Bike Check: Max Chapuis' Specialized Levo SL

 funny cause its true

 Every part of it felt like an advertisement.

 You can tell its ad because he kept the Butcher/Eliminator.

 I suppose you are against electric cars then?

 @batteriesnotincluded: Despite your desperate exclamation points, I see nowhere in this post where they suggest that you train with an ebike. It's a slow winter and this is one of the most progressive e bikes out there, so for me it was worth the click. E bikes rule and they are only going to get better and more popular.

Having said that, the edit was poor. Didn't really start till half way through, too much pointless drone footage and bad gopro angles.

 Lithium batteries are terrible to produce, but they are also extremely recycleable. E bikes aside bc from an environmental standpoint they are silly. But cars and backhoes (like the stuff they used to build that all e trail) make sense bc you can recycle the batteries so the initial damage becomes less in proportion over time and your replacing an engine that damages the environment more.

 @platnum: a study was done by a professor at a university in the EU and his conclusions came back that a Chevy Suburban was less environmentally impactful than any EV that has been produced. This was namely due to the mining of lithium, but also most power to charge the batteries comes from fissile fuel burning facilities, and with a transmission loss of somewhere around 50%, if I remember correctly, it takes roughly two times the energy to charge your battery than it stores. Now obviously things start to change as cleaner grid power becomes more prevalent, which is the real issue, and then and only then will EV be even close. We’re a long way from that, not to say we shouldn’t strive for it though! That being said, I can’t wait to finish building my electric KX250! Ripping through trails in the neighborhood with no complaints!

 I like enduro bikes, downhill bikes, trail bikes, Xc bikes, gravel bikes, road bikes, bmx bikes, trials bikes, dirt bikes, and even Ebikes. Am I weird? No hate for bikes here. Life is short. Do what makes you happy.

 Lithium batteries are terrible and carbon fiber is...?

 @mtbrider119: It's not just one professor. We also had the question of carbon footprint that we then looked into. Just driving around electric and petrol cars produce more or less the same amount of CO2 so the ECO part already fails here. Most the problem lies in producing electricity (from 25 to 40% efficient, funnily new coal plants are one of the most efficient) not transporting it and charging batteries (each of those are at more than 90% efficient). Then as you mentioned we come to lithium and other rare metals that EVs needs in much bigger numbers than ICEs. The change to electric cars/trucks is a political iniciative not one by engineers. The companies are only jumping on the trend as it will make them sales in the long run and they'll be able to survive.

 @platnum: I guess you could look at his point this way: Electric cars are a more environmentally alternative to normal cars whereas electric bikes are a less environmentally alternative to normal bikes.

I'm not anti-ebike, but there is no equivalence between cars and bikes when it comes to electric power.

 @mtbrider119: Come on man, people don't want to hear that. Electric cars are nothing but butterflies and unicorns. Batteries good. Gas bad. No room in that religion. . .er. . .science for dissent or debate.

 @mtbrider119:
Fossil fuel? Witch country was it? Did you see how many countries have almost non Fossil fuels for their electronic grid? Take France as an example. Almost only a nuclear power grid.
Germany is bad at this, we replaced our nuclear plants with green energy. Not the coal burning shit. So 50% or something like that is really dirty here.
To compare a EV battery to a e-MTB is flawed in many ways on the other hand.

 @mtbrider119: where Max lives in Switzerland a lot of the power on the grid comes from hydro sources

 @mtbrider119: In fact I checked the stats: "Electricity is mainly generated by hydropower (59.9%), nuclear power (33.5%) and conventional thermal power plants (2.3%, non-renewable)."

 @chris-brown225: Yes, Switzerland, and Norway where I live, most of the power is "green".
We still share our electrical grid with the rest of Europe, and our production and consumption is nothing compared to among others Germany where most of the power comes from coal, which is dirty as all hell.
EV makes sense at some point, but we need to transition to more hydro and nuclear, windmills can f*ck off, it's killing all wildlife in the areas we have them here, and they produce way too little energy in comparison to their impact.
If you want to be environmentally conscious, keep your old car on the road and don't consume so much shit.

 @mtbrider119: iirc that study was based on a suburban lasting 500k miles and the electric car 150k. Then the manufacturing energy makes suburban way better. But now you can put a new battery in and recycle old one so the study is meaningless (and probably was when first written).

 @Losvar: Everyone would be using hydro if there was enough of it. In fact most low hanging fruits have been picked and constructing new hydro potential is very environmentally impactful.
There is only one country in the world that has a greater hydropotential than its current and future needs. Plus it's got coffers full of oil money. Enjoy rain!

 @Serpentras: France export 80% of his electricity production. We have 58 nuclear reactors and someone not in good shape ...

 @jollyXroger: My last point there is still relevant everywhere in the world.
Mindless consumption is one of the greatest threats to the environment, everywhere.

 @Losvar: well I just checked the energy mix we have for 2020.
Germany get 25,1% from coal and 50,5 % from renewable energy sources.
Don't forget that many homes who are built in the last 10 years have solar panels. At least for the private sector.

The most stupid thing I see is that smart trainers need an plug. Why dafuq need this thing power if I do an average 400w output on it?

 @Losvar: Unarguably

 @platnum: electric cars on mountain bike trails? -hell. yes.

 Couldn't resist chipping in here as there's a lot of misinformation about electric vehicles out there.

The idea that electric cars are worse for the environment in terms of CO2 is simply a myth.Over their lifetime, including manufacturing, disposal and electricity use, they already produce far less CO2 than comparable petrol cars. This will improve as electricity generation improves.

Source:
www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/11/Cleaner-Cars-from-Cradle-to-Grave-full-report.pdf

As for ebikes, the below paper from the European Cycling Federation estimates that a bicycle takes around 96Kg of CO2 to manufacture, but for ebikes it's about 134Kg. So, yes, an ebike is generally worse for the environment, but not as bad as two conventional bikes, and we don't attack people for having a shed full of bikes, do we?

ecf.com/sites/ecf.com/files/ECF_CO2_WEB.pdf

 @seb-stott: But its not just about CO2. In order to go completely electric in terms of cars and generation of electricity itself, it is estimated we will need to mine as much as we have in the whole of human history so far. Lithium and other important metals for this are found in areas with habitats that are at risk of destruction (e.g. The Congo basin). You might not be wrong but Losvar also isnt in asking people to think about the whole impact (and consumption) rather than just CO2.

 @seb-stott: yeah, but at least here in Norway, what's unfortunately been happening is that way too many EVs are crushed after just a couple of years because they are too expensive to fix if something happens. The national telly/Norwegian Beeb has even made a show based on this with regards to over consumption where they used a pristine, low-mileage 3-year old E-Golf as an example. It had a scratch/ding in the battery underneath the car, and cost of replacing the battery was more than a new car. They had the battery replaced with a used battery - against the VW importers and insurers wishes - and got the car back on the road for a "measly" EUR 7000.

The best selling car here overall last year was the Audi E-tron. A new headlight for that car costs more than what our current family MPV (with many years left) would sell for - for real! We're talking in the region of EUR 3000 - for a headlight!

I'm hoping for more practical, no-nonsense EVs that can last for 10 years+ and has fewer bells & whistles that will fail and leave a major impact to produce.
You can choose a city roundabout, or a 2.5 ton luxury yacht, but if you scratch it they'll scrap it.

 @whatwouldjahdo: but lithium batteries on a carbon bike is

 @mtbrider119: All of these arguments have been made many times and every time over the life of both vehicles the fossil fuel car loses the emissions test. Please provide some more details please so I can verify this study.
How much energy does it take (and pollution does it cause) to produce one litre of unleaded petrol?
Just for example New Zealanders is around 80% renewables so that argument falls over pretty quick here.

 @mtbrider119: I did see this as well however I have also seen that the carbon footprint although great for the production of EV is quickly mitigated by the lack of emissions and in some times it only takes a year or so for an EV to catch up with the carbon cost of production. This took into account the source for the electricity for charging etc... www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RhtiPefVzM&t=134s&ab_channel=EngineeringExplained interesting watch.

 @DoubleCrownAddict: if you actually read the article and didnt just jump to the video it explains the training. Lol

Love & kisses

 @splitlit: to be fair, the new T9 rubber and the new knob design turns the Butcher into a really great tire. Changed from the Assegai to this one and was impressed.

 @splitlit: awful choice

 You just blew my mind

 I suggested something similar to this on a Facehole post from another source last year and had a bunch of kooks shout me down. One was a gravel biker and one was a local sales rep for the big S. Both of them lived in flat areas which further astounded me.

 If you can't get your ebike up any hill with a 32x11-36 maybe it's time to pack it in.

 Actually I’d rather lose the smaller cogs and make it nine speed.

 If your battery is low on a steep climb or dies, you'll be glad you have that 50. My 51 lb e bike has a 46 and I wish it had a 50. Actually, I really wish it had a wide range gearbox.

 @rpdale: Or people just buy what they like, and your just a grouchy pants.

 @alexsin: for me it’s not about getting up any hill which is possible as you say, but really the issue with your view is you’re not considering the draw on the battery. That set up would significantly affect your range.

 @alexsin: That is my xc bike gear ratio... haha

 @DoubleCrownAddict: True. Got a 10 speed 11-42T cassette on my cheater bike. When the battery dries out that Bosch CX gen 3 (pre-2020 CX) is such pig to pedal even on flats. 50T cassette would give be a real bail out in such cases. In normal operation 42T and Turbo mode, in extremes, will get you up just above anything.
SRAM tried to market durable steel cassette based 8-speed eMTB specific drive trains, which make a lot of sense for high torque, but since the beginning mountain biking market has been all about MOAR GEARS!

 Sub 35 lbs is a stretch, but the Orbea Rise is 16.2 Kg (35.7 lbs), so that is getting close. This Levo SL also weighs less than 17Kg BTW. The trade-off: You get less pedal assist and less range.

 Performance-enlargement better suited??! That bike is so stimulating?!

 Great if it’s anything like my stumpy evo. You may prefer a cascade link if jumps and drops are your thing. Same link for both bikes.

 @Kiowa008:

100% I have the SL with a ext storia and cascade link . It’s great. Though his 502lb spring for his weight seems oddly low

 This bike is amazing with a coil! Cascade Link+EXT Storia

 @Jcmonty: Could have custom valving but I weigh 140lbs and I run a 475lb spring on a Jade X. Also overshocked to 160mm so that changes things a bit FWIW.

 Bleh, these bikes have crap for kinematics. I own one and it pretty much bottoms out everywhere... with air shock set up as progressively as possible.

 @Ferd: That's too bad, might be the shock setup or blown out? I don't have issues with bottoming out with the X2. I had two volume spacers and only a click of LSC and about 5 HSC.
I added the cascade link and was able to remove both spacers but had to crank up the compression a little bit. I also run a 210x55, I have to keep it in the high geo now with the Cascade though.

 Performance-enlargement better suited??! That bike is so stimulating?!

 Sorry wrong convo

 Depends if the bike is served in a bread bowl or a cardboard box.

 You would think. But your thinking is wrong.

 It’s Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop son.

 Why not methane? You could shove the fuel line right up your ass.

 Need to buy a Propain then

 @platnum: brilliant.

 Europe is quite different that NA, there’s not much wilderness. There are towns every 5 km with uplifts which enables you to go over passes and into other valleys to other towns. There are alpine trails everywhere. Endless adventure riding, you can go for ever! Recharge at a refuggio, or in the adjacent valley having lunch, then back home!!
I’ve never had an ebike while visiting, but I can only imagine the possibilities...especially as a tourist!

 My theory- bikes are far more commonly used for transportation there. And ebikes make for rad commuters. So a lot more people are exposed to ebikes in general and the stigma is just not there. But I'd be interested to see some actual Europeans to contribute their two cents.

 @withdignityifnotalacrity: On my hometrails are way more ebikes than mountainbikes. In every group of riders is at least one ebike and its totally cool. It´s more cmmon to see mixed groups. I´m on E as well and never had any bad experiences with haters.

The real hate only happens online on this side of the atlantic

 @trickland: If you have all those uplifts why do you need the ebike then?

 New Zealander jumping in .... they have exploded in popularity here. Quote from mate in Nelson "I reckon about a 1/3 of the good guys have them now". Rotorua they're everywhere. It's the only reason I went "huh, I wonder what these are about" tried one, wtaf......

I was on the hate train until 2 months ago. Eaten every single word (mtber for a good 3 decades).

I think in dense mountain biking populations you have more exposure to different bikes. If you start seeing "good" riders riding e-bikes you start taking notice. When you start taking notice you might start accepting them more. When you do that and have stores which have them, then you're more likely to quietely (shamefully...) try one.

Then you're screwed and you have to eat your words.

In less dense biking populations you're less likely to end up in a bike shop wondering what you've just done

 NA doesn't embrace change as readily as Europeans?
Plus I still think that there is some misunderstanding about pedal assist and throttle ebikes.
Plus the PB comments section only makes up the proportion of people who will comment with vitriol on something that isn't like what they already have. So the comments section isn't a real representation of the global population.

 first things first: I work in the bike tourism industry but still don't owe an e-bike.
The thing with the e-bike is: it fits society. you only have "that" amount of time so choose wisely how to spend it. and a lot of people choose: i spend my time having fun instead of sweating my ass off and grinding up hills way obove my fitness level.
you choose when you want to watch films, not the tv program. you choose what music you'd like to listen, not the radio. more and more: you chose where you work, not the office. so you choose how easy a uphill should be, not the mountain. i ride my bike when and where i'd like to, not how my fitness level alows me to.
it's a lot time and "ME" related.

PLUS mountainbiking is, finally, loosing it's elite status and becomes more popular. you don't have to be the fittest anymore, you don't neccesairly brag with "how much altitude and how far and blabla", not every trail is a racetrack and people want to be the fastest. of course this still stays with the "elite" bike scene. people who care about bikes 24/7 will most likely always stay in this elite bubble. but believe it or not, people have other things in live than two wheels and a frame.
what riding bikes always was, even with rigid forks, v brakes, stiff seatpost etc: it was fun! with all the techno improvments, riding bikes kept beeing fun!
thats what a bike always will be: a toy for having fun!
this wall of "elite way scene thinking" is finally breaking down over here. people embrace the possibility of having fun without sacraficing time/sweat/nerves. motor or not, it's a mountain bike, riding mountain bikes is fun.
what count is: you're out, you're having fun! is it embarassing i pushed with 120 instead of 200 watts? frankly, i'm glad i didn't have to!
the trade in: riding an e-bike: i don't want to win races down the hill, so why should i care?

that's an amazing mind shift and it's not only happening in mountainbiking!

 @Bubzreh : I was a European until very recently (unfortunately we left). Anyhoo you are spot on, a lot of people and friends I have on the continent tend to use public transport and cycling as the main form of transport, plus legislation here in the UK allows pedal assist cycles up to 15.5mph as legal and categorized as a cycle not anything that requires insurance or special permits, therefore trails are now saturated with them. Is there anything wrong with this? In my opinion no, it only makes more trail centers and more jobs in the industry through sales , trail maintenance, trail centers , local shops etc. The only thing that can possibly happen (in my mind) is that someone less able gets stranded far from home with a 50lb bike, however in the UK that is not like being stranded in BC

 Most people around here head to the trailhead with their bike or Public Transport, not with a Pickup Truck, also because most fireroads are closed for cars. So there is already some time involved with shutteling, before you head to the trail. That's also a reason.

 @sack-zement: Well, yes, back when you could get a cheap bike and shred....you can't just go and buy a $6000+ eMTB and "have fun" Mr. Elite

 @trickland: Scandinavia disagrees..."not much wilderness". Um?

 @knutspeed: actually, this happened a lot during covid: buying a 6000$ bike and having fun. put aside you first need those 6 grands spare.
i'm not talking about the financal elite, more about the bike-thinking elite. actually it's a lot the same anyway haha.
a lot of this "new to bikesport breed" once in their life rode a bike and remember how that felt or still owe the old 15 year bike and just got it out the shed.
now sitting on a brand new bike (motor or not) isn't it automatically easier and a more of a wow effect?
more easy + more wow = more fun

and once you put away the puristic "faster, higher, better" thinking, i don't see any reason why one "can't just go and buy a $6000+ eMTB and "have fun"
as said, it's a state of mind rather than a state of speed.

 In my company are a lot of dedicated very strong Mountainbikers. They were bashing ebikes in the beginning and promised never to get one. But they bought one for their spouses so they could keep up. Then my Colleges couldn't keep up with their spouses and had to get ebikes too.

 @sack-zement: well I gues 6000$ being relatively affordable in Switzerland also helps (one advantage of living in a very expensive country with some goods having absolute prices...)

 @alexsin: the uplifts bring you out of towns into the alpine. Once up there, then there are trails leading in every direction to diff towns and valleys
.

 @mm732 I don't think this is an ad for Specialized considering he took a bike that would cost $9000+ in Canada and then upgraded the fork and shock, which added another $2700 to the cost, to make it a bike capable of doing what he wanted to do on the way down.

 @KnollyBro: he rides for Specialized and just so happens to run magura & ohlins on his off-day playbike. K

 I don't think having the choice to add or remove a battery that allows you to add 50% range to your adventure day negates the purpose of the SL. I for one have added a lot of weight to mine and it's still enough power. I don't actually have that extra battery but there's been days I wish I had it.

 Considering even the non-ebike masses are now storing snacks, tools and accessories on their bikes and prefer larger, heavier (and weaker) wheels and tires, it probably makes sense to the target demographic.

 I climb single track almost exclusively in my area. I’ve never really spun a tire on anything but wet roots. It isn’t really any different, no matter what the uninitiated say.

 @platnum: that’s good to hear. I don’t know how those bonus watts convert to torque or rear wheel spin outs on the trail so the more info the better

 @platnum: My local trails would disagree

 @johnny-rad: my local trails don’t allow e bikes, which is good by me. I just haven’t had the chance to see the impacts. I just picture a newb spinning the crap out of a steep tech climb with all those extra watts and doing damage.

 Because they put out very little power and in my experience, make it harder to spin the rear wheel. On steeper trails, I’ve found that ebikes allow me to keep momentum that I wouldn’t otherwise have, so I’m less likely to spin out. I usually spin out on my bike when I’m nearly stalled out.

Btw, I’m not an ebike owner but I’ve ridden several brands/models and I’m ok with the low power models like the Levo SL. This doesn’t account for the increased trail wear if people do more laps, more quickly on the high power ebikes though.

 Go ahead and downvote but I’d like to hear some evidence of why I’m wrong. That’s exactly what I’m asking for in fact, trying to stay open minded.

 "I'm not anti e-bike but I am so tired of proactively choosing to read an article about something that is so upsetting to me and just so happens to be about e-bikes"

 And then commenting on it @sci-biker:

 "huge margins" lol

 @pink505: So he can spend less time climbing and more time downhilling. And do more downhill runs. E bikes have been around for years now, and slow bikers still don't understand the basics.

 @DoubleCrownAddict: slow bikers don’t care to try and understand, they’re blindfolded by the boogie man.

 @DoubleCrownAddict: so it’s all the fast riders that appreciate ebikes? Interesting

 @emptybe-er: That was just a reference to climbing speed.

 @platnum: Got it, I am now officially an s-biker. But i choose to call it a "standard" bike and not a " slow" bike. I will start all my post from now on with " s-biker thinks...."

s-biker thinks that a 25yrs old should be pedalling up the hill for his downs
s-biker thinks that bike companies are asking their sponsored riders to pump the ebikes to help sales
s-biker knows he walked uphill to and from school each day, boomer out.

 @pink505: in the snow, right?

 @platnum: s-biker thinks you are correct, even in the summer!

 Comparatively it is still an SL because you’d need cushcore even more on a bigger ebike and the SL still has a lighter frame, lighter motor and lighter batteries than the Levo or Kenevo.