Rumors, from the inside

That may be true, but an ebike operating system is a very complicated thing, and I'm not sure they could work their Turbo OS magic with just any old mid-drive motor — like the HPR40 for example.
The point is, the architecture of the e-bike system must be such Specialized could include the e-bike into the Specialized app, and the motor manufacturer would accept the dominating role of Specialized per agreement. So Specialized could build its own infrastructure around the motor. TQ provide their own complete solution like Bosch.
 
The point is, the architecture of the e-bike system must be such Specialized could include the e-bike into the Specialized app, and the motor manufacturer would accept the dominating role of Specialized per agreement. So Specialized could build its own infrastructure around the motor. TQ provide their own complete solution like Bosch.

So then the question becomes, are there lightweight motors out there that Specialized could put in a lightweight e-road bike without drastic modifications to either the motor or its Turbo OS? Or would they have to collaborate to develop their own motor, as they did with Brose and Mahle?

If the latter, that would be an impediment to entering such a niche market.
 
So then the question becomes, are there lightweight motors out there that Specialized could put in a lightweight e-road bike without drastic modifications to either the motor or its Turbo OS? Or would they have to collaborate to develop their own motor, as they did with Brose and Mahle?

If the latter, that would be an impediment to entering such a niche market.
Are you familiar with the Creo? Specialized had the corner on lighweight ebikes until Bosch came out with the SX motor, then Avinox, etc.

Regarding what OP said, I hardly think what's happening in NJ is representative of the entire US market...
 
Are you familiar with the Creo? Specialized had the corner on lighweight ebikes until Bosch came out with the SX motor, then Avinox, etc.

Regarding what OP said, I hardly think what's happening in NJ is representative of the entire US market...

Yes, I'd probably be riding a Creo 2 now if it had flat bars. But I'm talking much lighter, less gravelly e-road bikes like Scott and others make now. I'd love to see a Specialized offering in that category.
 
True, the Creo and Vado SL are overdue for an update, I'd expect something to happen sooner rather than later.

Creo with flat bars is the Vado SL
 
Creo with flat bars is the Vado SL

Kinda, but not exactly. An SL 1 is my main ride now, and I'm very, very happy with it.

The Creo 2 Carbon Comp I also considered was significantly lighter and had the 1.2SL motor with ~50% more power and torque from the same battery. The Creo also had a dropper seat post and a more advanced Future Shock stem.

In late 2024, that Creo 2 was at the very top of my budget at ~20% more than the SL 1. Problem was, the necessary flat-bar conversion would have put it out of my price range.
 
Specialized could easily build a lightweight road e-bike using the HPR40. The question is, would they go as far as Trek, with custom firmware and app? Maybe, maybe not. I think the TQ restriction of no OTA updates has been a hindrance to adoption, but that is going away soon. I also wonder what the market futures look like for these kinds of bikes. I suspect more manufacturers will drop them as time goes on.
 
This motor is not best for a lightweight road bike but I think it is interesting nonetheless. It is 350W, 48V, 90Nm, 140 rpm, bilateral TS, up to18A (864W), 38 to 54-t ring, IP65. It has individual mfg. adaptable configurations, software tuning and integration options. It is only sold to manufacturers. It is 3.5Kg. It is called a DM03. Because it it white label I cannot find what bikes on the market have it. I would like to know more. It is also available in a 36V version that is 250W for the European market.


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Specialized is not TREK. TREK has tried most the systems available. The last failure was the Fazua. Specialized tries to own the system after the bad lesson they learned from that Chinese start-up (fortunately, I've forgotten the name*) who tried to make the electronics for early Vados and Comos but failed. It was an expensive mistake, resulting in the free replacement of electronics for all Vado or Como owners who asked for that, on or post warranty.

TREK started with Bosch and became a Bosch slave. Then they tried around 6 other systems, always leaving the owners of the failed experiments with nothing. While I still ride my Vado bought 7 years ago and built 9 years ago.
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*) The infamous BLOKS. Yes, my 2017 Vado came with the dreaded BLOKS.
 
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Specialized is not TREK. TREK has tried most the systems available. The last failure was the Fazua. Specialized tries to own the system after the bad lesson they learned from that Chinese start-up (fortunately, I've forgotten the name*) who tried to make the electronics for early Vados and Comos but failed. It was an expensive mistake, resulting in the free replacement of electronics for all Vado or Como owners who asked for that, on or post warranty.

TREK started with Bosch and became a Bosch slave. Then they tried around 6 other systems, always leaving the owners of the failed experiments with nothing. While I still ride my Vado bought 7 years ago and built 9 years ago.
-----------
*) The infamous BLOKS. Yes, my 2017 Vado came with the dreaded BLOKS.
Everyone hated that system and could not get into it properly.
 
Specialized is not TREK. TREK has tried most the systems available. The last failure was the Fazua. Specialized tries to own the system after the bad lesson they learned from that Chinese start-up (fortunately, I've forgotten the name*) who tried to make the electronics for early Vados and Comos but failed. It was an expensive mistake, resulting in the free replacement of electronics for all Vado or Como owners who asked for that, on or post warranty.

TREK started with Bosch and became a Bosch slave. Then they tried around 6 other systems, always leaving the owners of the failed experiments with nothing. While I still ride my Vado bought 7 years ago and built 9 years ago.
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*) The infamous BLOKS. Yes, my 2017 Vado came with the dreaded BLOKS.

Bosch slave?

y'all create some really interesting scenarios in your head. Slave to Bosch...huh.
 
From my small family retailer group perspective, the entry to mid range road e-bike sales are going well, but almost all of the sales are by the "new names" in the industry. Velotric. Urtopia. Troxus. Aventon. Sales are down from last year. but the voucher program is over, so that was expected. Still steady. The high end road e-bike sales, i.e. Nytro, are almost gone. On the e-MTB side, sales are up over last year, mainly because of the emergence of the AMFLOW dealer model. We still sell plenty of Orbea, Mondraker, and a few Cannondales like before, so adding AMFLOW has been a net positive. The price points across these lines are effective. On the analog side, all price points have exploded. From kid's bikes to commuter bikes to used bikes to MTB's to mid and high end road bikes, it's looking like another record year. The high end road bikes have hit it out of the park. At one point we had a dozen Pinarello Dogma's on the floor. These are $15K-$17K bikes. More than half are gone. Adding X-Lab, and enabling Cannondale's buy online, ship to shop channel have also increased sales.

It's hard to draw meaningful conclusions from spotty empirical data. I'll wait to hear from NBDA, Bicycle Retailer, etc. as the year starts to end. From my extremely narrow view, e-bikes have become accepted in our area, but there is impending legislation that is going to dampen the market. There's no doubt that it's coming. On the flip side, Class 1 and maybe Class 2 bikes should continue to sell well. Most of these bikes are ridden primarily for transportation, so that's a good thing. Class 3 bikes, though, if licensing, registration, and insurance are required, will slowly die. As for the analog bikes, I think there may be a resurgence of bike riding for pleasure and exercise that is growing. The Cape continues to invest heavily in the bike path/rail trail system. Another $1M bridge is going up next month to extend the CCRT westward into Hyannis. I may be able to ride to work soon. It seems like every day I work, someone comes in with a bike that they pulled out of the basement and they want it tuned up. Every one of those customers is a future new bike customer, and that could be analog or electric.

My two cents.
Interesting, what I see is that there's still a huge market to approach, I think that as GuruUno said, there will be a decline and a period of instability and uncertainty due to the coming regulations, but in the long term, I believe the ebikes market will recover strength and grow even faster
 
Bosch slave?

y'all create some really interesting scenarios in your head. Slave to Bosch...huh.
Whenever a TREK customer needs assistance of Bosch E-Bike, it is TREK that has to ask Bosch E-Bike for a favour.
Whenever Bosch invents a new model of the motor or a battery, TREK has to design a new e-bike model and send it to the production.

With Specialized, it is the motor manufacturer to whom Specialized does a favour, and the Specialized customer has the right contact point, a Specialized dealer. Plus, a single app for all Specialized e-bikes. Any brand's motor is Specialized, not the manufacturer's name, or "branded".
 
Interesting point of view.

Counter point: Bosch is a world leading engineering company with some of the best quality control that makes the cycling industry look like a joke. Bicycle brands have been used to lower quality control because "it's just a bike" and when a big boy company like Bosch says "that's incorrect and we're not going to supply you drive units because your "_" design is poor and will result in failure (or whatever)" that's the line in the sand. Bosch has the largest dealer network so anyone with a Bosch system can go into a Bosch dealer to deal with their Bosch problems, regardless of what brand. Trek is a great example of making completely unnecessary specific Trek parts that have to be used in conjunction with Bosch stuff to make everything work together, thus making it much harder for the end client/customer.

Specialized tried to skip that step when they partnered with Brose because both Brose and Shimano aren't as strict as Bosch when it comes to frame design and other areas. It kinda works in that they get more control of the product but that also can produce some not so great side effects like the huge Vado/Como frame cracking issue. Or motors that have drive belts that fail. Or making complete ebike drive units and battery systems that are completely no longer supported thus turning the bike into a disposable paper weight.

Bosch doesn't do that, and like most long standing German manufactures, supports their product for years to come. Personally I like knowing I'm selling a product that will provide the customer years of service and the brand will support that product well beyond the warranty period.
 
Specialized tried to skip that step when they partnered with Brose because both Brose and Shimano aren't as strict as Bosch when it comes to frame design and other areas.
You have probably forgotten Specialized also owns SL mid-drive motors exclusively made for Specialized.

Bosch is a caricature of a German bureaucratic company, where all the documentation is made on paper, and every smallest decision requires a hundred of business meeting and five hundred stamps. Specialized had their new motors before Bosch even defined the Flow System and then it took OEMs two years more to design and build new Flow System Bosch e-bikes.

Personally I like knowing I'm selling a product that will provide the customer years of service and the brand will support that product well beyond the warranty period.

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Specialized, November 1st, 2019 (manufactured December 31st, 2017)

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Specialized, lifetime warranty service, January 17th, 2023.

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Same Specialized, October 24th, 2026.

All thanks to Specialized warranty and "lifetime warranty".
 
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I didn't forget about the SL motors, those were great, now they're behind the rest of the field.

Specialized has been first to market with lots of things, they're design forward for sure which is great but does come with shortcomings.

Bosch usually isn't first to anything, but when they bring something to market it's air tight and supported.

Specialized has a lifetime warranty on the frame not the entire bicycle. They no longer make batteries for the bike nor any drive unit parts since all of those bits are well beyond any warranty period.
 
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