Specialized roll out significant changes to their trail-friendly lightweight e-bike
The latest Turbo LEVO SL Il e-bike from
Specialized has undergone some major upgrades. The frame has been redesigned to remove its sidearm while also offering more geometry adjustability and being incorporated into the S-sizing system. In addition, the bike boasts 150mm of rear wheel travel and a 160mm travel fork and comes equipped with mixed-wheel sizes as standard.
The Turbo Levo SL Il now features a new motor - the Turbo SL 1.2 - which delivers 33% more power and 43% more torque compared to the previous SL 1.1 motor. Additionally, the new motor claims to have a perceived noise reduction of 34-45%. The kinematics have also been adjusted to improve overall trail performance, and the new bikes come with updated custom RX shock tunes for the kinematics.
There are two models being released currently, the £13,000 / $14,000 / €14,000 Turbo Levo SL II S-Works, and the £7,000 / $8,000 / €7,900 Turbo Levo SL II Comp Carbon. We expect more models to be released down the line.
Like any new e-bike with an updated motor, we all want to know what's 'Under the hood'. The Turbo SL 1.2 motor dishes out 50Nm torque with a peak power of 320W. That's increased from 35Nm and 240W from the older Turbo SL 1.1 motor and aligns with other current lightweight e-bike motors such as the TO HPR 50 and Fazua Ride 60.
This means the new Turbo Levo SL II will provide more assistance to make climbs feel less of a
chore.
The Turbo Levo SL Il uses a non-removable
320Wh battery. You can also add a 180Wh range extender that fits into the bike's bottle cage for a maximum 480Wh capacity which should help reduce range anxiety for those that like long
rides.
A few motor details include a new two-piece motor housing with an integrated honeycomb structure to help dissipate noise. In addition, there's a new gearbox design to reduce noise further to improve the ride experience. The motor is IP 67 rated, meaning it can be submerged in up to one meter of water for 30 minutes.
Specialized claims the motor has a wide optimised cadence range of support, with anywhere between 70 and 100 rpm ideal.
Specialized has yet to present a motor weight, but a size S4 S-Works Turbo Levo SL weighs 17.67kg, so it can't be too hefty.
The drive unit modes include Eco, Trial, Turbo, Walk, and Micro Tune. Eco, Trail, and Turbo are pre-set power modes that can be adiusted in Speciailized's Misson Control app. Micro Tune is a method that can change the power output in 10 per cent jumps to tailor the power to suit your ride and situation from the remote.
While the Turbo Levo SL Il has a motor to aid assistance on the climbs, Specialized says they still believe the bikes frame and suspension play a key role in how the bike behaves and feels on the trail.
This is where Specialized claims to have spent much of its time trying to improve the rider experience.
The frames use Specialized FACT11 carbon fibre, which uses FEA (Finite Element Analysis) and Machine Learning to help optimise material usage, carbon layup and shape to refine lateral, torsional, and bottom bracket stiffness.
Specialized says they tuned the whole chassis (front and rear triangles and links) under their
Rider-First Engineered process to ensure each of the six frame sizes delivers the same on-trail experience.
In addition, specialised removed its sidebar to save weight and meet its stiffness needs as the frames grow longer with the updated geometry over the old model.
The other frame details are what you would expect to see on a modern trail bike. It uses 12×148mm Boost rear hub spacing. In addition, there's space for a bottle cage in the front triangle that can hold your water bottle or the 180W range extender. There's plenty of frame protection around the chainstays. It uses an
SRAM UDH interface to fit the latest
SRAM Eagle
AXS Transmission.
What's missing from this latest Turbo LEVO SL Il is internal cable routing through the headset. Some might consider this a blessing, but I expect the next Turbo Levo SL model will feature this. There are also no additional bosses for tool and tube storage. However, you do get a Specialized SWAT
multitool in the steerer tube.
Specialized had reworked the kinematics and shock tunes for this new frame to balance a bike that's plush enough to keep you calm while tackling the chunkiest lines while still having enough playfulness to keep you engaged on flowing terrain.
Specialized flattened and lowered the Turbo Levo SL's Ileverage curve. As a result, the bike is less progressive at sag, which should help find traction. However, it's more progressive in the last 30mm of travel to provide greater support in bottom-out situations.
Compared to the previous Levo SL, the bike's kinematics rely more on damping support from the shock rather than the spring rate in bottom-out situations. Specialized has also reduced the rebound damping in the shock so it can recover faster and keep the bike higher in its travel so there's more suspension reserved for bigger hits.
A slightly more rearward axle path is used to help improve bump absorption by better aligning bump force with wheel travel direction. This also links to a higher anti-squat to give the bike a more stable pedalling platform.
The new frame (except size S1) is also select coil shock compatible. Examples include the Fox DHX coil, Ohlins TTX Coil, and
RockShox Super Deluxe Coil.
Let's first talk about the sizes, as there are plenty of geometry details to explore with Turbo Levo SL
Il's adjustability.
The Turbo Levo SL I was Specialized's last performance mountain bike to be integrated into their S-Sizing concept. As a result, the new bike is available in 6 sizes, from the smallest S1 to the largest S6.
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