Specialized expand e-bike range with Turbo Levo trail bike

[NicoBoshoff]

Ha ha! You guys are really hating on this thing hey

 

To be honest, if I had the cash i would get one! Who doesn't want to chill up the hills and blast down hehe.

Buy a motorbike.  Much cheaper and I won't judge you.

[Riaan H]

Would have liked one to commute (and get some exercise) between Randburg office and Sandton Gautrain station, but considering I can buy a scooter or small bike for under R10k I'll give it a skip.

[Hackster]

So here's the thing... you're riding up or down a nice bit of single track when you hear someone behind you. They ask for track so you find an opportunity and let them pass. When they pass you see that they're on an e-bike.

 

How are you going to feel?

 

Me, I'm going to feel kuk about that.

 

I have no problem yielding to people of superior skills/fitness/courage levels, but not to the oke who's faster than me simply because he bought an e-bike.

 

I don't have anything against e-bikes. I've long been toying with buying one for my commute, but the thought of sharing the mountain with them makes me queasy.

 

Sure, some e-bikes will be purchased by folk who're physically disabled in some way (I promise not to harp on too much about an acquaintance who rode the epic... with one leg) but I can pretty much guarantee you that if e-bikes take off they're largely going to be bought by guys who like the speed but don't have the appetite for all that fitness malarky.

 

And I have to say that, in my opinion, those kind of guys aren't really mountain bikers. And I'd really rather not be sharing trails with them. Or your girlfriend who struggles to keep up on a normal bike.

[johannrissik]

I think it fits the Specialised mould perfectly.

[dimsum]

Buy a motorbike.  Much cheaper and I won't judge you.

 

Meh I like this

[BSG]

Pedal assist high-performance trail bikes open up mountain biking to new riders and reinvigorate existing riders by making the tallest mountains feel more like mole hills. Specialized Bicycle Components expands highly acclaimed Turbo pedal-assist family to include trail bikes.

 

Click here to view the article

I for one would have enjoyed something like this last weekend at the Knysna 80km mtb race, I almost died trying to get to the end.[emoji38]

[Bat]

I have no problems with the unfit, people to lazy to exercise, people new to cycling, who wants to ride these bikes to get fitter, get to a specific fitness level, or just get better at cycling.

They can even ride with me on casual training rides, But I will definitely be peed off if they are allowed to use these bikes in any type of race. What is the deference then for the other hard working cyclest then using EPO or Steriods to also get a better, unfair advantage?

[BenGraham]

Oh good another reason to hate on specialized. E-bikes have no place on singletrack. They should require a special license that you can only get with a formal doctors endorsement.

[SCD]

Ever seen a 5Wh cell phone battery short and catch fire!? Good look with 500Wh between your legs

[TALUS]

Remember, not all bikes are made for SA, nor the purpose we use them for. I can imagine that this bike could help guys in Europe tackle some crazy mountains.

 

Strangely this doesn't bother me near as much as guys who buy fat bikes. Fat bikes are made for seriously soft sand and snow, its like putting tire chains on your car.

 

I take it you have a limited grasp of some of the basic sciences such as contact patch, momentum, pressure per surface area and so on. Don't worry about us on the fatbikes- only a few will beat you.

[linuxlg]

Perfect for the fat American kids.

 

Clever marketing by Spez

Edited July 8, 2015 by linuxlg

[camelman]

Man, what is it with all the aggression. I fail to see how you will "rip up the trail"and do 5m gap jumps on a 25kg bike. So relax untie your panties and let live a little. These bikes are great for older people or physically challenged people and assists them to get out there and enjoy nature too. No self respecting trail shredder will buy one, it is just too heavy. Me for one would love to go riding in the forest with my parents on one of these. Gives them an opportunity to do what I do and see what I see.

[NicoBoshoff]

Man, what is it with all the aggression. I fail to see how you will "rip up the trail"and do 5m gap jumps on a 25kg bike. So relax untie your panties and let live a little. These bikes are great for older people or physically challenged people and assists them to get out there and enjoy nature too. No self respecting trail shredder will buy one, it is just too heavy. Me for one would love to go riding in the forest with my parents on one of these. Gives them an opportunity to do what I do and see what I see.

Riddle me this...if the target market is the old and/or frail, why build it up with obvious aggresive trail geometry and spec?  Not sure the aim of the game here is that.

 

But like I said, it's no skin off my back if people spend money on this.  I just have an irrational disliking in this and the fact that people have the gall to call this a mountain bike (it's not...it's a motorcycle).

[Allrounder]

It's almost like a bike, with a motor.  What do you call those again?

 

Really confused why Spez would spend R&D money on this.  How does this take bike tech forward?

 

I'm all for innovation, but what is this innovating?  What problem is being solved other than making it easier for people to climb up stuff they struggled with because they were either too lazy or too unskilled to manage before.

 

It's also not good enough to say, well this allows you to climb up stuff that was unclimable before, because that implies either DH trails being used to climb up on or riding stuff that isn't open as a trail to start with.

 

It's not about the trail you condescending marketing scumbag.  This is the Mavericks of bikes.  If you are the guy leaving a strip club thinking those girls really, truly like you, this is the bike for you my friend.

They don't? hahahaha

[Allrounder]

City Cycles in Canal walk has a huge e-bike section now. Prices start at 20000 and goes up to 35000

[Thor Buttox]

Gees, so much anger. After I had a Fat biker gap me up a hill on the 100 Miler, having a guy on a Humming bike come past would just be the last straw hope Spez never brings out those 4 wheel electric shopping carts next. But hope they make some money out of it, so they can bring back a trusty 26er for me next.