First Ride: The Specialized Turbo Levo SL Changes The Game

[Milkman]

I think I found my next bike !

[DuncanDoughnuts]

love my Levo ... and i would probably love this bike ....but afraid I don't have corrupt government tender money ....

 

ill wait till they start going for second hand.... there is always something better on the horizon for those ahead of the curve to upgrade to

[SCD]

I usually respect when companies built the development cost into the price of their product. But the bike industry unfortunately has lost the plot.

If entry level gear of a sport requires the user to belong to the top 1% of a society then the sport has left grass roots level people to watch on... and I am not even talking about the prices of those eBikes anymore. These are elite toys for the elite. Sitting in the garage next to a Porsche. And this is just not the an image that I associate with mountain biking.
Kind of sad.

[ChrisF]

Been looking at ebikes .... but out of my budget ....  actually scary to see how the prices have krept up in the last two years !!  Thought we would see more affordable options as the technology settles in ....

 

so as much as I admire the technology of this new beast, it is totally out of my budget .....

[sirmoun10goat]

Turbo Levo SL S-Works Founder's Edition (limited to 250 bikes) - ZAR 250,000

 

If they made 300 would the price be ZAR 300,000?

[Mamil]

How many more times is the newest thing going to change the game I wonder?

[JohanC]

There is another familiar brand launching an ebike in the next couple of weeks...+R200k

[Tim Brink]

There are probably 250 people who'd buy that sales pitch 

 

Alan was at the launch. His World Champion jersey looks electric...

Shocker...

[intern]

I usually respect when companies built the development cost into the price of their product. But the bike industry unfortunately has lost the plot.

If entry level gear of a sport requires the user to belong to the top 1% of a society then the sport has left grass roots level people to watch on... and I am not even talking about the prices of those eBikes anymore. These are elite toys for the elite. Sitting in the garage next to a Porsche. And this is just not the an image that I associate with mountain biking.

Kind of sad.

Doesn't matter what you think. If people are buying it, then the bike company's done it's work.

There's plenty of toys for the plebs like you and me, don't worry.

Also, I'm chucking it in and just buying a motorcycle instead. Ordered the wife a CRF250 and will get one for myself once I can afford it. Gonna have just as much fun as the ebike crowd, at less than half the price (my S-Works MTB retailed at $14000 when I got it, the Honda is $8500).

[WrightJnr]

Doesn't matter what you think. If people are buying it, then the bike company's done it's work.

There's plenty of toys for the plebs like you and me, don't worry.

Also, I'm chucking it in and just buying a motorcycle instead. Ordered the wife a CRF250 and will get one for myself once I can afford it. Gonna have just as much fun as the ebike crowd, at less than half the price (my S-Works MTB retailed at $14000 when I got it, the Honda is $8500).

I get your point but.....coming from someone that has done both disciplines for a long time....The CRF you will ride once a week, then twice a month, then once a month, then dust..... An eBike you will ride multiple times a week and continue to do so.

 

And, if you think we are pressed for good and variety MTB trails, wait until you try find motorbike trails that are close to home and safe to ride. Most people can’t ride a CRF from their doorstep.

 

Bottom line, you will have more hours of enjoyment on the S-Works.

[Nick]

How many more times is the newest thing going to change the game I wonder?

 

It's easy enough to bemoan progression and the hype that comes with it but I tend to not do it lightly.

 

The Levo SL blurs the lines between regular bikes and e-bikes in the trail riding category. It will have regular trail bike owners considering an e-bike for the first time. In fact, I reckon anyone who can afford a bike like this will have more fun with it than a regular trail bike. It is the first e-bike to make me think this way, so in that sense, it has the potential to change the game completely.

[Long Wheel Base]

There is another familiar brand launching an ebike in the next couple of weeks...+R200k

TREK?

[Headshot]

It's easy enough to bemoan progression and the hype that comes with it but I tend to not do it lightly.

 

The Levo SL blurs the lines between regular bikes and e-bikes in the trail riding category. It will have regular trail bike owners considering an e-bike for the first time. In fact, I reckon anyone who can afford a bike like this will have more fun with it than a regular trail bike. It is the first e-bike to make me think this way, so in that sense, it has the potential to change the game completely.

Not at R100 k t0 250k it doesn't in my book. Changing the game would be a very much cheaper eBike that has great tech and is affordable by less than 0.5% of the population. 

 

If I want an eBike I want it to get me up the hill asap. Not pretend to be a regular bike to make me feel better because it's almost a real bicycle. 

 

As an aside - I'm looking at getting a commuter motor bike - a second hand naked sport bike will set me back R60k  or so. Decent engine and suspension. Super fun. And i'll ride it every day, not once or twice a week. 

[Slowbee]

Shocker...

But grounded

[BuffsVintageBikes]

We might think they're totally losing the plot with these new ebikes but if you're a proffessional and earning dollars or euros instead of rands then you might think somewhat differently.

SA sales are in any case a drop in the international sales market ocean, so why would they be concerned about us?

[ChrisF]

We might think they're totally losing the plot with these new ebikes but if you're a proffessional and earning dollars or euros instead of rands then you might think somewhat differently.

SA sales are in any case a drop in the international sales market ocean, so why would they be concerned about us?

 

There has always been a market for the "top end" products.  And this do appear to be one of those products.

 

 

The general trend of a lot of the feedback though is that there is a very real market in South Africa for affordable ebikes.  And these DO exist in Europe ! 

 

 

Many more people would buy e-MTB's in SA if there were more affordable options .... and these sales wont detract from the sales of these super fancy models, as it is two distinct different budget markets.