Marko
Active Member
Hello,
New here. I bought mine March this year and here are some observations. I bought the bike to better cope in tough commuting conditions. I ride through the winter and sometimes the roads are not plowed (for example, 20 cm wet snow, ice, etc.) or there is heavy headwind, which is very common in winter. I am planning to change the tyres for the winter period (Nov-March) to Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded ones.
Pros
+ Beautiful design, I especially like the red colour. The add on rack and mudguards look good too.
+ Good brakes
+ Good gear ratio (sufficient at least for my purposes)
+ Lightweight (in ebike scale compare e.g., ST2)
+ Rides quite easily even without assist
+ Good (looking) lights (Supernova E3), nicely integrated rear light in the rack
+ Relatively easy to maintain topspeed (45 km/h) even in Eco30 (if no head wind or snow)
+ Regen (Nice idea, although not that useful except when braking). I have actually managed to pedal about 4% battery in about 2 km. But it's hard without downhills.
+ I like the computer and how it is setup in the middle. Also the mode control is very nicely located just by the right handlebar. This is important because I keep constantly changing the mode (back and forth from Eco30 to regen, in downhills mostly). I actually prefer the 2013 look to the new joystick version.
+ Fast recharge
+ Good kickstand (although the fastening bolt needed tightening and some locktite quite soon. Also, the bolt's placement is quite difficult)
Cons
- Front mudguard is too short for commuting purposes; feet get wet/muddy every time. Added an extension folded of a beer can aluminium. Needs further work still.
- Chain is constantly dropping off the chainring when going over bumps and pedaling hard. Possible solutions: upgrade to Type 2 XO derailleur (SRAM), change chainring to narrow wide type (such as Wolftooth 110 BCD) or add Rohloff chainguide (needs modding). Specialized has acknowledged this problem.
- 19 March 2015: I am adding as an update that after about thousand miles the chain drop remains to be a problem. Still looking for a solution. Specialized forbids drilling holes to the frame to attach a chain guide.
- Slight drag in backwheel when off (DD feature)
- After a hubgear derailleur is a real downgrade in usability especially when commuting in city traffic
- I have a strange clicking sound coming from the pedal area especially when under high torque. This is probably related to the chainring attachment but could also have to do with the FSA MegaEvo crankset. The latter was tightened with locktite but did not solve it. Tightening the chainring bolts helped some.
- I had to update the battery software because it kept resetting the odometer reading. Now that is solved with sw ver 1.8 but it still resets on its own the trip and max speed. This is only in the 2013 models, though. UPDATE 19.3.15: Not an issue anymore.
New here. I bought mine March this year and here are some observations. I bought the bike to better cope in tough commuting conditions. I ride through the winter and sometimes the roads are not plowed (for example, 20 cm wet snow, ice, etc.) or there is heavy headwind, which is very common in winter. I am planning to change the tyres for the winter period (Nov-March) to Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded ones.
Pros
+ Beautiful design, I especially like the red colour. The add on rack and mudguards look good too.
+ Good brakes
+ Good gear ratio (sufficient at least for my purposes)
+ Lightweight (in ebike scale compare e.g., ST2)
+ Rides quite easily even without assist
+ Good (looking) lights (Supernova E3), nicely integrated rear light in the rack
+ Relatively easy to maintain topspeed (45 km/h) even in Eco30 (if no head wind or snow)
+ Regen (Nice idea, although not that useful except when braking). I have actually managed to pedal about 4% battery in about 2 km. But it's hard without downhills.
+ I like the computer and how it is setup in the middle. Also the mode control is very nicely located just by the right handlebar. This is important because I keep constantly changing the mode (back and forth from Eco30 to regen, in downhills mostly). I actually prefer the 2013 look to the new joystick version.
+ Fast recharge
+ Good kickstand (although the fastening bolt needed tightening and some locktite quite soon. Also, the bolt's placement is quite difficult)
Cons
- Front mudguard is too short for commuting purposes; feet get wet/muddy every time. Added an extension folded of a beer can aluminium. Needs further work still.
- Chain is constantly dropping off the chainring when going over bumps and pedaling hard. Possible solutions: upgrade to Type 2 XO derailleur (SRAM), change chainring to narrow wide type (such as Wolftooth 110 BCD) or add Rohloff chainguide (needs modding). Specialized has acknowledged this problem.
- 19 March 2015: I am adding as an update that after about thousand miles the chain drop remains to be a problem. Still looking for a solution. Specialized forbids drilling holes to the frame to attach a chain guide.
- Slight drag in backwheel when off (DD feature)
- After a hubgear derailleur is a real downgrade in usability especially when commuting in city traffic
- I have a strange clicking sound coming from the pedal area especially when under high torque. This is probably related to the chainring attachment but could also have to do with the FSA MegaEvo crankset. The latter was tightened with locktite but did not solve it. Tightening the chainring bolts helped some.
- I had to update the battery software because it kept resetting the odometer reading. Now that is solved with sw ver 1.8 but it still resets on its own the trip and max speed. This is only in the 2013 models, though. UPDATE 19.3.15: Not an issue anymore.
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