Specialized have just raised the bar for all electric bikes with the release of the new Turbo Levo.
Specialized very kindly let us sneak away with the brand new Turbo Levo to get up close and personal at their recent 2019 product launch.
This bike blew us away when it arrived on the scene in 2015 and redefined what riders expected and thought was possible from an E-Mtb.
This year the bike features a completely new chassis with some major changes which will surely put this bike among the best E-Mtb in the world if not out front all on its own.
Specialized have managed to shed a huge amount of weight here, a minimum of 1KG and even more on higher end models, so how have they achieved it?
The battery now slides up from the bottom bracket area into the downtube. This allows Specialized to create a one piece downtube unlike the older model where the battery hinged from the bottom and the base of the battery essentially formed the base of the tube.
This means a noticeably smaller downtube, far less weight and ultimately contributes to this looking the closest to a normal bike we’ve seen yet.
Battery size for this year is a minimum of 500wh with higher end models boasting a whopping 700wh beast!
The Levo continues with the Brose motor but again an all new, physically smaller and lighter version.
Magnesium casing on this Brose 2.1 plays a large part in that weight reduction and whilst this motor is available to other manufacturers, it was developed with Specialized for the Levo and Specialized also apply their RX tuning software which gives the Levo the smooth motor feel tuned specifically for off road use.
The control interface is now mounted directly into the top of the top tube. Aesthetically this is a vast improvement, not to mention you will now easily be able to glance down and see remaining battery level whilst riding.
A change to 29er wheels for this year in a bid to make the ride smoother and get better range. The frame is compatible with 27.5+ if you have a set of wheels you would rather use.
Travel is 150mm front and rear and the frame benefits from the single sided suspension strut we know and love from the Stumpjumper range. This gave Specialized around a 20% increase in frame stiffness with the Stumpy so we can probably safely assume we will see similar with the Levo.
All in all, the 29er wheels, huge weight saving, new motor and super sleek stiffer frame mean mean more miles. The high-end models with the 700wh battery are said to be achieving an eye watering 40% more range than the old model!
Specialized appear to have raised the bar again, this bike looks incredible with the stats to back it up. Watch this space for model by model reviews as the bike lands in store.
Check out these stunning pics of the 2019 Specialized S-Works Turbo Levo, electric mountain bike.
Take a look at our first look video as we take a sneak peak of the 2019 Specialized Turbo Levo at the Specialized product launch.
