Post your mountain biking pics here

slater

New member
Yes- I have used my 2000 watt? inverter and stock aux battery to charge my 2019 Turbo Levo- with the supplied 120VAC Specialized charger. No issues.
I left it plugged in overnight- and it was charged fully when I got up- and I didn't try to quantify anything- so- no idea how long it took, etc.
My usual 15 miles/2 hours in New England riding would leave the state of charge on the Levo @ 70%?
Lots of variables but it sounds like you won't have issues.
Specialized does sell a 12V charger with cigarette plug-may be more efficient, but likely slower? but might be adapted for full time van duty easily.
I only had the opportunity to try it 2 X- as I crashed the bike October 1 and seriously damaged my shoulder...
No more riding for me for a while- ortho doc says maybe next June after surgery in December...
So maybe you can let me know anything else there is to know...

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How is the Van charging going with your Levo? Any issues?

What size batteries do you have? Thanks
 

ECU

2006 T1n 118 Sprinter
Back in 1978 I had a cheap bike that kept getting damaged hopping curbs around Seattle and Tacoma. The replacement front fork and rims were the cheap stuff I could find, steel. It was a heavy bike. Toe straps made it easier to hop.
On weekends a friend and I would go to Point Defiance and ride on the trails around. Hopping logs and taking on the trails.
Then one day my friend showed me a bike mag and said, "that stuff we've been doing has a name. Mountain biking."
 

calbiker

Well-known member
Here I though I was going to take my 2003 Santa Cruz Blur bike to the grave with me. It has something like 30 k miles on it. Some on the road, but a lot on singletrack. It turns out I'm having problems finding new 26" wheels. To compound the problem I'm still using V-brakes (rim brakes). So now I'm pretty much up to date in bike technology. Love the dropper seat, the 27.5" wheels, single front chainring and the 12 gears. I'm now going down rocky technical sections without trying to dodge the bigger rocks. Just drop the seat some and hang on. I find it crazy though that the handlebars are 32" wide. The old bars are 26". I've already had enough hairy situations squeezing between two trees with those bars. The new bars already got shortened to 29.5". Probably more cutting to come. Still need to get used to tubeless tires.

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Glenn233

Member
Here I though I was going to take my 2003 Santa Cruz Blur bike to the grave with me. It has something like 30 k miles on it. Some on the road, but a lot on singletrack. It turns out I'm having problems finding new 26" wheels. To compound the problem I'm still using V-brakes (rim brakes). So now I'm pretty much up to date in bike technology. Love the dropper seat, the 27.5" wheels, single front chainring and the 12 gears. I'm now going down rocky technical sections without trying to dodge the bigger rocks. Just drop the seat some and hang on. I find it crazy though that the handlebars are 32" wide. The old bars are 26". I've already had enough hairy situations squeezing between two trees with those bars. The new bars already got shortened to 29.5". Probably more cutting to come. Still need to get used to tubeless tires.

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Now you have brakes that will stop you! big diffence in bikes these days!
 

calbiker

Well-known member
Now you have brakes that will stop you! big diffence in bikes these days!
Never had any problems stopping with V-brakes. Only difference is the need for more hand/finger pressure on the brake lever. I can see disk brakes being a requirement in wet conditions. Rims and pads quickly wear out when constantly biking in wet conditions where dirt and grime sticks on the rims. Rims can get extremely hot when constantly braking. Some 30 years ago I was going down a steep switchback trail in the vicinity of Mt Hood. The rim got so hot that the schrader valve soften up and let all the air out of the back tire.
 

Massabusa

Sprinter Enthusiast!
How is the Van charging going with your Levo? Any issues?

What size batteries do you have? Thanks
So- update- and a battery basics - terminology- math question...
I have just started riding my Levo again, albeit carefully as my shoulder is still healing from surgery, and I'm still going to PT 2X a week...
But- I've had a few opportunities to test the charging again from the stock Sprinter AUX battery which is a 92 Ah AGM, and 2000 watt inverter.
My Levo has a 19 Ah battery- the larger Comp version in 2020 rated at 700 Wh.
My usual rides around here in New England are 10-15 miles and bring the Levo battery to just below 80% most rides.
When I charge from the Sprinter, it takes about 2 hours to get to 100%- the same amount of time as it does while plugged in to the shop outlet.

Here is my probably flawed and overly simplistic math with the figures rounded a bit:
Levo battery full is 19 Ah
Levo Battery capacity at 75% is 25% of 100%
So 25% of 19 Ah is 4.75 Ah deficit
I know there are losses between the 92Ah AGM and the inverter - converting 12VDC to 120VAC- Don't know how to compute.
And there are additional losses with the charger converting 120VAC to 42V 4A DC - also don't know how to factor this in.
Ideally I'd like to figure out how many times I can charge the Levo battery before needing to charge the Sprinter AUX battery.
If I figure the losses at 4.75 Ah ending up needing 10 Ah from the AUX battery- that would safely get me 4 charges in my perfect world of flawed math and incompetent battery/electrical knowledge= which could work for me.
I may cross post this with it's own title to garner more attention if the mods are OK with that...

Anyone with actual knowledge please feel free to school me here...

Pictures of current conditions- IMG-4900.jpgLevo1.jpg
 

Massabusa

Sprinter Enthusiast!
So- update- and a battery basics - terminology- math question...
I have just started riding my Levo again, albeit carefully as my shoulder is still healing from surgery, and I'm still going to PT 2X a week...
But- I've had a few opportunities to test the charging again from the stock Sprinter AUX battery which is a 92 Ah AGM, and 2000 watt inverter.
My Levo has a 19 Ah battery- the larger Comp version in 2020 rated at 700 Wh.
My usual rides around here in New England are 10-15 miles and bring the Levo battery to just below 80% most rides.
When I charge from the Sprinter, it takes about 2 hours to get to 100%- the same amount of time as it does while plugged in to the shop outlet.

Here is my probably flawed and overly simplistic math with the figures rounded a bit:
Levo battery full is 19 Ah
Levo Battery capacity at 75% is 25% of 100%
So 25% of 19 Ah is 4.75 Ah deficit
I know there are losses between the 92Ah AGM and the inverter - converting 12VDC to 120VAC- Don't know how to compute.
And there are additional losses with the charger converting 120VAC to 42V 4A DC - also don't know how to factor this in.
Ideally I'd like to figure out how many times I can charge the Levo battery before needing to charge the Sprinter AUX battery.
....
I installed a Renogy battery monitor for my AUX battery last weekend, so I can now monitor much more exactly the amount of Ah needed for the average Levo recharge. I will update after a few charge cycles.

Current mountain bike conditions include more leaves, lots of pollen, and black flies.

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derekhski

Member
Spent a Great, Great week in Bend Oregon which closed with the a successful ride / race of the High Cascades 100
98.6 miles, 9279 feet of climbing, 10 hours 45 mins.... I was a grueling day, but great at the same time.
Love these little signs all over the Bend trails system.
 

Attachments

calbiker

Well-known member
Started riding Surveyor's Ridge trail over 30 years ago. Thumbs up to the 44 Trail Association for changing the double track to single track. An awesome trail. Camped 4 days just off the trail.

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Lojack72

'02 DIY adventure van, 300K miles (210K by me)
2 days riding DuPont State Forest outside of Ashville NC. Front side and multiple trips down Ridgeline the first day, backside and Big Rock the second. My buddy left his Ford Transit van at home due to the sketchy road up to our HipCamp just outside DuPont, my '02 T1N with all terrains did just fine.
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