements.

Spesh's website spec of 787mm standover height on small Levo SL seems enormous. Especially in light to the stated 710mm standover on the Orbea Rise -Small. ~ 80 mm is huge.

Considering a small Levo SL for my wife who stands 5'0" even. Her current bike is ~700mm standover. Her inseam is about 730mm in biking shoes with feet comfortably apart.

*IF* Levo SL (Small) really is 787mm standover it seems like a non-starter for her; otherwise it's a wonderful bike.

Interestingly, the FF Levo is shorter at 760mm in Small, but she's sold on the lighter bike/less power train.

 

[RebornRider]

My legs are even shorter (~710 inseam) and I ride a size small FF Levo. I have to be way up on my toes to stand over the bike. FWIW, this has not turned out to be an issue for me. However, on tight, steep downhill switchbacks I do sometimes mentally lock up because the ground looks sooooo far away and I know it will not end well if I lose my balance.

 

[Jeffsy29]

My legs are even shorter (~710 inseam) and I ride a size small FF Levo. I have to be way up on my toes to stand over the bike. FWIW, this has not turned out to be an issue for me. However, on tight, steep downhill switchbacks I do sometimes mentally lock up because the ground looks sooooo far away and I know it will not end well if I lose my balance.

FF Levo is 760mm so that's 50mm to make up on your tip-toes. My wife would have 57mm to make up...hmmm. But I know she freaks in some techy sections and would want to get a foot down quickly (flat pedals have helped) so maybe not a good start if she's got almost 60mm of bar to clear.

 

[albort1]

The 787mm standover height stated could be a bit misleading and I would suggest to sit on one in a shop to try. My small size SL measures around 750mm on the front edge of the seat-it does rise sharply though but with my inseam of 740mm without shoes does not create a problem for me. You can also mullet the bike which many people have done on this thread. I too looked at the Orbea Rise and the standover looked perfect for me but I chose the SL and have never given the standover height anymore thought.Good luck with your purchase.

 

[boBE]

My previous response must have not posted: my SL medium aluminum has a standover height of 699 mm (where the top bar joins the seat tube) to 762 mm (where the top bar joins the other tube). I have 27.5" wheels on it but that should only account for maybe 20 mm less than spec. I do not know where Specialized gets their numbers from but 787 seems too high.

 

[Jeffsy29]

@boBE - how frustrating this lack of clarity seems around their stated spec. I guess that's why a lot of reviews do their own measurements, not just copied verbatim from mfg. website.

I don't know of any local shops with a Levo SL Small size where we can actually measure the standover. Maybe I'll ping the group.

 

[Jeffsy29]

The 787mm standover height stated could be a bit misleading and I would suggest to sit on one in a shop to try. My small size SL measures around 750mm on the front edge of the seat-it does rise sharply though but with my inseam of 740mm without shoes does not create a problem for me. You can also mullet the bike which many people have done on this thread. I too looked at the Orbea Rise and the standover looked perfect for me but I chose the SL and have never given the standover height anymore thought.Good luck with your purchase.

@albort1 - 750mm isn't awful vs. her 730mm inseam is with biking shoes. 20mm delta for sure means no clearance unless she's tippy-toed, and still may not be comfortable on-trail in a foot-down situation. Wife is trying to get the right bike out of the gate, keeping mods to a minimum if possible (cut bars, shorter stem). Mulletizing is a bit more of an investment. We'll see.

Thank you for this datapoint though! Wonder where the heck Specialized measures their standover? I'm hearing different measurements from folks. Your 750mm is nearly 40mm shorter than their spec!

 

[boBE]

@albort1 - 750mm isn't awful vs. her 730mm inseam is with biking shoes. 20mm delta for sure means no clearance unless she's tippy-toed, and still may not be comfortable on-trail in a foot-down situation. Wife is trying to get the right bike out of the gate, keeping mods to a minimum if possible (cut bars, shorter stem). Mulletizing is a bit more of an investment. We'll see.

Thank you for this datapoint though! Wonder where the heck Specialized measures their standover? I'm hearing different measurements from folks. Your 750mm is nearly 40mm shorter than their spec!

Looking at the Specialized website, for some reason they do not show an image of standover height for Levo SL but they do show it for other bikes like Levo and Stumpjumper. Their measurement is near where the tubes meet, kind of worst case.

 

[albort1]

To this point of the thread we have mentioned the Small size SL. Are you aware,or at least here in Australia we have an XS extra small size available on the SL models.This would be the perfect size for your partner . To be honest I would not want a higher standover height than what I have now.Pretty much on my size limit.But in saying that the bike is super stable and easy to handle for me.

 

[Jeffsy29]

To this point of the thread we have mentioned the Small size SL. Are you aware,or at least here in Australia we have an XS extra small size available on the SL models.This would be the perfect size for your partner . To be honest I would not want a higher standover height than what I have now.Pretty much on my size limit.But in saying that the bike is super stable and easy to handle for me.

@albort1 - I agree 100% the S1(XS) size would be perfect for her. For some reason, it's not orderable here in the USA. So very strange given you have to order the thing anyway. I've asked a few shops already and seems both Levo and Levo SL (which is what she wants) are limited to S2 (Small) and above. Shame.

 

[Jilleride45]

The Levo SL comp comes in an XS in the US.

 

[Jilleride45]

Maybe the best option is to get a small and put some 27.5 wheels on it and reduce the front fork to 140. The Levo SL could handle 27.5 x 2.8 tires, heck I sometimes ride my small with 27.5 x 3.0. Put a one up dropper on it and shim it so the collar is at the seat tube collar, when she is in a technical situation then she can get her feet down from the seat.

 

[Jilleride45]

@albort1 - I agree 100% the S1(XS) size would be perfect for her. For some reason, it's not orderable here in the USA. So very strange given you have to order the thing anyway. I've asked a few shops already and seems both Levo and Levo SL (which is what she wants) are limited to S2 (Small) and above. Shame.

Specialized dealers are being very cautious about “ordering “ but an option is to search on the specialized site and call the dealers with them in stock and ask them to ship it to your local dealer. Specialized allows this.

 

[Jilleride45]

Specialized dealers are being very cautious about “ordering “ but an option is to search on the specialized site and call the dealers with them in stock and ask them to ship it to your local dealer. Specialized allows this.

The XS is available in Salt Lake and New Mexico. But remember this is the aluminum model. Carbon is small and up. You could easily build a carbon small with 27.5 wheels at 36 lbs.

 

[Jeffsy29]

The XS is available in Salt Lake and New Mexico. But remember this is the aluminum model. Carbon is small and up. You could easily build a carbon small with 27.5 wheels at 36 lbs.

@Jilleride45 - Thanks for doing some digging. I've talked to at least 2 LBSs here about XS, and they said no, but I haven't pushed on the Alu model. Let me see what I can find out. They're also saying Feb or later 2022, which didn't help.

We have an Orbea Rise M10 (Small) on order, which in theory should also fit her and has a much lower standover, but the ETA got pushed out to Oct/Nov, so we started looking locally at the LevoSL.

I appreciate your perspective. I think for Levo SL if we can get a XS in Alu Comp that would work just dandy.