Specialized Levo Expert R
Original ride date: 9/13/2026
The quick take:
rips
feels light (advertised 47lbs)
140mm front - 130 rear suspension keeps things tight
cool if you want to spend $8000+
VERY rideable with motor turned off, very little if any motor drag
It is very hard to find an SL eMTB to demo or even rent, in the North SF Bay at least. If I am missing somewhere, please let me know! So I gave up and called a local spot Trailhouse in Santa Rosa that rents eBikes and when I asked for an SL they said this was their 2026 offering for that category/consideration.
They made the R model and advertise as a trail XC, which I think is misleading because this thing can chunk it up and has plenty of power. But I get how a huge company wants to streamline lineup by stretching out configurations rather than running separate models. The Expert build has carbon wheels and brings it to 47 lbs, which is light for full power, but price doesnt warrant when you can buy Avinox builds for under 7 and they are around 44lb with more power (if thats what you want).
DECREE: I’m into an eBike for a small boost of assist so I don’t have to do that much work, I’m not in it for Strava times or race training. So SLs are my dream, because I want it to be light for the sake of feeling like a normal bike, not for times. I also find myself missing out on rides with acoustic crews rather than full power eMTBs, so I want to be able to ride something turned off (or where I can sneak in some ECO on climbs to no gas out with more athletic riders).
I rode at Monte Rio Redwoods, which was previously Gianni Cycling Club and is now public. It is an amazing trail system. If there are huge drops and jumps I have not come across the yet, but that is not my style of riding. I prefer flow and this place has it, it is also steep so for a SLacker like myself, I’m not trying to pedal 100%. I connected with Tim on the way in and he was on an acoustic IBIS so I followed him around with my motor off and it rode very “free” with barely any feeling of motor drag. After about 12 miles and on one of the major climbs back up to top, I ran out of steam and gave up… kicked on motor to ECO mode and it was as if my legs were merely spinning to tell motor to go, gave me a huge break and was good to know I still had 85% battery for the rest of the day. (I burned 10% of the battery going 20 mph up Coleman Valley and Willow Creek rd from Occidental Community parking lot, which is a huge benefit on paved commute to the dirt).
I split with Tim near the top by Island in the Sky Loop and Upper Old Barn (some names are mixed from old/new trail control) and thanked him for al the great info. Check out his band Free Peoples too! With 85% battery left and only an hour remaining for my demo period… it was Turbo for the rest of the rip. I blasted down the tight dirt fire road and took it to Jamboree that was overgrown and almost no contact with dirt with all the fallen leaves. But that was not a problem for some drifting fun on this thing, it stayed tight (not 160 or 170mm front suspenion sluggish) and manageable. Took it out of turbo a couple times since it was getting a little wild for me. Next was another fire road burn up to Sound Of Music trail and then back out to the road. I hit 41 mph down Coleman Valley road and it felt ALMOST as comfortable as riding an Enduro moto.
Ended day and still had 50% battery and did about 25 miles. So it can easily hit 50 miles if you conserve. It was fun but it did confirm my notion about riding SL models, I didn’t need that much power, every full power I’ve ridden I mainly stay in ECO. Something about Turbo on singletrack climbs seems out of touch with why I ride: to be out in nature AND ALSO rip… not just rip to rip. It seems too moto at Turbo and Turbo+ with these new Avinox having 140-50 nm of boost. BUT ANYWAY, it was nice to have a hefty reserve in the battery, so whenever I finally ride an SL it will show me how much range anxiety I will have, and if the extra 4 or 5 pounds closer to 40 lbs will be worth it.
