2022 Specialized Turbo Levo Review

This week I'm reviewing the 2022 Specialized Turbo Levo Comp Alloy!  My friend Mr. BiltyGoatSquadMTB left his ebike here over the weekend and I stole a ride on it.  This bike is a size 5 (one larger than my Stumpjumper Evo) and is customized with One Up carbon handlebar, Cush Core tire inserts front & rear, and big 'ol Sensus Meaty Paw grips.  

The Specialized Turbo Levo

Spec's and Value

I know Specialized as a high performance and high value bike company, the Turbo Levo is no different.  This bike's MSRP is $7,500 which is a lot for a bike equipped with SRAM GX drivetrain and Code brakes, until we factor in the big "E".  In this case we have a motor delivering 90Nm of torque fueled by a 700Wh battery which Specialized advertises as a combo good for 5 hours.  This bests the Yeti 160e rated for 85Nm of torque and 630Wh of battery capacity!  If none of that made sense, know that the Specialized Turbo Levo packs a lot of power.

Turbo motor controls next to my new favorite grip

Now for the specs, the Alloy Comp build kit is meant to be as budget friendly as possible without being cheap.  Specialized achieved this with the SRAM GX 12spd drivetrain, Code RS brakes (220mm front rotor and 200mm rear), Roval alloy wheels mulleted (29" fr/27.5" r), and a variety of Specialized branded components rounding out the mix all in aluminum alloy.  This build kit is solid and should last a while.  Specialized even chose a steel chainring up front which will last much better than the standard aluminum chainring.  I really like the SWAT tool located in the steer tube vs the water bottle cage.  This is a more convenient and durable design in my opinion and would like it on my own bike. 

As for the customizations, I dig the One Up carbon bar.  Its a nice carbon handle bar for under $200 trusted by the pros racing the Enduro World Series, its also available in a variety of decal color options to better fit your bike.  This combined with the oversized Meaty Paw grips (and the fork fully unlocked) were nice and easy on my hands.  So much so that I will put these grips on my bikes!  Cush Core is love/hate relationship.  I value the bicycle up time which the Cush Cores excel at, but damn they make any bike feel sluggish, and they make changing a tire your worst nightmare.  Having said that I still run them on my own bike.

Well spec'd and durable

Climbing & Pedaling

Its an ebike, do we even care?  Probably not but I shut off the motor and ran my unscientific parking lot pedal test anyways, which I have at the bottom of the article.  From the get-go this bike is not optimized for climbing as it is mulleted (29/27.5), has extremely short cranks at 160mm, wide 2.6" tires, and weighs 47 lbs in top trim.  This example was probably closer to 50lbs as it was full alloy and had Cush Core tire inserts.  When the motor is off, this is a laborious bike to ride for all of those reasons.  Should your battery die while on a ride, I sure hope its all downhill from that point on or else you're in for a lot of work. 

The crank arm is much shorter than my foot! 

When the motor is on and the battery charged this bike is a breeze to climb with.  Loose and dusty fire roads when from a chore to a cruise.  Just needed a snack and a drink while climbing and I would have been SET!  Well, once I get my no handed balance game up I could pull that off.  This is also where the rider needs to budget pedal assist vs battery life.  On a 12 mile climb I used 57% of the battery averaging 11 mph (gaining 3,135ft).  That was in trail mode 75% and eco mode 25% of the distance to conserve battery.  This gave me 43% battery for the rest of the ride. 

 
Climbing long dirt roads is a breeze

I'm really glad Specialized chose a shifter that can perform multiple downshifts in one motion (this is normal for analog bikes) vs one that limits the rider to one shift at at time, in either direction.  This is common on cheaper ebikes I've tried.  Kudos to Specialized on that one. 

Onto single track climbing performance. When the rider is seated and pedaling at a comfortable place the bike scoots right up the hill.  While the geometry is optimized for downhill, a seasoned ride can maneuver it uphill just fine.  Attempting to put down during short bursts of power I found I could easily spin out the rear wheel, so keep it smooth and steady.  There was one steep, loose, techy left hand turn that I've made twice on my analog bike but spun out on the ebike.  There were two spots where I felt residual motor torque after I stopped pedaling to weave the bike through some rocky obstacles.  Not a big deal but something to be aware when coming from peasant-ly human powered bicycles.  

I did experience a battery connectivity issue while riding which caused the motor to shutoff (this was quickly resolved by reconnecting the battery/motor plug), and gave me a huge appreciation for the motor for the rest of the ride.  The bike is heavy and feels heavier with those short little cranks.  


Descending

Onto the fun part of every ride, the downhills.  This bike is very much like my Specialized Stumpjumper Evo and I felt right at home on it almost immediately.  The Turbo Levo weighs much more than a conventional bike and the rider can feel it in the momentum.  Rocks, roots, and loose dirt have much smaller inputs on the bike's direction vs an analog bike.  The extra weight made the suspension feel plush (this bike is equipped with Fox Performance suspension vs the pricier Factory suspension) and planted.  Despite the extra mass I don't feel like it landed any harder off the drops to flat which was a nice surprise!  The SRAM Code RS brakes with big rotors provided meh stopping power.  Between the extra bike weight and these brakes, the rider really has to commit to the line.

I was able to get the bike airborne on multiple occasions however it took a great big tug on the handlebars to do so.  This bike is highly stable in the air compared to everything else I've ridden lately.  Point the bike in the direction you want to go and just let it go there, no need to dance around.  When it does come time to get nibble for the slower techy stuff the rider must make more effort to get the bike around.  I wouldn't say its on the order of double the effort to handle the bike, perhaps 20% more effort to do so.  Riding an ebike often will give the rider great form for jumping and cornering as one must get stronger to whip it around like a conventional bike.  

I should start pics of the bike in action

I really appreciated the mullet setup on the super steep and technical terrain, I never felt the rear tire buzz my shorts through the steepest of terrain, something I have experienced this with my bike and it's 29" rear wheel.  The X-Fusion dropper post did a great job of getting out of the way and I never had to fuss with it.

This is a big bike when things get slow and tricky.  The S5 frame with its little 27.5" rear wheel has a longer wheelbase than my full 29r S4.  The long wheelbase is great for the straight fast downhills and challenging on the slow, tight, and loose turns. The giant front wheel and tire combo does great for downhill bike style traction so long as the trail is held together.  I had a couple experiences where I plowed the top layer of dirt right off the trail trying to make a slow, tight, and very loose turn.

The slacked out headtube angle is comfortable for downhill. This bike had the adjustable headset cup set in the neutral position which yields 64.5, great for descending (turns out this is the same as my full 29r Stumpy Evo same settings).  For the trails I rode, this was just the right fit.  Just like my Stumpy, this bike also has the adjustable chainstay lengths which raise and lower the bottom bracket.  Bottom bracket height was not an issue for me on this ride, which is the usual complaint on my Stumpy Evo.  As it turns out, this bike had an estimated bottom bracket height of 351mm vs my Evo's 339mm.  Combine that with super short cranks and I got away without any pedal strikes!


Drawbacks

SRAM Code Brakes.  They just aren't for me.  I thought the 220mm front rotor and thicker HSC rear rotor (in 200mm) would give these brakes more bite, alas they did not.  

I'm just not a fan of the SRAM brakeset


The weight, but only when the battery dies.  The rider can adjust to the extra weight in maneuvering and get stronger. 

The price to buy into the ebike experience is high, usually rivaling cheap dirt motorcycles, but its worth it in my recent experiences 😁.

Neutral; I predict the GX chain and cassette will wear out quickly in an ebike application.  Time will tell.

Conclusion

The Turbo Levo lives up to the Specialized name delivering solid performance and great value.  This Alloy Comp build was tough, heavy, capable, and very fun.  Coming from my human powered Stumpjumper Evo, the Turbo Levo felt right at home in my hands and shares many components with my Evo.  The sizing felt great despite being even bigger than current bike and disappeared underneath me on these trails.  This bike eliminates the need for shuttles and chairlifts turning any mountain into a mountain bike park enabling lots of laps in a day thanks to it's strong motor and large battery.  Being that it is a Specialized you have a large variety of build kits to choose from such as this rugged Alloy Comp up to flashy S-Works carbon equipped with oil-slick parts.  As in previous articles I compared it to Yeti's line up and found Specializeds are cheaper all around.  

I get why so many riders are hopping on the ebike wagon.  They make the rider climb like a pro XC racer on a gravel bike while hauling up enduro suspension and DH tires.  One can fly up and down the mountain on one of these.  This would be fun to ride ultra long back country rides reserved only for those with incredible fitness and infinite time to kill (Please don't do this unless you are truly prepared for long back country rides, help is a long ways away).

Ebikes open doors to huge rides

I give the Specialized Turbo Levo two thumbs up and would happily welcome one into my stable.  I would probably go for the Turbo Levo Expert which upgrades the rider to a Fox 38 Factory fork and X2 rear shock, X01 drivetrain (with GX chain), and carbon frame.  If money where no objective I would spec it out with Shimano Saint Brakes and XT drivetrain like the Yeti 160e T1 build.  The Levo Expert saves $1,700 MSRP over the 160e T1 build (comparable build).   

I don't own an ebike but I sure am thinking about one 


Sources

1. https://www.specialized.com/us/en/turbo-levo-comp-alloy/p/188254?color=317295-188254

2. https://www.specialized.com/us/en/turbo-levo-geometry/app?&ht=1&hp=1&sz=4&ws=0


Unscientific Pedal Test

  • reset the shock's fun-meter (travel indicator) [like a rubber band around the shock]
  • bike in 7th gear
  • suspension fully open
  • sprint in a parking lot for ~30ft
  • evaluate rear suspension travel usage
    • 30% is good
    • 50% is meh
    • over 50% is sloppy and not ideal for pedaling


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