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THROUGH THE GRINDER

IF YOU REST YOU RUST, AND THERE'S NO REST FOR THEWICKED ...SO NO RUST ON THIS BATCH OF WICKED PRODUCTS THEN?

PHOT GRAPHY HEATHER OLIVER ANO CREDITED
The 2025 model comes with the excellent Genie rear shock
UDH friendly
Charging port is well sealed from the elements

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A mid-power (50Nm), small battery (320Wh) e-crailbike chat weighs 20.4kg (S5 size) and still has impressive range. First off, if you're not a fan of the colour, don't worry. The 2025 versions of chis bike are metallic grey or metallic dark blue. The ocher things chat have changed are that the front rotor is now 220mm and the rear shock is a Specialized Genie. The Genie being essentially Fox Float X with two positive air chambers. I've ridden one on the Scumpjumper 15 and was very, very impressed with it. Anyway, all these spec changes pretty much deal with all che ni gg les I've had with chis 2024 model: naff colour, underpowered front brake and slightly unsupporcive rear suspension. A mid-power (50Nm), small battery (320Wh) e-crailbike chat weighs 20.4kg (S5 size) and still has impressive range. First off, if you're not a fan of the colour, don't worry. The 2025 versions of chis bike are metallic grey or metallic dark blue. The ocher things chat have changed

Which leaves us with a pretty excellent bike. Another proviso is chat caller riders (like me) may have to do some geometry tweaking. To cue a long story shore, after crying all of che configurations (including 29in rear wheel) I ended up with a neutral headset cup, high BB setting and long/29in chainscay setting. Yep, 29in chainscay setting but running a 27.5in rear wheel. The shorc/27.5in setting was just coo shore for my castes. Very hard co keep my balance between the two tyre contact patches. I can live with the low-slung BB and slacker seat/head angles, mainly by running minimal (25%) sag, which improved the otherwise 'over-eager' rear suspension feel as well. Ulcimacely, che Levo SL Alloy is pretty much on its own as a mid-power eMTB chat weighs circa 20kg and coses circa £5k. The SL 1.2 motor is arguably the best allround mid-weight moror. More genuine power and range than the TQ-HPR50. More reliable than the Fazua Ride 60 system. Better pedal feel and range than the Bosch SX. For £1,000 more you could ger rhe carbon version chat also comes with a wireless SRAM SXAXS drivecrain but personally, I don't chink it's worch it. You'd be far better advised co spend £1,000 (over time) on upgrading some bics on chis Alloy model (wheels, tyres and longer dropper I'd suggest). With chis Levo SL Alloy, Specialized has pretty much cornered che market. And I'm fine with chat; it's a great handling mountain bike with a decent spec and a sorted motor.

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