‘Knowledge is power’ is never truer than when you’re talking about electronic parts for your bike! Specialized have spent an aeon collecting data from around 3 million kilometres of trail riding as clocked by their Mission Control app in order to continually improve the performance of their motor. The result is the newest Turbo 1.3 motor, whose significant hardware and software updates won’t just benefit future purchasers – Levo owners rejoice as some update can be carried out to current models too!

Our most recent group test of motors threw up a handful of criticisms that we leveraged at the Brose motor. Fortunately, the new Brose S motor on the new Levo has eliminated many of these by adopting a host of new features and improvements. However, sweeping statements about Brose motors tend to be hard to make–in this case, Specialized are actually talking about their own motor that relies on Brose hardware but uses software that the brand have developed themselves to have a much more significant impact on the motor’s performance. They’ve highlighted four elements that have been majorly improved: power delivery, range, ride sensation and adjustability.

1. Power delivery

The new motor is reputed to deliver 15% more power, which is definitely noticeable once you start riding. We haven’t yet had opportunity to directly test the Brose S against a Bosch CX or a Shimano STEPS, but we are confident that it’ll hold its own against them on the climbs now. Specialized recommend 75–90 rpm for the optimal cadence, but even with a knee-breakingly slow cadence the motor now reacts more sensitively and gets you up the climbs with power. Nice!

2. Range

Battery capacity isn’t the only factor to impact on the range (if you’re dubious, we’d suggest reading our article ‘11 tips to increase your range’). The new motor promises to increase the range and be capable of offering maximum pedal-assist for a longer period. This is a result of its revised approach to heat management, as the battery’s energy is transferred into motion as well as heat.

This white thermopad should divert warmth generated by the motor more efficiently into the frame.

Part of the development saw the addition of new magnets and thermopads inside the motor that are able to dissipate the generated warmth more evenly throughout the frame and divert it away from the actual motor. Right now, Specialized claim that they’ve brought both the aluminium frame and carbon frame to the same standard of heat management – although they admit that the carbon frame was more complex to develop, which stems back to the fact that aluminium is simply more efficient than the carbon in these manners, particularly regarding the motor mount and heat dissipation. This sort of approach confirms just how crucial the topic of motor integration is: namely, how heat is dissipated and how it can affect your range. We recently waxed lyrical on this topic in our article entitled „How far can I ride with a fully charged battery?“.

Thanks to these efforts to improve the motor’s heat management, the once fairly frequent issues of overheating that led to irregularities or even impromptu switching off on long, steep climbs, the Turbo 1.3 is now in a position to deliver full support for a much longer period of time.
On the local test loop by the Specialized HQ in the Swiss Alps, the developers have been able to fine-tune, test and assert that the new Levo can climb 1,000 metres of altitude a full 12 minutes quicker, which equates to a 27% improvement.

3. The ride

Depending on how you ride, certain Levo owners might have noticed a sort of yo-yo effect, whereby the motor responds with way too much sensitivity to an uneven pedal stroke. The new Turbo 1.3 is substantially more masterful at dealing with a lack of smoothness, which makes for a calmer ride. The increased power output is definitely noticeable, and it is still much more natural feeling than the Bosch CX motor. The Specialized Turbo 1.3 plastered a grin on our face while testing that we don’t reckon has ever been so present while riding a Levo!

4. Adjustability

The updates to the motor have arrived at the same time as the Mission Control app gets updated too. According to Specialized, both the app and the motor adjustments are proving mega popular, and there’s even chat in forums about people’s new preferred settings. It’s all enabled by their approach that’s been dubbed Infinite Tune, which gives riders even more freedom to individualise the power output of their motor. For each pedal-assist mode there’s the option to tune the maximum motor current and play around with other parametres until one finds exactly the sort of pedal-assist that suits his or her riding style. But why fix what isn’t broken: Specialized have wisely chosen to retain current features like the Smart Control function on the app, as well as the motor’s low acoustics while riding and its ability to decouple above 25 km/h.

Can Specialized Levo riders get the update too?

Most of the revisions to the Specialized Turbo 1.3 are going to be interesting for current Levo owners too, as the software updates can be carried out upon request by your local dealer. There are definite benefits to be gleaned from the software updates, including the improved energy supply (and therefore efficiency), as well as the increased ability to smoothen out an uneven pedal stroke.

All Specialized updates can be found here: FIRST RIDE REVIEW: SPECIALIZED TURBO LEVO FSR CARBON 2018


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Words & Photos: Robin Schmitt

About the author

Robin Schmitt

Robin is one of the two founders of 41 Publishing, a visionary and go-getter. While he now enjoys every second on the bike – whenever his busy schedule allows – he used to race against the clock at enduro events and a few Downhill World Cups. Besides that, Robin practises kung fu and Zen meditation, plays the cello or with his dog (which actually belongs to his girlfriend), travels abroad and still reviews numerous bikes himself. Progressive ideas, new projects and major challenges – Robin loves exploring undiscovered potential and getting to the bottom of new trends.