I posted this on EMTB yesterday but thought folks here also might find it of interest:
“Hi, I’m levity, and I’m a bike-aholic. I have no intentions of recovering.”
Over the years I’ve owned several e-bikes (Levo, Levo SL, Vado, Vado SL, Creo SL, Fuel EX-e) and countless Amish pedal bikes. I was considering getting a Levo again but this time setting it up as a "road" bike with off-road capability by lowering and firming up the suspension and installing more street/gravel oriented tires. Looking around I stumbled on a bike we don't see much of locally: a used Tero X 6.0 for sale at half of the new price.* The shorter 130/120mm travel, longer reach and chainstays, and lower bottom bracket compared to a Levo clicked all the right boxes. With the same 90Nm motor and 710Wh battery would the Tero X6 be better than a modified Levo as a "hybrid bike"? I decided to find out.
* The original owner of the Tero X6 intended to use it for both commuting
and mountain biking. After 700 miles and several crashes on the dirt he realized this monster SUV wasn't the best choice for trail riding, decided against bike commuting, and bought a new Kenevo SL!
The stock X6 comes pretty well set up with a quality fork, shock, Code RSC brakes, and XO components. In an effort to make it more trail worthy the original owner had put on Butcher and Eliminator tires, a shorter low-rise stem, a smaller chainring, and some nice Race Face 200mm disc rotors and pedals. Other than the tires these were all good for my intended use as well. I replaced the rubber with a 29x2.35 Fast Trak in front and a 27.5x2.35 Rekon Race in back. I removed the 3 tokens in the fork for easier travel. Being a fair weather rider here in Southern California I removed the fenders and rack to save some weight, bulk, and fugliness. I still need to shorten some cables as a result of the lower stack height. Finally, I added some goofy decals for color and personality.
I have about 250 miles of street and easy dirt riding on T-ReX and am a happy camper so far. On pavement the bike handles great, and moving it around doesn't feel at all heavy or cumbersome as I feared it might. It feels planted and loves to carve turns. Small bumps disappear under it giving a very smooth ride. As odd as the suspension linkage appears, it works - I suppose Specialized knows a thing or two about suspension - and even larger hits are absorbed pretty well. On pavement it's more fun than my previous Vado, and of course it's much more capable off-road. The weight and long wheelbase smooth out a lot of bumps and chatter off-road much like a heavy Levo does. I really like the power, tuning and responsiveness of the 2.2 motor. It's about twice as strong as the Mahle motor in my Levo SL2, and the big battery gives it more range than the SL + extender (480Wh) even when riding faster. The large handlebar display is also nice compared to the small Levo Mastermind TCU. Gotta love the 190mm dropper seatpost - 40 mph in a tuck downhill and flat-footed when stopped. And yes, the kickstand is too handy to take off.
So far so good. I intend to push it a bit more off-road to find its/my limits, but my Levo SL2 will remain for trail riding. We'll see how long the honeymoon lasts.
