Turbo Levo Carbon deals

[warthor]

As I have been studying e-bikes (and especially specialized) I came across a few people posting on a great current deal.

https://www.reddit.com/r/specialized/comments/173dq0n

A few people have mentioned getting the Turbo Levo Carbon for $3500 at their local dealer, and it comes with an extra battery too. It starts at $6800 so this is quite a deal.

Turbo Levo Carbon

The all-new Levo delivers the unbelievable power to ride more trails through an unequaled combination of ride quality, usable power, and ride anywhere r...

www.specialized.com

I would try to get this deal, but it sounds like this is bad for my use case (commuting to work). But I do love good deals.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You would start with replacing the off-road tyres with something like Johnny Watts first. Then, you would be researching for a compatible rear rack (Old Man Mountain or a Topeak TetraRack M2). Then, you would add a rear-view mirror. Next, you would invest in external reachargeable lights. Eventually, you would not be able to find a matching kick-stand

Then, you would start scratching your head thinking how in earth it would not be possible to fit any bigger chainring for that frame...

Add to that carbon e-bikes hate extra gear on them

The fact the Levo Carbon is offered that cheap is not improving its commuting properties

 

[warthor]

You would start with replacing the off-road tyres with something like Johnny Watts first. Then, you would be researching for a compatible rear rack (Old Man Mountain or a Topeak TetraRack M2). Then, you would add a rear-view mirror. Next, you would invest in external reachargeable lights. Eventually, you would not be able to find a matching kick-stand

Then, you would start scratching your head thinking how in earth it would not be possible to fit any bigger chainring for that frame...

Add to that carbon e-bikes hate extra gear on them

The fact the Levo Carbon is offered that cheap is not improving its commuting properties

Makes total sense. I am just bummed. Why isn't there a great deal on the vado 5.0 IGH?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

No idea. Usually, Specialized offers great deals on e-bikes that are stocked in too a big quantity and do not sell well... It also relates to the frame size. I can remember shockingly good deals on expensive models of Creo but only in XL size

 

[decooney]

No idea. Usually, Specialized offers great deals on e-bikes that are stocked in too a big quantity and do not sell well... It also relates to the frame size. I can remember shockingly good deals on expensive models of Creo but only in XL size

Yep, this deal at 5k was for the "base" carbon Turbo Levo. Note: You have to look real close at what you're getting. You'll notice the forks, shock, shifting components you get with the base model, is what it is. It's an upgrade-path bike for lower entry cost. Once I decided to go back to full suspension bike, with an eBike motor, I started down this path on this exact base model bike myself. I went a slightly different direction after quite a bit of homework and demo rides. After you buy the base model, then later decide to upgrade the forks, shock, and various components, its a better deal to just buy the next level-up Turbo Levo Carbon Comp, and all of these components are already upgraded, at the right level. I feel the next level-up bike is much better in stock form for the $ value.

@warthor after reading your posts it brought flashbacks of where I was months back and inquiring to others on this site myself. Talking through it on the big thread for Vado, Tero and other bikes, it helped me to decide what I was actually going to DO with the bike 80% of the time or more ???. Had I decided to do more paved tarmac surfaces, I'd likely have gone with the Turbo Vado, which I like a lot, for what it's designed to do. It rides different from the other models too, imo. Nice handling for paved surfaces. In my case, we are near are a lot of side dirt trails adjacent to paved trails so I went to a full suspension Turbo Levo Comp Carbon. I realize now this is a true dirt bike, and that's what I use it for, and love it. I decided to hang on to my other Specialized Sirrus X 5.0 Carbon bike for the paved surface ride days. Now we ride both types of surfaces on the Turbo Levo bikes, mostly for dirt trails, and can lock out the forks and shock when needed for longer paved runs if necessary.

I did look close at the Turbo Tero X bikes, and they are nice for 60/40 street-dirt type of mild stuff, and that combination can be great if that's what you use it for. I just wanted the lower weight bike for my 85% dirt trail riding. Gotta say, doing the demo rides is what helped me to decide, and doing so sent me in a completely different direction from where I started on this last bike purchase. Do the demo rides at a deal if you can, it really helps to decide which direction to go for you.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Yep, this deal at 5k was for the "base" carbon Turbo Levo. Note: You have to look real close at what you're getting. You'll notice the forks, shock, shifting components you get with the base model, is what it is. It's an upgrade-path bike for lower entry cost. Once I decided to go back to full suspension bike, with an eBike motor, I started down this path on this exact base model bike myself. I went a slightly different direction after quite a bit of homework and demo rides. After you buy the base model, then later decide to upgrade the forks, shock, and various components, its a better deal to just buy the next level-up Turbo Levo Carbon Comp, and all of these components are already upgraded, at the right level. I feel the next level-up bike is much better in stock form for the $ value.

@warthor after reading your posts it brought flashbacks of where I was months back and inquiring to others on this site myself. Talking through it on the big thread for Vado, Tero and other bikes, it helped me to decide what I was actually going to DO with the bike 80% of the time or more ???. Had I decided to do more paved tarmac surfaces, I'd likely have gone with the Turbo Vado, which I like a lot, for what it's designed to do. It rides different from the other models too, imo. Nice handling for paved surfaces. In my case, we are near are a lot of side dirt trails adjacent to paved trails so I went to a full suspension Turbo Levo Comp Carbon. I realize now this is a true dirt bike, and that's what I use it for, and love it. I decided to hang on to my other Specialized Sirrus X 5.0 Carbon bike for the paved surface ride days. Now we ride both types of surfaces on the Turbo Levo bikes, mostly for dirt trails, and can lock out the forks and shock when needed for longer paved runs if necessary.

I did look close at the Turbo Tero X bikes, and they are nice for 60/40 street-dirt type of mild stuff, and that combination can be great if that's what you use it for. I just wanted the lower weight bike for my 85% dirt trail riding. Gotta say, doing the demo rides is what helped me to decide, and doing so sent me in a completely different direction from where I started on this last bike purchase. Do the demo rides at a deal if you can, it really helps to decide which direction to go for you.

A great write up @decooney! Yes, it is the purpose that needs to be determined first but that is often not easy before you've really started riding.

Only now, I realise my greater neighbourhood is mostly paved roads or bike paths, and if you need to be a little bit more adventurous, there's nothing a possibly lightweight gravel capable e-bike wouldn't handle My 2020 purchase of a Giant Trance E+ full suspension e-MTB was a mistake, as even road trips in high mountains of Poland and her neighbours require nothing more than a Vado. The Trance ended in the good hands of my brother, who did a lot to convert that Trail e-bike to something far more suitable for our plains and urban environment... And he still does not have a kickstand

Regarding the suspension lock-out on the pavement, I did not realise how important that was until I did an Over-The-Bars on a demo Levo SL when the front suspension dramatically sagged during an emergency braking That would have never happened to a Vado!

 

[decooney]

@Stefan Mikes Totally agree that you really don't know for sure until you start riding and using your bike in your favorite areas. With that said, while I had been riding my other semi-gravel bike (Specialized Sirrus X 5.0, non-eBike) for the past year, and had just sold my Santa Cruz Tallboy (full suspension non-eBike) too, I was in for a big surprise once I started actually demo'ing bikes (with capable mid-drive electric motors) at local dealers around me.

DEMOs, and more DEMOs:
When I started out these demos, 17 bikes in all that I tried, I was dead set on the Vado. Hands down, was the bike for me, loved most everything about it - except for one thing, dealing with rough off-road surfaces and a slightly twitchy wheelbase on any kind of steeper downhill descents on dirt trails. Sure, it could do it, and so could the Tero 5.0 I was also considering at the time. The REAL question I had to answer for myself (after several demos) what HOW and WHERE do I believe I'd actually be using the bike MOST of the time. With 32 miles of paved bike trails in various directions around me, and wanting to exceed 20mph (more like steady 25mph), again, it sure seemed like Vado was for me as I started out. Super cool bike. At my local dealer (Pacos), a capable Specialized dealer in NorCal, they were allowing me to try all of the bikes back to back, and I went there 5 times, kind of scratching my head working through it. In the areas I was demoing the bikes, I was able to hit some really rough broken-up sections, on smooth paved surfaces I liked the Vado the best. In semi-rough stuff I could see myself on the Turbo Tero bike too. Tero X was something that seemed nice on paper, yet if I'm going to get a full suspension bike (at that point), the lighter and more capable Turbo Levo just seemed to make more sense for me.

INTENDED USE:
I think I'm more of a "fit for purpose" kind of buyer than someone who tries to buy a do-it-all Swiss Army knife kind of buyer. For paved tarmac, no doubt the Vado is quite the fun bike to ride, its handling, and how it functions. I preferred it over many other bikes (and different brands) I had demoed in similar configurations. I also felt the Giant Explore 0 was similar and yet maybe a bit more offroadable for less $. A great value. After checking out my local paved trail system around me, and all of the various (dirt trail) offshoots around us, it became evidently clear (with the e-Motor) that I wanted to be able to take advantage of both worlds of paved and unpaved rides, combining them together. What did not realize is how much more I would simply prefer the off-road riding with a capable e-motor bike with full suspension.

TRY OTHER BIKES too:
When they were setting up the Vado and Tero bikes for me at the dealer for my next batch of demo rides, one of the sales mangers there who lives nearby our local lake and trail system, decided to throw me a curve ball. She knew I had ridding off-road in the past. She kept saying, you gotta ride this new Turbo Levo Comp bike. I was resistant at first, as I was close to buying the Vado 4.0 or the Tero 5.0. I rode the Comp Carbon Turbo Levo twice that day. Went back again to the dealer another day and rode it two more times for demos, for a few hours in total. Then it hit me, woah, I can do so much more with this bike combining paved and off-road trail systems. After many demo test rides, it became much more clear that I could open so many more doors with the much more versatile bike (for all different types of trail systems all around us). While I ended up deciding to order and purchase the Specialized Turbo Levo Comp Carbon S4 bike, I sure can appreciate the other models too, particularly so if I were going to ride more paved tarmac surfaces around me.

Speaking of Giant (like their bikes too), my 73yr old friend ended up following suit and bought the Giant Trance E+3 alloy version "Black Diamond" and loves it. A great value. Both of us are keeping our analog gravel bikes for periodic paved trail rides we do every 5th ride or so. Problem now is, we simply want to ride the full suspension e-Bikes, a lot more. Exploring all new trails around us, this is the part that is surprising me the most I guess. We'll see how it goes over the winter and if its something we'll get tired of doing or will we still be doing this a year from now. The eBike is getting us back in shape too, and makes the analog bikes fun to ride again too.

New Buyers:
I did this write-up now knowing the bike purchase process can be really confusing if you don't demo these bikes, a lot, before purchasing. Be sure to Demo, multiple times if you are wondering and reading this. In my case, the demos completely changed the end result 180 degrees. Best of Luck.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

@Stefan Mikes Totally agree that you really don't know for sure until you start riding and using your bike in your favorite areas. With that said, while I had been riding my other semi-gravel bike (Specialized Sirrus X 5.0, non-eBike) for the past year, and had just sold my Santa Cruz Tallboy (full suspension non-eBike) too, I was in for a big surprise once I started actually demo'ing bikes (with capable mid-drive electric motors) at local dealers around me.

DEMOs, and more DEMOs:
When I started out these demos, 17 bikes in all that I tried, I was dead set on the Vado. Hands down, was the bike for me, loved most everything about it - except for one thing, dealing with rough off-road surfaces and a slightly twitchy wheelbase on any kind of steeper downhill descents on dirt trails. Sure, it could do it, and so could the Tero 5.0 I was also considering at the time. The REAL question I had to answer for myself (after several demos) what HOW and WHERE do I believe I'd actually be using the bike MOST of the time. With 32 miles of paved bike trails in various directions around me, and wanting to exceed 20mph (more like steady 25mph), again, it sure seemed like Vado was for me as I started out. Super cool bike. At my local dealer (Pacos), a capable Specialized dealer in NorCal, they were allowing me to try all of the bikes back to back, and I went there 5 times, kind of scratching my head working through it. In the areas I was demoing the bikes, I was able to hit some really rough broken-up sections, on smooth paved surfaces I liked the Vado the best. In semi-rough stuff I could see myself on the Turbo Tero bike too. Tero X was something that seemed nice on paper, yet if I'm going to get a full suspension bike (at that point), the lighter and more capable Turbo Levo just seemed to make more sense for me.

INTENDED USE:
I think I'm more of a "fit for purpose" kind of buyer than someone who tries to buy a do-it-all Swiss Army knife kind of buyer. For paved tarmac, no doubt the Vado is quite the fun bike to ride, its handling, and how it functions. I preferred it over many other bikes (and different brands) I had demoed in similar configurations. I also felt the Giant Explore 0 was similar and yet maybe a bit more offroadable for less $. A great value. After checking out my local paved trail system around me, and all of the various (dirt trail) offshoots around us, it became evidently clear (with the e-Motor) that I wanted to be able to take advantage of both worlds of paved and unpaved rides, combining them together. What did not realize is how much more I would simply prefer the off-road riding with a capable e-motor bike with full suspension.

TRY OTHER BIKES too:
When they were setting up the Vado and Tero bikes for me at the dealer for my next batch of demo rides, one of the sales mangers there who lives nearby our local lake and trail system, decided to throw me a curve ball. She knew I had ridding off-road in the past. She kept saying, you gotta ride this new Turbo Levo Comp bike. I was resistant at first, as I was close to buying the Vado 4.0 or the Tero 5.0. I rode the Comp Carbon Turbo Levo twice that day. Went back again to the dealer another day and rode it two more times for demos, for a few hours in total. Then it hit me, woah, I can do so much more with this bike combining paved and off-road trail systems. After many demo test rides, it became much more clear that I could open so many more doors with the much more versatile bike (for all different types of trail systems all around us). While I ended up deciding to order and purchase the Specialized Turbo Levo Comp Carbon S4 bike, I sure can appreciate the other models too, particularly so if I were going to ride more paved tarmac surfaces around me.

Speaking of Giant (like their bikes too), my 73yr old friend ended up following suit and bought the Giant Trance E+3 alloy version "Black Diamond" and loves it. A great value. Both of us are keeping our analog gravel bikes for periodic paved trail rides we do every 5th ride or so. Problem now is, we simply want to ride the full suspension e-Bikes, a lot more. Exploring all new trails around us, this is the part that is surprising me the most I guess. We'll see how it goes over the winter and if its something we'll get tired of doing or will we still be doing this a year from now. The eBike is getting us back in shape too, and makes the analog bikes fun to ride again too.

New Buyers:
I did this write-up now knowing the bike purchase process can be really confusing if you don't demo these bikes, a lot, before purchasing. Be sure to Demo, multiple times if you are wondering and reading this. In my case, the demos completely changed the end result 180 degrees. Best of Luck.

A great write-up again! Thank you!

 

[warthor]

Yep, this deal at 5k was for the "base" carbon Turbo Levo. Note: You have to look real close at what you're getting. You'll notice the forks, shock, shifting components you get with the base model, is what it is. It's an upgrade-path bike for lower entry cost. Once I decided to go back to full suspension bike, with an eBike motor, I started down this path on this exact base model bike myself. I went a slightly different direction after quite a bit of homework and demo rides. After you buy the base model, then later decide to upgrade the forks, shock, and various components, its a better deal to just buy the next level-up Turbo Levo Carbon Comp, and all of these components are already upgraded, at the right level. I feel the next level-up bike is much better in stock form for the $ value.

New Buyers:
I did this write-up now knowing the bike purchase process can be really confusing if you don't demo these bikes, a lot, before purchasing. Be sure to Demo, multiple times if you are wondering and reading this. In my case, the demos completely changed the end result 180 degrees. Best of Luck.

Thanks all for your insight and feedback. That is very helpful. For my current situation I am planning to mostly commute on paved (in semi good condition) roads. There are some nice dirt trails near my house, as well. Therefore, it would appear that the Vado and Tero X make the most sense. In regard to my personal preference (high value on low-maintenance and time efficiency ... so I have time for church, family, hobbies etc.) I wanted the IGH. So the Vado 5.0 IGH is at the top of my list. Like Stefan pointed out, it would not appear that this use case would make the Levo the best choice. In my mind having the suspension system would have made the ride smooth, like a cars suspension system does.

That is where things get challenging. I live in a rural area and have no way to try the Specialized ebikes. The closer specialized LBS has a single Specialized ebike, and not the one I am interested in. If I want to try the bikes I need to drive to a metro area or wait until I travel somewhere else to try them. For fun, I should point out that 97% of the land mass in the US is designated as rural, yet only 1 of 5 people live in rural areas. In other words, 80% of the people in the US live in 3% of its land mass. But that means that is where the services are. For this reason, I should note, I have never ridden an ebike! I encountered the same issue when shopping for speakers. There was no way to try them out locally, so I had to do my due diligence and buy wisely ("sight unseen"). There is a good review and scoring system for speakers called preference score, that does not exist for bikes which has made this search challenging.

In some sense that is why I want to buy cheap at first to test things out, but don't think I would be happy doing so. For example, I could buy internet direct, but I can tell from reviews and discussions that Specialized is a superior product in many ways to 1UP and Priority etc.

I do have one question that I suspect the experts here could help with. How superior are the components on the Vado 5.0 IGH vs the Vado 3.0 IGH? That is something I cannot discern.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

How superior are the components on the Vado 5.0 IGH vs the Vado 3.0 IGH?

Thor, point by point:

Motor
Vado 3.0 IGH: 50 Nm, 2.8x Boost Factor, 430 W peak mechanical power. Vado 5.0 IGH: 90 Nm, 4x Boost Factor, 565 W peak mechanical power. The motor of the 3.0 is not a climber but it is more economical in the power use than the one of the 5.0.

Battery
It is where the difference is the biggest. 3.0 has a 530 Wh battery vs. 710 Wh of the 5.0. Night and day. The bigger battery allows for 1/3 longer rides. The battery is the factor most affecting e-bike prices.

Brakes
3.0: 2-piston 5.0: 4-piston. Vital with long, steep descents in the favour of the 4-piston brakes.

Transmission
3:0: Manual 310% gearbox. 5.0: Automatic 380% gearbox.

Fork
3.0: Suntour. 5.0: Rock Shox. The one on the 5.0 is far better, and the difference in the price of suspension forks is big.

These are the four most important differences. If you do not have big hills around and do not plan very long rides, the 3.0 could be an option for you.

P.S. If you were not allergic to the chain and derailleur, I would say Vado 4.0 non-IGH, which is the biggest bang for the buck

 

[decooney]

@warthor I have never ridden an ebike! I encountered the same issue when shopping for speakers. There was no way to try them out locally, so I had to do my due diligence and buy wisely ("sight unseen"). There is a good review and scoring system for speakers called preference score, that does not exist for bikes which has made this search challenging.

Keep up the good questions and homework. It's going to be easier to figure out with bikes than speakers, imo. Using the speaker selection analogy is an interesting thought. As a former professional in the industry, building, then later designing, developing and building, reselling and later my own custom speakers for the past 45 years, I have to say the preference for speakers varies greatly in humans for so many different factors. I could put five people in a room and 3 of 5 would pick different speakers Rooms, environments, sources, components used. And, if we think of it more, it is kinda like bikes. Where you plan to ride is like the room, various components used in the system, is kinda the same as different levels of bikes, etc.

While I understand it might be a challenge to get to a place to line up and reserve a few bikes to demo, I'd stretch further to say, if I had to travel 2-3 hours, (or get a ride favor from a good friend) stay overnight in a hotel, and spend half a day demoing different bikes and sizes, I'd say its totally worth it given the high $$ cost paid for these bikes. It's worth getting it right the first time. It's a costly do-over. The reward can be a HUGE payoff if you narrow it down (carefully, diligently) to get the right bike for YOU. In doing so, you'll skip the whole entry bike thing, save hard earned money, and apply it the right bike the first time. I have a few buddies who skipped the whole cheap entry bike saga, and went straight to the keeper bike by doing exactly what you are doing right now - asking as many questions as you can. Doing demos makes it go faster. A demo is worth 5,000 words on each bike, model, level. Folks like Stephan Mike and others here are super helpful and have a real passion for these bikes and everything around them.

Since you noted you've never ridden an eBike before, this to me, kinda begs even more for more research (like you are) and figuring out how to go demo a few bikes. I can share with you that after riding 17 different bikes on demo, no two bikes rode like the other one. Kinda like speakers, they all can sound so different and work differently in different environments and use-cases with different components used. Okay man, best of luck on your research and next steps!

 

[Taylor57]

3500 seems like a good price. Does anyone know if a rack and fenders are available for this 3500 model?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

3500 seems like a good price. Does anyone know if a rack and fenders are available for this 3500 model?

Sorry Taylor for laughing. Say, you are offered with an exceptionally good price on a Formula 1 car. Would you start asking if you could make that race car suitable for your urban use?

The short answer is: if you would like to convert a race horse to an urban mule, yes, you can do it. To regret it very much later.

Here's the Levo in its proper environment.

 

[decooney]

Re: Racks/Fenders on a Levo topic -

In photos on google I've seen some universal rear (clamp-on) racks people have used on the Levo bikes, and the smaller plastic fenders, however it's probably not ideal on this bike. Sure it will work, but is the right bike for that, and when going offroading probably just end up tearing up the rear rack altogether anyhow. Small limited plastic fenders too, might not be the best coverage in rain and such like you get on a Vado/Tero bike or something where the accessories are designed for those bikes.

If I needed racks and fenders, and turning the Levo more into a utility bike, I'd probably go back to considering a Turbo Tero or Tero X if I needed a commuter-utility bike w/suspension, fenders, or+lights too. Kinda reminds me of when we used our dual-sport dirt motorcycles (i.e., called them "dirt bikes with turn signals") with lights on single track dirt trails, and tore up lights, turn signals and such on spills. Sure, we did in my area of NorCal, and sometimes we ended up replacing those. Back to the "fit for purpose" conversation though with @Taylor57 's question perhaps.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Decooney, it is a carbon e-MTB. Making it an utility e-bike would be one of craziest ideas

 

[Prairie Dog]

That’s a bargain deal that I would find difficult to turn down at least up here and is close to what the allow version sells for. The Levo certainly wouldn’t be near the top of my list as a commuter mind you but doable with a change in tires yet, as Stefan mentioned, rack options might be limited. With such an attractive price point, it might turn even the most ardent pavement pounder into a weekend trail warrior and those savings could go towards a second set of wheels/tires. There no denying that mine sees little use for urban rides and is more at home on the trail where it belongs.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

That’s a bargain deal that I would find difficult to turn down at least up here and is close to what the allow version sells for. The Levo certainly wouldn’t be near the top of my list as a commuter mind you but doable with a change in tires yet, as Stefan mentioned, rack options might be limited. With such an attractive price point, it might turn even the most ardent pavement pounder into a weekend trail warrior and those savings could go towards a second set of wheels/tires. There no denying that mine sees little use for urban rides and is more at home on the trail where it belongs.

I can still remember that label on the handlebars of my Giant Trance E+ 2 Pro: "Designed for off-road use only"
How true!

 

[decooney]

Decooney, it is a carbon e-MTB. Making it an utility e-bike would be one of craziest ideas

@Stefan Mikes No disagreement here. People do all kinds of crazy stuff here, there was a guy I saw driving down the road last year who turned his Mazda Miata into a raised off-road four wheel drive dirt & rocks crawler machine. Same thing with a local 1967 convertible camaro 'round here too. Different strokes for different folks I guess. You won't catch me putting racks or lights on my own own Turbo Levo Comp Carbon, that's for sure. I'll leave the urban-use stuff to another bike.

@Prairie Dog btw, recheck that deal mentioned above, may be some confusion going on there, on the base carbon bike at Safetycycle in Torrence. It's the base model, standard price drop, and these have been harder for them to sell clients knowing it's a gateway bike - you kinda need to upgrade the suspension day-1, imo. $6749 drop to $4999. I was considering it way back, and it was over $1800 to do the basic fork, shock, suspension upgrades - and you still get the lower level computer. Not worth it to me, imo. Might as well spend up and get the comp carbon version, it already comes with the upgrades. https://safetycycle.com/all-products/ols/products/turbo-levo-carbon