Specialized’s best-selling e-mountain bike, the Turbo Levo, was an early benchmark by which other eBikes were measured. But, in the past four years, numerous brands have challenged Specialized’s early dominance in the fast-growing, dynamic full-power eBike segment. We got to test ride the new Turbo Levo 4. Here’s what we reckon…
By Sean Badenhorst | Images: Ray Cox
How much can you tell about a bike in one short ride? It really depends where you ride it. I have always maintained that the best bike to ride Jonkershoek’s long, challenging wilderness trails, is on a full-power eBike. Well, I got to test ride the new Turbo Levo at Jonkershoek and it was indeed the ideal place to test it.
One of the reasons for this is that I test-rode its predecessor, the Turbo Levo 3 on the same trails in March 2021. A four-year gap is about the biggest time limit with mountain bike model updates, especially popular models. Why did Specialized take so long to deliver the next generation Turbo Levo? Well, they made a lot of changes, that’s why. In fact, it’s an all-new bike.
Specialized wanted to design a mountain bike that offers increased power and the control to match. In full eBikes, more power and increased range are two of the primary objectives and each edition of each new eBike, regardless of brand, is delivering on this. Here’s a summary of this and everything else the new Turbo Levo offers.
MORE POWER
Specialized designed a new motor. The S-Works model gets its own version, the S-Works 3.1, which delivers 720 Watts of power and 111 Nm of torque, while the rest of the bikes in the range get the regular version, the 3.1, which delivers 666 Watts and 101Nm of torque. For reference, the Generation 3 model offers 565 Watts and 90Nm of torque. In this department, it’s a numbers game and the new Levo is now among the highest of any brand.
IMPROVED POWER DELIVERY
As with its predecessor, there are ECO, TRAIL, TURBO and WALK modes. However, a new mode is AUTO. After around seven reasonable duration rides, the smart system works out your unique power demands and in AUTO mode, delivers what you need to ride the way you mostly ride. It’s an impressive feature! As before, all modes are tunable via the app, with Micro Tune and Dynamic Micro Tune adding further adjustability and efficiency on the fly.
MORE RANGE
There’s also a consistent quest to offer more range. The new Levo comes with an 840Wh battery, well up on the 700Wh capacity of its predecessor. This obviously delivers greater range. Also new is the battery itself, which is modular and easily clips into and out of the burly downtube. It comes standard with the 840Wh battery, but you can switch it for lighter, smaller 600Wh version if you want to trim bike weight.
As with its predecessor, the Turbo Levo 4 has the option for a range extender, which fits into the bottle cage (there’s a twist clip now to secure it more firmly) and feeds into the main charging port to offer an additional 280Wh of range. With the extender, you can start a ride with 1120 Wh of range, which Specialized says is 5hr33min of riding (based on an 80kg rider in Eco mode with significant elevation gain). The S-Works range is around 10.80% less due to the increased demand of the more powerful motor.
There’s a new charger too (5 amps 200 Watt), which comes with a better designed plug and charging port system, making it less vulnerable to breaking like the predecessor (if you know, you know). You can also buy an aftermarket 12-amp, 700 Watt Smart Charger, which boosts your charge from 0-80% within one hour, but has various settings to manage charge speed.
GREATER CONTROL
The frame has been redesigned. As with the previous model, it’s similar to the most current Specialized Stumpjumper, offering a trail-shredding rig with 160mm of front and 150mm of rear suspension travel. The fork is a Fox Factory 38, while the shock is the revolutionary Fox Genie, with an external reservoir, which delivers a flatter spring curve for the first 70% of the travel, ideal for small bump compliance and control on most surfaces, but which then ramps up seriously for the last 30% to manage big hits with composure.
We’ll slot the wheel configuration under ‘Control’. The Turbo Levo Gen 4 comes only with a mullet setup – 27.5-inch on the rear and 29-inch up front. The predecessor had the option for a 29-inch wheel at the rear, but this one is designed more precisely to ensure the bike’s handling is based on the mullet benefits – essentially greater maneuverability and the ability to roll over everything in the trail.
MORE ADJUSTABILTY
As with most full-suspension mountain bikes these days, the Turbo Levo is adjustable. But not just in one place, three… There’s a headtube adjustment between three settings with cup orientation; there’s a rear shock flip chip, which adjusts bottom bracket height; and a seatstay flip chip that adjusts wheelbase length. For those that like to experiment, the new Turbo Levo is a tinkerers dream.
SMARTER SCREEN
The Master Mind on-board control unit delivers real-time information that’s easy to read and toggle through using the left-thumb controls which are ergonomically positioned to offer optimal reach and feel. The new Turbo Levo display screen is also improved with high resolution to display full colour data that includes charge level, power assistance mode, ride data, personal performance metrics and more, all with Bluetooth connectivity with other devices.
There’s also an Apple ‘Find My’ tag so that you can keep track of your bike when you’re not on it…
THE RIDE
I got to spend around 90 minutes on the new Turbo Levo. I rolled up Irish, a long singletrack climb, scooted down two levels of Armageddon, a rough and rangy descent; down two levels of Red Phoenix, a smoother, faster descent; and the last level of Firehut, which contains some some tight turns and small jumps.
CLIMBING
The first thing I noticed on the climb was the power assist extension that keeps the bike rolling under assisted power for perhaps a second longer once you stop pedalling. I have experienced this on a different brand bike before, but it was too much power and a bit unsettling. On the Turbo Levo, it’s just enough to allow you to roll over a root or rock that would otherwise slow you down. So, it’s subtle, but it’s there. While experienced, skilled riders may not need this, it does give the rider just that bit of support to maintain a consistent pace when needed. It’s very noticeable on some of the switchback climbing turns.
While the motor is quieter than the Generation 3 model, it’s not as silent as some eBikes I have tested. This may not be an issue for most. It is an eBike after all. And I only really thought about it on the second climb I did.
I toggled through the modes to get a feel for each as well as the transition and sensitivity of the controller. As expected, it was smooth and powerful in each mode with the new thumb controller softish to touch, but firm enough to respond as programmed. I was riding with thin gloves and was still able to feel the buttons and make the adjustments.
This normally comes with experience and conditioning, but I like to pedal at a cadence of at least 80 rpm on an eBike on a climb. Not all eBikes hold the assist power consistently at that higher cadence, but I felt there was a good power assist consistency even at higher cadences than at 80rpm. I really like this feature.
When I first saw the bike, I thought it looked too big for me. I would normally ride an S3, but this was an S4. My saddle height was accommodated (just) at the lowest the seatpost can go. However, once I started riding, the steep seattube angle (77 degrees) was noticeable as I was sitting more over the BB rather than just behind it. This also made the reach feel just right. While I felt really comfortable and composed on the climb in this position, I was interested to see how it felt on the descent.
DESCENDING
I rolled down the iconic Armageddon descent for two sectors, Six and Five. This is a rough and twisty singletrack descent that’s far from predictable, especially if you only ride it occasionally as I do. The suspension was immediately put to work and it felt superb! Small to medium rocks, roll-downs and the occasional small jump didn’t trouble the Gen 4 rig in the least.
I usually only choose TURBO mode for descents because, well, speed, Bru! On the tight switchback turns, the timing of the power assist ‘lag’, the power assist as you start pedalling again and the maneuverability of the bike reached a confluence. This to me was a key moment because these nuances can make or break an eBike’s credibility. The Turbo Levo Gen 4 passed this personal test comfortably.
The wheelbase on the Gen 4 is just 1mm shorter than the Gen 3 in the S4 size (1254mm vs 1255mm). Full eBikes can feel quite tardy in tight turns, but both the Gen 3 and Gen 4 impressed me in this regard. The smaller rear wheel is claimed to improve maneuverability and it probably does because I was able to ace most of the tight turns on my test ride.
The Turbo Levo Gen 4 comes with SRAM’s Maven brakes. They feel sharp in the carpark test and are indeed sharp on the trail! I like my brakes to really bite and obviously loved the Mavens. They did take a bit of getting used to, but I quickly adapted. Definitely the best SRAM brakes I have ridden and ideal for a bike with this much weight and power.
Speaking of weight, the Gen 4 model is a little heavier than the Gen 3. However, it felt lighter to ride. Where I noticed this most was on jumps where I needed to boost. I’m going to put it down to the Fox Genie suspension, which really did impress me too.
SUMMARY
Although it was a short first ride, it was at a venue that’s really perfect for full-power eBikes. Specialized may have taken four years to update the Turbo Levo, it’s most popular eBike model, but it’s definitely been a period with plenty of introspection. The Gen 3 was the category leader when it was launched. But eBike advances in the past four years have been furious and Specialized needed to deliver something special to regain its place at the front of the full eBike pack. This Gen 4 has undoubtedly put the Turbo Levo back up there…
AVAILABILITY & PRICING
Availability of the following carbon fibre frame models is expected to be end of April 2025 with the aluminium models expected to launch in June 2025.
Specialized S-Works Levo: R295 000 (as tested). Full details here.
Specialized Levo Pro Carbon G4: R240 000. Full details here.
Specialized Levo Expert G4: R200 000. Full details here.
Specialized Levo Comp Carbon G4 Arrives in June: R160 000
