Ebikelife72
Active Member
- Region
- USA
Last week I picked up a 2025 Creo 2 in the pistachio color. I've ridden a few hundred miles so far and am very impressed. Over the last year I've gotten into drop bar bikes after not having ridden one in many years. When I would test ride a drop bar they always felt too weird and stretched out. I've wanted a drop bar because I believe in the benefits as it relates to speed and hand placement options.
I bought a used Sport Carbon Diverge at a very good deal to get used to the drops. It took all of two rides before I was hooked. Drops are the most comfortable I've ever been on a bike once it's fit to my preference. I know some believe that drops are hard on your back and neck but I've found this not to be the case. I'm 52 with a bad back but can ride much farther and longer on drops than a flat bar because my weight is evenly distributed between the saddle and bars. On a flat bar back I usually get butt and lower back pains after 20 miles or so.
After having such success on the used Diverge I sold it for a nice new Comp Carbon Diverge with Sram AXS shifting. It has been my favorite bike I've owned. But, I do really like ebikes. Some may recall that I also have a Sirrus X 5 that I love and ended up buying a Vado SL 5 to get an ebike version. That didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. There could've been an issue with the motor, not sure, but that bike felt like I was riding a heavier version of the Sirrus and the motor didn't really counter the weight. I sent that bike back and moved on.
Since my Diverge has pretty much become the only bike I ride I started looking at other e-gravel/road bikes. The Creo 2 was the obvious choice but I considered the Canyon Grizl ON CF7 and the new aluminum Trek Domane Plus with the TQ 60nm motor. I was mostly interested in the Canyon because of the Bosch motor. However, after reading many less than good customer service stories and not really being interested in the suspension fork, I eliminated it. The Trek would've probably been very cool as the TQ seems like a great system. It was more expensive than the Creo 2 but included AXS XPLR groupset. I really like electronic shifting but I wasn't keen on the XPLR gear range. I prefer mountain bike range on my gravel bikes with 11-50 at a minimum. If I got the Trek I would've had to buy a new derailleur and cassette which would then put it at the price of the Creo 2 Comp Carbon. Plus with the widest tire being a 40 on the Domane as it's more of an endurance bike, I decided to go with the Creo 2.
The Creo is absolutely the most perfect all around bike I've ever ridden. It's so versatile in that I can do fast group road rides and then jump on a trail if I choose without any issues. The bike rides nearly identical to my carbon Diverge even though it's 13lbs heavier. With the 44t chainring, the Diverge has a 40t, with the motor off I think the Creo rides as fast or maybe faster. Range is fantastic. I rode 45 miles in the stock ECO setting and used only 43% of the battery. Today I rode 42 miles in ECO in the battery saver settings and only used 20% of the battery. I couldn't even tell a difference between the assistance provided between the two ECO settings. This is very impressive. I plan to get the range extender but don't really need it. I initially wanted the comp carbon as I believe it would be the most like my comp carbon Diverge. My initial thoughts on the alloy framed Creo vs the carbon frame of the Diverge is that the alloy is a bit more harsh on bumpy roads. This is probably true but not solely due to the difference between alloy and carbon. The nature of these frames on an ebike are stiffer than non ebikes. I think the biggest difference between my Diverge and the alloy Creo is that my Diverge has carbon wheels and tubeless 42c tires on lower pressure. The Creo has alloy wheels and tubes 40c tires. I have a feeling the Comp Carbon Creo will not be as plush feeling as my Diverge due to the stiffer frame and the dropper seat post compared to the carbon post on the Diverge. I like droppers on my MTB's but don't really like the one on the comp carbon as it has very limited range and would certainly contribute to a stiffer ride. There is a chance I may return the alloy for a comp carbon but I don't believe it's really worth the price difference. What I like about the carbon model is the deep lake metallic color, though the pistachio color of the alloy looks fantastic in person, and the AXS shifting. Though the Apex mechanical is Sram's lowest offering it shifts very smooth on the Creo and nearly as good as the AXS on my Diverge. However, it didn't come with smooth shifting despite being assembled by a pretty good tech. The derailleur wasn't set correctly and I've found this to be pretty common on Apex groupsets that have the MTB cassette. If you have the 11-50 or the 10-52 cassette with the Apex derailleur, buy the Sram 12 speed chain gap tool. The B screw on my derailleur was way off but was an easy fix with the chain gap tool. After the fix and degreasing and waxing my chain, the drive train is extremely quiet and smooth.
I guess I should also mention how quiet the SL1.2 motor is. I've had limited experience with the 1.1 version but the new model is much quieter, more powerful, and overall more responsive. Specialized missed the mark on the Vado SL2. It's a nice bike but is much too similar to the full fat Vado, of which I'm a big fan. There's not that much of a weight difference and it doesn't have the svelte lines of the SL1. They should've just added the 1.2 motor to the original SL frame. They could've still introduced a higher end carbon model with AXS and it would've been a killer bike, a flat bar Creo 2. For those that wanted a lighter Vado SL 2 but didn't want a Creo because of the drop bar, don't be afraid of the drops. You will likely get used to them very quickly and may find like I did that they are extremely comfortable.
I bought a used Sport Carbon Diverge at a very good deal to get used to the drops. It took all of two rides before I was hooked. Drops are the most comfortable I've ever been on a bike once it's fit to my preference. I know some believe that drops are hard on your back and neck but I've found this not to be the case. I'm 52 with a bad back but can ride much farther and longer on drops than a flat bar because my weight is evenly distributed between the saddle and bars. On a flat bar back I usually get butt and lower back pains after 20 miles or so.
After having such success on the used Diverge I sold it for a nice new Comp Carbon Diverge with Sram AXS shifting. It has been my favorite bike I've owned. But, I do really like ebikes. Some may recall that I also have a Sirrus X 5 that I love and ended up buying a Vado SL 5 to get an ebike version. That didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. There could've been an issue with the motor, not sure, but that bike felt like I was riding a heavier version of the Sirrus and the motor didn't really counter the weight. I sent that bike back and moved on.
Since my Diverge has pretty much become the only bike I ride I started looking at other e-gravel/road bikes. The Creo 2 was the obvious choice but I considered the Canyon Grizl ON CF7 and the new aluminum Trek Domane Plus with the TQ 60nm motor. I was mostly interested in the Canyon because of the Bosch motor. However, after reading many less than good customer service stories and not really being interested in the suspension fork, I eliminated it. The Trek would've probably been very cool as the TQ seems like a great system. It was more expensive than the Creo 2 but included AXS XPLR groupset. I really like electronic shifting but I wasn't keen on the XPLR gear range. I prefer mountain bike range on my gravel bikes with 11-50 at a minimum. If I got the Trek I would've had to buy a new derailleur and cassette which would then put it at the price of the Creo 2 Comp Carbon. Plus with the widest tire being a 40 on the Domane as it's more of an endurance bike, I decided to go with the Creo 2.
The Creo is absolutely the most perfect all around bike I've ever ridden. It's so versatile in that I can do fast group road rides and then jump on a trail if I choose without any issues. The bike rides nearly identical to my carbon Diverge even though it's 13lbs heavier. With the 44t chainring, the Diverge has a 40t, with the motor off I think the Creo rides as fast or maybe faster. Range is fantastic. I rode 45 miles in the stock ECO setting and used only 43% of the battery. Today I rode 42 miles in ECO in the battery saver settings and only used 20% of the battery. I couldn't even tell a difference between the assistance provided between the two ECO settings. This is very impressive. I plan to get the range extender but don't really need it. I initially wanted the comp carbon as I believe it would be the most like my comp carbon Diverge. My initial thoughts on the alloy framed Creo vs the carbon frame of the Diverge is that the alloy is a bit more harsh on bumpy roads. This is probably true but not solely due to the difference between alloy and carbon. The nature of these frames on an ebike are stiffer than non ebikes. I think the biggest difference between my Diverge and the alloy Creo is that my Diverge has carbon wheels and tubeless 42c tires on lower pressure. The Creo has alloy wheels and tubes 40c tires. I have a feeling the Comp Carbon Creo will not be as plush feeling as my Diverge due to the stiffer frame and the dropper seat post compared to the carbon post on the Diverge. I like droppers on my MTB's but don't really like the one on the comp carbon as it has very limited range and would certainly contribute to a stiffer ride. There is a chance I may return the alloy for a comp carbon but I don't believe it's really worth the price difference. What I like about the carbon model is the deep lake metallic color, though the pistachio color of the alloy looks fantastic in person, and the AXS shifting. Though the Apex mechanical is Sram's lowest offering it shifts very smooth on the Creo and nearly as good as the AXS on my Diverge. However, it didn't come with smooth shifting despite being assembled by a pretty good tech. The derailleur wasn't set correctly and I've found this to be pretty common on Apex groupsets that have the MTB cassette. If you have the 11-50 or the 10-52 cassette with the Apex derailleur, buy the Sram 12 speed chain gap tool. The B screw on my derailleur was way off but was an easy fix with the chain gap tool. After the fix and degreasing and waxing my chain, the drive train is extremely quiet and smooth.
I guess I should also mention how quiet the SL1.2 motor is. I've had limited experience with the 1.1 version but the new model is much quieter, more powerful, and overall more responsive. Specialized missed the mark on the Vado SL2. It's a nice bike but is much too similar to the full fat Vado, of which I'm a big fan. There's not that much of a weight difference and it doesn't have the svelte lines of the SL1. They should've just added the 1.2 motor to the original SL frame. They could've still introduced a higher end carbon model with AXS and it would've been a killer bike, a flat bar Creo 2. For those that wanted a lighter Vado SL 2 but didn't want a Creo because of the drop bar, don't be afraid of the drops. You will likely get used to them very quickly and may find like I did that they are extremely comfortable.
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