What It's Like To Ride A $7,300 Ebike

Forbes

11-07-2025

The new Turbo Levo 4 Comp Alloy ebike
If you've shopped around for electric bikes recently, you probably noticed that there are two extremes – ultra pricey bikes and really low-end models. The high-end ones run $5,000 and up, and are collectively made with upscale parts that last long and work well in concert together. The cheap models sell for $1,000 or less, and often fail within two years, typically either because the parts are poorly made and break or the bike just wasn't manufactured well. Even knowing I was reviewing their bikes for my column, several manufacturers have sent me their low-end bikes that arrive with random loose parts just sitting around inside the box. No explanation, no instructions, and no apologies from the manufacturers. It's more common than you think. And definitely more than I would like to believe happens. Bottom line apparently is that you get what you pay for, in this market.So when popular bike company Specialized recently offered me the opportunity to review its new $7,300 Turbo Levo 4 Comp Alloy ebike, I had to see what it was all about. Mind you, my experience will be different than anyone else's. But I was able to pick one up at their local shop. The store manager texted me first and asked for my weight so that he could customize the suspension for me before I got there. Once I arrived, the bike was waiting for me to take for a few days. An associate ran me through the various bike operation menus and buttons, and I was off. The whole process took about 10 minutes.What really impressed me right away with the bike was not only the beautiful deep sea blue-green color of the frame, but also the way the bright color display is streamlined right into the neck. It's really cool looking and I wish more bikes would have it. Another super feature was that it comes with a hidden tool kit that can pop up out of the top of the neck on demand. Thankfully, I didn't need to use it, but it's great to know that it's there.Anyway, I rode the bike five miles back to my house, and then got to ride it around several times for a few days before returning it to the shop. My impressions were that it was a super smooth and ultra quiet ride. I really liked the slightly oversized tires with plenty of traction – they made every terrain nice and smooth. It probably had better suspension than any other bike I've tried to date. And that's saying something. While there's no pedal assist level, the bike instead offers several power modes. I pretty much kept this one in Turbo mode the entire time, which means that the bike effortlessly moves along at the maximum speed I can pedal it at. Speaking of, the associate showed me how to change the speed limiter to 28 mph, which is kind of buried in the menus. Not a big deal, except that you have to reset it every time you turn the bike back on – something I was not a fan of. On every other ebike I've ever tried where you can change the speed limit, it's a permanent change until you change it back manually. Maybe this is a safety feature for Specialized.But in my hilly area that also gets extremely windy, this bike performed like a champ. It was able to tackle every hill with ease. If I felt too much resistance at any point, all I did was change the manual gear shifter to accommodate the incline. I traversed all around my usual bike paths and found it to be refreshingly fun to ride.One facet I did not care for was the seat post. You press a lever underneath the left handlebar and it becomes a floating seat height adjuster until you let go of the lever. So once you start riding, you can raise the seat to accommodate your behind height. I set mine a little high because I felt it provided me better pedal leverage. But once I got to a red light or a stop sign and needed to stand still for a minute or two, it became a confusing pain to lower and raise back the seat. That's not intuitive to me. And because I don't need to do that while I'm riding my own ebike, I resented having to do it on this model. I also wish there was a throttle on the Specialized. If I was spending this much money on an e-bike, I think it should be equipped with a throttle for when I need to accelerate up to the speed of traffic without having to pedal.Overall, you can easily tell why this model costs what it does: It's a premium riding experience, thanks to the quality parts, excellent engineering, and thoughtful build.