Specialized Dropped The New Turbo Levo E-mtb, And Boy Does It Look Rowdy

One of the most popular electric mountain bikes on the market just got an update. The new 2022 Specialized Turbo Levo boasts up to a 5 hour range, more suspension and — brace for it — up to a $15,000 price tag.

It’s also sporting a mullet.

Specialized is the latest company to mix wheel sizes on its eMTBs, spec’ing the 2022 Turbo Levo with a 29 inch wheel in the front and 27.5 inch in the rear — a setup affectionately called the mullet. The larger wheel in the front helps the bike plow through crud and bumps while the smaller wheel in the back makes it a little more lively in the turns. The bike comes with 160mm of travel in the front fork (10mm more than the fork fitted to the 2021 Turbo Levo) and 150mm in the rear shock, placing it squarely in the mid-range of suspension sizes for modern enduro bikes and on the high end of the all mountain category.

The Turbo Levo Is Packing A Lot Into Its Motor And Battery:

The bike is equipped with Specialized’s Turbo Full Power 2.2 motor that pumps out 90 Nm of torque and 565 watts of peak power. That power is managed by a carefully-tuned motor controller that Specialized says will keep the power delivery smooth and controlled, closely matching your own natural pedaling and keeping the rear tire under control. The rider can tune, control and monitor the bike’s performance from the toptube-mounted MasterMind Turbo Control Unit, which has a small indicator screen mounted just behind the headset.

The battery is a 700Wh unit that claims up to a 5 hour ride time. A rider can even input their expected duration or distance into the Smart Control app and the bike will automatically ration your support level so you don’t run out of battery part way through a ride. The bike comes stock with a 64.5 degree head angle that can be adjusted between 63 degrees and 65.5.

If none of those specs made your eyes water, the Turbo Levo’s price point probably will. You can snag the bike at two spec levels — the Pro or S-Works — for either $13,000 or $15,000, respectively. Let’s just say it’s not exactly going to be an everyperson’s e-bike.

Compared to the Trek Rail 9.9 and Santa Cruz Bullit, the 2022 Turbo Levo’s motor and battery on paper are the best of the bunch. The Levo’s motor claims 90 Nm of max torque over the 85 Nm produced by both the Rail and Bullit. The battery is also larger: The Trek is equipped with a 625Wh battery and the Santa Cruz comes with a 630Wh battery compared to the 700Wh on the Specialized.

Turbo Levo Price & Spec Summary:

The S-Works edition of the bike comes with SRAM’s electric XX1 Eagle AXS drivetrain paired with a Praxis carbon crankset. Your $15,000 will also buy Magura MT7 four-piston brakes, a RockShox Reverb AXS electric dropper post, carbon Roval wheels and Fox Factory suspension handled by the FLOAT 38 fork in the front and the FLOAT X2 shock in the rear.

For $2,000 less, the Pro edition comes with SRAM’s cable-operated X01 Eagle groupset with the same Praxis carbon cranks. The brakes are a SRAM Code RSC four-piston setup and the dropper is the Fox Transfer. The suspension is the same Fox setup found on the S-Works edition and the carbon Roval wheels also appear to be the same.

Electric Bike Report’s Take:

The Specialized Turbo Levo has long been heralded as the standard-bearer of what a solid trail and all mountain-oriented eMTB should ride like. This edition of it — with its mullet wheel sizing, slacker headtube and bigger fork — appears a little more geared towards riders looking for chunk and steeps. If the price is hard to reckon with it’s probably safe to assume Specialized will release more economical spec levels in the coming months, as previous years of the Turbo Levo had much more affordable options than the two 2022 models released this week.